NEW YORK, NY— No one knows a kitchen better than a restaurateur. So when the committee for the 2008 Kips Bay Boys & Girls Club Decorator Show House asked famed Chef Daniel Boulud to act as the client, sharing his input for the space, he jumped at the chance to create his ideal kitchen.

Revitalizing the Past

Instead of the usual commission of remodeling a Manhattan townhouse, the committee at Kips Bay employed a team to redesign several floors of The Manhattan House, a 1950s modernist apartment building that was originally designed in the style of Le Corbusier. The collaborative team of Regina Bilotta, co-owner of Bilotta Kitchens, and Rita-Luisa Garces, a senior designer for the Manhattan showroom, set about creating a contemporary style kitchen to match the existing architecture of the building.

The committee brought Chef Boulud on board to encourage attention for the showhouse and to boost support for the organization, as well as to inspire a kitchen design worthy of a master chef.

The 30'x18' space reflected the well-matched collaboration. “Most of the products chosen were selected because they had strong contemporary elements, yet were not hard edged. Aside from designing a working space for Chef Boulud, Rita wanted to show how good contemporary design could be warm, inviting and humorous, attempting to dispel the cold, austere [impression] so many people have of contemporary design,” states Bilotta.

Bilotta Kitchens selected flat-paneled Artcraft Cabinetry with a high-gloss chocolate stain and aluminum-framed, acid-etched mirrored glass on the front.

“The cabinets on the refrigerator wall were not to ceiling height, but purposely left with two feet of open space above so Chef Boulud could store some of his cooking elements. Rita thought they looked like pieces of art and therefore displayed them as such – a sausage stuffer, mandoline and blender – not the kind you see in a regular housewares store,” explains Bilotta.

To store glassware, the designers placed a wall cabinet above the prep island. For dry goods, four pull-out storage cabinets reside between the cooking island and the connecting wall.

In the wall behind the cooking island sits a large storage pantry. To house all of the cookware, large cabinets with stainless steel racks are incorporated throughout. The designers also created a special base cabinet to store the mixer Chef Boulud insisted must be a part of the kitchen. All drawers in the kitchen feature soft-close operation to minimize noise in the busy space.