The kitchen setup that keeps me cooking
Anti-appliance, pro-tools
Last month, I got an email specifically designed to get me to spend money.
, a favorite artist and ceramicist, was taking pre-orders for a limited run, porcelain bain-marie. Look at these things.
It arrived today, and it’s beautiful. My old one was fine, nothing special. Not every kitchen tool has to be a treasure. I like a blend of pure utility, occasional indulgence and a system that ensures I cook every day. A well stocked bain does that.
During my first few months working in a professional kitchen, I’d spend 30 minutes before service running around, trying to grab the spoons and tongs I’d need to survive the next six hours. Finally, another cook gifted me a bain and showed me a better way. Then, for Christmas, our chef got me a collection of spoons that are still the workhorse behind a daily cooking habit. Having those essential tools in the right place — and eliminating all other clutter — is how dirty rice comes together in eight minutes on a weeknight after eight hours of back-to-back meetings. And it’s how I stay sane.
Here’s the rest of my kitchen set up, from the sparse appliances to organizing principles. It’s broken down into zones, with the most used items consolidated closest to the center of the action.
The range
The kitchen is set up as an L that runs from a small counter to the range to more counter space leading to the fridge. There’s an island and sink behind it. Most of the work happens on the range and just to the right, so that’s where my regular tools sit.
On the range
A Lodge dutch oven and a 12-inch cast iron skillet. About 80% of the cooking with heat happens in these two vessels, so they stay out.
At my fingertips
A unicorn peppermill. During the LA fires, I determined this would be the third thing I saved from the house if there was an emergency.
Two salt bowls — one flaky and one Diamond Crystal. (Most salads need two salts).
There’s always a kitchen towel on me, and a drawer nearby with a lot more.
I don’t keep olive or neutral oils here because I read in too many cookbooks that the heat turns your oil rancid and that made sense to me.
In the bain-marie
Like eight spoons of varying shapes, sizes and types. I love them all dearly.
Fish spatula
Microplane
Brush
Regular spatulas
Two whisks (one large, one small)
Tweezers in varying size, but these 12-inch bad boys are a top-five most important kitchen tool. Try it out and you’ll end up using them for everything.
The counter
In the corner of the L I keep this round, walnut Boos cutting board. On it there’s a bowl of garlic (don’t keep your garlic near your shallots and onions), a kitchen timer and a little plastic bench scraper to move ingredients around quickly and efficiently.
The rest of the counter remains unoccupied until you hit a small knife block abutting the fridge. I like to use this space for prep and organization, so a default empty state helps the mise en place come together fluidly.
Here’s what I told
about my knife situation, which I stand by.You only need one chef’s knife, one slicer, one bread knife and one paring knife. Do you need a slicer? No. But few things are more fun than nailing a Sicilian crudo set up at home, and a slicer is your best path to that goal. So go for it. Treat your knives with care. Gently push and pull, letting the sharpness of the knife do the work. If you’re pressing down firmly, you should sharpen that bad boy. The bread knife should not be nice. The paring knife doesn't have to be nice … the nice ones are just so cool.
High-utility drawers
These are the three stacked drawers right next to the range, compiling:
Some overflow tools not in the bain-marie, like a Japanese mandoline, ladles, a real bench scraper and other baking tools
Mixing bowls and measuring cups
Extra cutting boards
Three cabinets of pantry staples
It’s helpful to have this stuff just above and to the right of the range for quick ideas and flavor boosts. When I go to cook something, I like to just pop open these doors and see what looks good.
The nearest cabinet has salts on top, for restocking the salt bowls when necessary, vinegars in the middle and spices on the bottom.
One cabinet over has canned goods, dried pastas, nori sheets, chips & crackers, a bunch of oils and squeeze bottles and any necessary overflow, since it goes deep into the corner.
And then the third corner cabinet is mostly a few vases but there’s a bottom shelf for baking ingredients.
A lazy Susan I never rotate
I’m out on kitchen appliance abundance, like an air fryer or slow cooker. For some people, it facilitates more cooking, and that’s great. More at-home cooking is always good. But for me I find it to be a space-wasting crutch. So I’ve got these few exceptions in a low, corner lazy Susan.
Rice cooker (necessary)
A food processor. I’m a firm believer in cooking food that will make people happy, and good dips make people happy. My food processor is primarily a dip machine.
A blender for smoothies
Salad spinner
Kitchen scale
A few colanders
A Kitchen Aid stand mixer for special occasions
And there’s a Breville countertop oven in the office because it’s ugly and embarrassing
Medium-utility drawers
Just to the right of the lazy Susan. Nothing so important that it needs to be near the range, but in some kind of weekly rotation. This is also intentionally where I start most plating, so the serving utensils are on the top drawer.
Top drawer: Serving utensils and some additional tools, such as a citrus press, Y-peeler, can opener, corkscrew, kitchen shears, oyster knife, meat thermometer and matches (used as cake testers).
Middle drawer: Roasting trays, cooling racks and steak weights. More people should be using steak weights at home for even, effective cooking. I also use these roasting trays to transport stuff to the grill in the backyard.
Bottom drawer: Pots, pans and sieves. I’ve got one, nice All-Clad, 14-inch stainless steel frying pan with a lid. The rest are fairly whatever.
Lower-utility drawers, serveware cabinets and the island
The last drawers before the fridge, for everything else, including:
Top drawer: Zip-locks, parchment paper, aluminum foil, paper towels
Middle drawer: Bulk containers of things such as rice, sugars and flours. Also storage central for room temp items like onions and breads.
Bottom drawer: A consolidated set of containers
I like the way this all flows together. I don’t do much moving back and forth from the fridge to the range, instead getting everything arranged around the cutting board and the counter before I start cooking.
The cabinets above the counter are full of serveware and glassware, but there’s also a stack of small-to-medium bowls that end up just being mise en place vessels. Anyone who has watched me cook has rolled their eyes at how many dirty dishes I create this way, but the organization helps the system. Plus, I clean as I go.
There’s a sink on the island, on the side nearest the range. I try to keep the rest of the island clear, so it can be a final place for plating without clutter.
Clutter and mess is the enemy of happy, regular cooking. Dirty dishes, tools too far from your grasp, ingredients that you can’t literally see and get inspired by. It’s how you end up conceding to Uber Eats. This set up matters to me because it works. I like how much it works. Cooking, especially for others, brings me more joy than anything else. And maintaining this system is a worthwhile investment in that joy.