Why bigger isn't always better – The Irish Times

Have you ever wondered what a professional chef's kitchen is like at home? A huge, luxurious space with an island as far as the eye can see? Not at all, says Clodagh McKenna. The chef and TV presenter says big kitchens are hard work. Having catered events in some of the most beautiful kitchens for years, McKenna knows this all too well. “You're running from one end of the kitchen to the other all night in a huge kitchen, and by the end of the night you're exhausted,” says McKenna.

The Cork-born chef has spent months renovating her new London home, and unsurprisingly, her favorite part has been planning the compact kitchen, which will be the busiest room in the house as she films and tests out recipes for her appearances on ITV's This Morning show, her Sunday Times column, and her cookbook. “And the other part, which is just as important, is that this is our home, and I cook every night,” she says.

The original kitchen was small, dark, and windowless, “so I gutted the whole thing and told the builder I needed a week to think about it.” She stacked boxes to create an island, then stood in the space every day for a week, designing the kitchen around herself.

The dining room is a separate room, and she didn't want to be the only one struggling in front of a hot stove while everyone else was having fun, so an island with seating was her top priority.

“I told my husband [Harry Herbert] “When my husband comes home from work, I want him to be able to sit comfortably and have a conversation or a glass of wine while I cook.” Her husband is 6' 6″ and kitchen islands often don't provide enough legroom, so she designed the island to accommodate his height.

The kitchen is tiny and she didn't want to lose valuable storage space to radiators, so she mounted them on the island and covered them in rattan, removed the kitchen doors and created an arch to make the space feel larger, and installed a large skylight that opens up to cope with London's muggy summers.

The kitchen is all about convenience: She placed three bins in a drawer under the island's cutting board; the American-style refrigerator is to one side of hers, and the sink is behind her, so she can see what's going on at the stove while she prepares food.

“Probably the most common question I get is about the cookware. It took me a long time to find this cookware, but I fell in love with it. It had all the features I needed,” she says. The cookware that won her heart was the Smeg Portofino*, which comes with a teppanyaki grill for grilling meat and fish, an induction hob, gas burners, and two ovens (one of which is a steam oven), and also has a rotisserie function.

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Perhaps her favorite feature is the automatic flush switch: “That's so important to me because I don't have to put in any chemicals or cleaning products. I just fill the bottom with water and turn it on.”

She was so excited to start using her new cooker that the painters were still working around her as she began cooking. “I couldn't wait. Steaming plum pudding at Christmas time was fantastic. It all went really well.”

Like many chefs, she chose Italian marble for the island and countertops “because it's fantastic for working with pastries and doughs and it looks fresh.”

Open shelves display the accessories she buys on holidays, and vegetables she pickles at their farm, Broadspear, at Highclere Castle in Hampshire (her husband's ancestral home and the setting for TV series Downton Abbey). They return to Broadspear at weekends, but the demands of her early morning shifts for This Morning show, combined with the demands of her other London-based jobs, led them to buy a townhouse.

Having spent time in Italy, she wanted to recreate the feel of a Tuscan farmhouse kitchen – her wall tiles “look like caramel bars, you could eat them” – and when it came to choosing paint, she got advice from a Farrow & Ball colour specialist. “Anyone can book a colour specialist – I didn't know that. She gave me a great tip about painting small spaces: Whatever paint you use on the walls, paint the ceiling, baseboards and window frames the same colour, because otherwise your eye will get tricked and you won't be able to see where the wall ends and the ceiling begins.”

Cherry was her first choice for the kitchen cupboards, but she found it too expensive. “I used a cheaper wood with a cherry varnish, and it worked really well.” Brass rails underneath the shelves hold utensils and bundles of dried herbs. “If you're looking for a quick kitchen makeover, these brass rails are a great way to flatter your space,” she says. “Your utensils are right in front of you, so you don't have to think about which drawer your zester is in.”

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She's particularly fond of the wine rack: “Anyone can make this – it's a shelf, but it's tilted upwards to hold wine bottles. I put in strip lights and it's a beautiful accent piece.” Though space is at a premium in the kitchen, she still found room for a surprise for Harry: a wine cooler that can hold more than 200 bottles of wine.

So, after all the planning, is it a professional chef's dream kitchen? “I never thought I'd say this, but I wouldn't change anything,” she says. “I'm really, really happy with it.”

TV chef essentials

When asked what kitchen gadgets and appliances Clodagh McKenna couldn't be without, she had no hesitation. At the top of her list is the Bosch CreationLine stand mixer. “It's so comfortable to use – the whisk reaches all the way to the bottom of the bowl and when you're kneading dough, the kneader has a silicone spatula. It's a fantastic design.”

She bought her KitchenAid cordless hand mixer from Arnotts in Dublin over 10 years ago and it still works as well as it ever did: “I haven't charged it in a month and it's still going.”

The chef loves three Microplane zesters and graters for lemon, Parmesan and other cheeses. “I take them everywhere I go.”

She bought a Victorinox knife on the advice of Darina Allen when she trained at Ballymaloe House: “I've been using it ever since. Thank you Darina. It's a great knife – stainless steel, very light, with a thin blade that's easy to bend. A lot of people spend a lot of money buying big boxes of knives, but my recommendation is to buy one Victorinox knife and keep sharpening it.”

She also favours a pair of cook's knives made by Fingal Ferguson of west Cork, which she keeps in her Broadspear for special occasions.

*The Smeg oven was supplied to Clodagh McKenna as part of the collaboration.

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