Ellen Silverman

Faced with the months-long renovation of their New York City coop kitchen, Josh Eisen, Ellen Silverman and their son Luca – who take eating and entertaining very seriously – devised a clever make-shift kitchen in their walled-off-from-the-construction living room. They had the workmen move in the restaurant fridge and metro shelving from the original kitchen, along with a battery of essential cookware, dishware and utensils. One of the ripped-out kitchen cabinets became a work surface with cutting board and induction burner. Josh had a slab of particle board mounted on the wall to hold his knife rack, electric powerstrip and a clock. Since there is no plumbing in the room, they temporarily replaced the pedestal sink in the bathroom down the hall with the old kitchen’s sink and cabinet, complete with dishrack and drying station (obviating the washing of dirty dishes in the tub).


Sally Schneider

With a toaster oven as their oven/broiler, and the induction burner, they manage not only to cook wonderful, stress-free family meals nightly (mostly with foods bought at their local farmer’s market), but entertain their many friends as well.

The space they created is warm and welcoming –  and efficient: it allows several people to be prepping at once, while the kids hang out in the adjoining room. It was worth it to Josh, Ellen and Luca to put a bit of time and $$ into creating a viable makeshift kitchen. Since the job has been delayed (par for the course), they’ve minimized the feeling of camping, and saved money on eating out, by making a cozy family space.

Ellen Silverman

If you’re NOT into taking makeshift that far, there are other routes to improvised kitchens… We love the look of this field kitchen from Supply. (Googling “field kitchen” and “camp kitchens” yields lots of ideas)…

…and we have long been smitten with German performance group Improkitchen’s portable rolling kitchen cart designed by Kueng Caputo, which they push around town for impromtu dinner parties and happenings…

…check out Core 77’s post Cook Anywhere for more pictures….

Field kitchen via Atelier.

Related posts: hacking a kitchen island

kitchen cabinets as furniture

improvised street kitchens + utensils

kitchen cabinets (cheap + unique)

pascal anson on (cheap) kitchen cabinets

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