Fanciful intrigue
‘Murder on the Orient Express’ an exquisite ride
Agatha Christie’s 1934 mystery novel “Murder on the Orient Express” was memorably adapted to film in 1974, with Albert Finney playing the fastidious Belgian detective Hercule Poirot. Now, Sir Kenneth Branagh slips into Poirot’s signature splendid mustache in a star-studded, big-budget remake, which he has also directed.
The way he tears into the performance, with an elegant vigor, it seems as though
For most folks, one kitchen is just fine. For others, however, one kitchen just isn’t enough.
As a matter of fact, while not exactly becoming an overwhelming trend, the addition of separate secondary kitchens is more than just a passing fancy.
And depending on who’s doing the talking, the concept can have a number of terms.
“We’re seeing this, not in every house but maybe one in six, one in seven,” said Bill Reynolds of the design/build firm New Haven Homes. “Sometimes it’s just a concept they’re describing and they don’t even have a name for it. They may not even be calling it a sub-kitchen. They’ll describe a lifestyle need - a new, custom home, lifestyle criteria - and then we just parlay back that it sounds like what they’re looking for is a sub kitchen.”
But even to the folks in the industry, a sub-kitchen can mean very different things, depending on the client, said Erin Ware, a certified kitchen designer and owner of Wild Wood Cabinetry and Design.
“Some call it a butler’s pantry, but it’s not just a butler kitchen because they kind of go all out with making it a second kitchen,” she said. “Sometimes they’ll call them catering kitchens. It really depends, but it’s the kitchen behind the kitchen. People will use them as a cleanup kitchen so if entertaining, the dirty stuff goes into the sub kitchen. Sometimes people will turn it into an area for beverages and coffee bars so it’s a morning kitchen.”
Even where it’s located in the house can differ, Ware said.
“The name changes and so does the placement,” she said. “Sometimes it’s just behind a wall of the kitchen; sometimes it’s off of the dining room if it’s split from the kitchen.”
For homeowners who entertain frequently, however, the sub-kitchen is an excellent use of space.
“The first time I really encountered what I prefer to describe as a sub-kitchen was five or six years ago,” Reynolds said. “I have a colleague I know through the National Association for Home Builders, a custom builder in the Vancouver area. In Vancouver in some of the higher-end customs he was doing for foreign nationals, it became very common to have a very nice regular kitchen with a back sub kitchen that kind of kept the mess contained in the back. The hard work, all the cleanup and all the activity was contained in the back kitchen while the main kitchen could continually be used for staging and entertaining.”
New Haven’s Parade of Homes entry in Placitas this year had a sub kitchen and the company is currently finishing up the plans for a house in Corrales that also will have a sub kitchen concept.
“You come in the front door, here’s the entry and there’s this nice, cool beautiful kitchen right off the main living area,” Reynolds said. “What is common in our market area is a great room concept with a big kitchen that’s built for entertaining and family gatherings. It’s the hub of the home as kitchens typically are.”
The primary kitchen acts as a meeting place and a space for informal dining, as well.
“In this kitchen, you’ve got all of those components,” he said. “You’ve got a prep sink and a cooking area and a sit-down eating area and a little bar top area for hanging out.”
The sub-kitchen, however, “is tucked back in the pantry area, and broken away from the pantry and on the way to the dining room. It’s got a cleanup area with a sink, a dishwasher and cabinetry. This client plans to use that as a combination of staging area to serve her dining area and as a cleanup area, as well, because it contain all the dishes that need to be dealt with after a large gathering and people coming over,” shared Rynolds.
In terms of space, it covers about 70 square feet, and doubles that if the pantry is included.
“We had a similar set up in our parade of homes this year,” Reynolds said. “We had a butler pantry but also it also functioned very effectively as a sub-kitchen. It had a sink, a fridge, some warming drawers, storage areas, and a microwave. A lot of things they could use to stage a meal that was contiguous to it. It worked not just as a prep area but as a cleanup area.”
The key to the sub-kitchen, he said, was creating a space away from outside eyes.
“In all cases, the sub-kitchens are not spaces that are open to what we call the public area of the home,” Reynolds said. “They tend to be off to the side of the main kitchen, off to the side of the dining room. And the activities there are typically done by the person doing the food preparation and clean up. You don’t have your guests in there. It’s not an area that’s public. It’s more of a utilitarian area off of the kitchen.”
Development of the space comes through extensive interviews with the homeowner to create a sub-kitchen that serves the individual purposes, Ware said.
“It’s not a one-size fits all,” she said. “It’s kind of unique to specific needs. If they don’t want to see the mess when friends are over, or want more counter space, but not a dirty kitchen. It’s all just dependent on what their specific needs are.”