Baker's Secret

A cookbook author shares tips for crafting a stylish, storage-filled kitchen

Written by Tom Connor • Photographed by Tria Giovan <br>Produced by Laura Dye Lang <br>Styled by Brice Gaillard

Location: Southport, Connecticut

Abigail Johnson Dodge, a cookbook author, pastry chef, and culinary instructor, worked for much of her career in less-than-ideal home kitchens, most recently in a 31-year-old Colonial in Southport, Connecticut. There, dark and closed off from the rest of the house, the 12-by-14-foot cooking space offered just 3 feet of countertop and little storage. “It was like a hallway and constantly congested with children and guests,” she says. For four years, Abigail made do, and her husband, Chris, and children, Alex, 15, and Tierney, 12, overlooked pastry racks on the dining table, pots and pans in the living room, and small appliances kept in the basement.

All the while, Abigail envisioned a new kitchen that would be roomy enough to accommodate her equipment and host small cooking classes, yet one not so overscaled as to compromise warmth and family togetherness. Finally, as her culinary projects gathered steam, the Dodges hired architects Paulo Vicente and Martina Burin to bring Abigail’s design ideas to life. As part of a 350-square-foot addition spanning the rear of the house, the team bumped out the old kitchen 13 feet into the backyard, creating a new 216-square-foot cooking space with 16 feet of solid-surface counters, along three walls, and plenty of windows. Two islands provide additional work spaces.

The larger one separates the main cooking area from a home office/pantry and features a solid-surface breakfast counter; it’s a convenient landing place for hot pans and baking dishes after they’re removed from the nearby double wall ovens. The other island is a butcher-block-topped stainless steel cart that can be rolled into the prep zone when it’s needed or into the eating area when it’s not.

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