(or any city for that matter) brings all sorts of changes with it. In my opinion, almost ALL are good changes, but there are definitely a few city challenges that most people never think twice about. Having no car, walking multiple flights of stairs to get to my apartment, and buying only what I can carry were easy adjustments– but when it came to the kitchen there were certain things I missed. For me, I longed for a garbage disposal, a place to store my pots & pans other than my oven, a silverware drawer, and a pantry. These are generous requests for a NYC apartment kitchen- truth be told, I was pretty spoiled with this kitchen. In fact, the kitchen in this apartment was the final sale. After seeing what else was available within our budget, all other kitchens paled in comparison.
Food Network Magazine was kind enough to stop by and snap some photos of my small kitchen and the solutions that I had come up with for maximizing space. You can read the article in the May issue and also find a few of my recommended kitchen tools that should be tossed. I had such a blast working with the magazine- it’s one of my favorite monthly reads.
I had a great time coming up with solutions for a small city kitchen that worked in our space. My favorite being my nod to Julia Child’s pegboard that I mounted on the inside of my cabinets to store tools. Not only was it useful, but every time I opened my cabinets, it made me happy. I moved my knives to a magnetic strip on the side of our fridge, put our spices in magnetized tins on the fridge, and never kept anything in my kitchen cupboards or drawers that I didn’t use on a regular basis. I also loved utilizing a secretary desk which I turned into my work desk and where I primarily wrote and edited recipes for the show and the cookbook. (yay! more on the cookbook later…) I love this secretary desk so much that you can find one on my set as well. Keep your eyes peeled for it!
I spent 3 years cooking my heart out in this kitchen and I loved it. Two weeks ago we moved and left behind our first NYC apartment and my first NYC kitchen. So many happy memories were made in our apartment with many of them being in the kitchen. It was bittersweet to pack up and close one chapter and begin another, but I have a feeling we’ll be making just as many memories in our new place with the added bonus of a new family member.





