Wide Open Kitchens Take Over San Diego

From admin on March 2nd, 2011 in San Diego

We’ve talked a lot about how smart homeowners are opening up the floor plans of their existing homes. Highly used spaces like the kitchen are being expanded, not only adding value to the home by modernizing its layout, but also creating beautiful livability and functionality in the process.

The result is a space that becomes individualized for those who live there. This holds especially true for two local San Diego chefs, whose lives and livelihoods require swift maneuvering within a dynamic cook space.

Take Searsucker’s Brian Malarkey and his wife, Chantelle, who tore out their outdated and nonfunctioning kitchen. They renovated their old kitchen as he was debuting his restaurant and she was preparing to give birth.

Take also Extraordinary Desserts’ Karen Krasne, who was struggling to meet a manuscript deadline for her debut cookbook as workmen were rebuilding the kitchen in her Mission Hills home. Wait for a perfect time to renovate? Yeah, right. But their choice to update and open up couldn’t have been smarter.

In both remodels, knocking out walls did away with shallow counters and low-hanging cabinets. In both instances, the chefs had to communicate through a wall that divided the kitchen area from the rest of their dwelling—a concept that doesn’t sit well with chefs, who see food and its preparation as a fundamental communication.

For the Malarkeys, opening up meant creating a backdrop perfect for cooking demos and family meal preparation. The updated cottage style fits well with the rest of the timeless house.

For Krasne, renovation meant merging functionality with a modern and Moroccan vibe. Each kitchen with its unique style has opened up cooking—and a whole new world—for these San Diegan chefs.