New York deli meets light industrial in this entertainer's kitchen

What to draw on for your kitchen renovation beyond reflecting trends that might be here today and old-hat tomorrow? One way forward would be to achieve a look and feel that calls to mind favourite places and experiences.

Having travelled to New York on a regular basis, this family asked designer Simone van der Plas of Encompass for a kitchen reminiscent of eating at the chef's table in the kitchens of several famous New York restaurants.

"Essentially, they wanted a 1920s New York deli-style meets light industrial themed kitchen for a large, grand 1890s mansion," she says.

Their existing kitchen had been out of scale, and suffered from pinch points. In addition, it wasn't suitable for large-scale catering or for use as an eat-in kitchen for a large family features the owners wanted from the new design.

"To add to the litany of woes, the windows in the old kitchen were in the wrong position, so most natural light was at the closed off end," says van der Plas. "Plus all the architectural features of the room had been removed in an earlier renovation, so the room lacked ambience."

To bring character back into the space, she designed new feature ceiling beams and sourced large-scale light fittings appropriate to the era and style of the home.

Due to the room's scale, the new cabinetry was built to a generous 2.8m high. To access high storage areas, van der Plas designed a custom steel and aluminium hook-in ladder system.

"We powdercoated the upper cabinetry's aluminium door frames in a special colour to match the ladder and industrial-look lighting. Doors on the upper cabinets feature 1920s-style broad-reeded glazing, which adds texture and offers a filtered view through to the interior shelving contents."

A gleaming commercial-style rangehood and steel side shelving with its own LED lighting system provide a focal point in the cooking area. Bevelled subway tiles on all the walls are also reminiscent of the 1920s restaurant feel.

"As the owners regularly engage caterers for functions of up to 100, people they wanted appliances and cooking clutter to be out of view. So we effectively created a second kitchen in the reworked scullery, where party prep can be carried out behind closed, reeded-glass pocket doors that match the fronts on the upper cabinets."

The scullery has its own hob, rangehood, sink and dishwasher, with the main oven tower and Miele fridge and freezers close by. Custom dispensers for foil, wrap, and baking paper line the underside of the open shelving in this space.

A wine and drinks station is adjacent to the granite-topped dining table or chef's table and the crockery cupboard and dishwasher are also within easy reach.

Built on a sturdy steel frame and castors, the chef's table is designed to be easily moved. Tall replica antique-bronze Navy stools provide comfy seating while keeping in with the New York deli-meets-industrial theme of the room.

Story by: Charles Moxham

Photography by: Paul McCredie