How do you build a better kitchen? Ask a chef, according to the Food Network’s “Kitchen Accomplished,” and enlist a designer and contractor.
The show, which premiered this month, combines some of the best elements of cooking shows and home improvement. In addition to giving a cooking lesson, chef Cat Cora helps shop for accouterments such as knives and cutting boards, as well as appliances such as stoves and dishwashers. Along the way, she explains what consumers should look for and offers suggestions for what would best suit the homeowners’ needs.
These segments are interspersed with the makeover of a kitchen, often the most expensive room in a house to renovate. The first episode featured a 1970s log cabin that houses a family of six and a kitchen with less than 4 feet of cooking space. “We get trapped between the refrigerator door and the counter or dishwasher, and a person pinched up against somebody else,” says homeowner Robert Dowbiggin.
“It doesn’t make for good flow,” his wife, Melodie, says.
“This could actually be a cooking catastrophe,” says Cora, a former co-host of the Food Network’s “Melting Pot.”
With Cora’s input, designer Wolfgang Schaber and contractor Peter Marr transform the galley “from cramped to convenient” in three days. They also offer tips that are flashed across the bottom of the screen. The team is thorough in asking homeowners about their likes and dislikes, down to the color of wall paint and dishes.
While Schaber takes homeowner Melodie shopping for a dining room table, Marr and a crew paint walls and install quartz countertops (chosen by Cora) and a pot rack custom-made to fit the low ceiling and tile over the hardwood floors. They remove the kitchen island and reuse materials to make additional cabinets.
The renovated kitchen allows space for the entire family. Now “somebody can load the dishwasher while somebody else is cooking,” Schaber says gleefully.
At an hour long, the team could afford to cut back on the banter. Any series in this genre starts to spoil after half an hour. While “Kitchen Accomplished” takes a novel approach, it’s no exception to the 30-minute rule.
Food Network’s new series airs Fridays at 9 p.m.
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“This Old House” crew members are touring nationwide in celebration of 25 years on the air. Host Kevin O’Connor, general contractor Tom Silva and landscape contractor Roger Cook will be at the Home Depot in Naperville, 2920 Audrey Ave., from noon to 8 p.m. Thursday. The guys will hold question-and-answer sessions and participate in the in-store clinics.
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Carmel Carrillo is assistant editor of the Sunday Real Estate section. You can e-mail her at [email protected].