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Have you noticed how when you invite family and friends around, crowds inevitably gravitate to the kitchen? With Christmas around the corner, the kitchen is about to be the hardest working room in your home. Read on to discover essentials that give your bespoke design those all-important final touches, creating the ultimate entertainer’s kitchen just in time for a memorable holiday season.
As soon as guests arrive, drinks are poured and mixed. Wine coolers are an entertainer’s kitchen essential, providing you with that perfectly chilled bottle of wine or fizz at a moment’s notice. From under-counter to full height coolers that hold 146 bottles, Sub-Zero wine storage caters to every wine-lover’s needs – delivering the most advanced protection features available, to defeat the natural enemies of wine – heat, UV light, humidity, and vibration – and preserve every bit of wine’s complexity and character for the ultimate enjoyment of every glass.
For Christmas morning and other gatherings, Tom Howley Sales Designer, Lucy Nash says, “A boiling water tap for teas and coffees is a must-have item for people who love to entertain.” Additionally, form meets function with built-in coffee machines. They don’t clutter your worktop space whilst making a feature of the beautiful appliance itself. With over 15 beverage options, the new Wolf Professional coffee system is a sure way to impress friends and family with your cappuccino-making skills at fingertip convenience.
“An entertainer’s kitchen must have elements of multifunctionality in the physical layout, plus the lighting schemes to create various zones within the space that can be used for different activities, simultaneously or individually,” says Tom Howley.
It’s important that your kitchen designer understands how you personally envision entertaining in your space. For example, if you are a social chef that likes to catch up with guests whilst you prepare dinner, an intelligent, open living plan with integrated island seating will create a culinary hub that is equally sociable and practical. By working with Tom Howley, you receive the very best, personalised advice from highly skilled experts. Your designer will ensure that the seating area around the island counter never interferes with access to your stove top, fridge, or bar area.
Tom Howley also advises, “The most effective lighting solution is to specify a scheme that allows bright task lighting over the countertops where the food preparation is taking place, and warm, low lighting for the guests. There may only be a couple of metres between these two very different light sources, but it makes a world of difference to your guests’ entertaining experience and the chef or the host’s cooking experience.”
In the days and weeks leading up to Christmas, you’ll probably be stocking up on crockery and making as many dishes as possible in advance. Thus, elevated storage solutions are essential.
“For me, the most memorable part of a fabulous kitchen is a double pantry, laden with interesting bottles of infused oils, rustling packets of the finest truffles, artisanal jarred vegetables and special seasonings,” says Tom Howley. “The act of opening a double pantry is truly a moment of awe and gives the process of cooking and entertaining a real sense of occasion.”
If you have the space, consider a bespoke walk-in pantry which further personalises kitchen storage to your lifestyle and needs. Perfect for stashing tools, dirty dishes, and dried or fresh ingredients right before guests arrive, this space can also be utilised as a secondary prep area for food and as a present wrapping or floral arranging station too.
Lastly, the right appliances are paramount to the success of any entertainer’s kitchen. Not only do they allow for home cooking at professional standards, they also create a memorable kitchen that impresses and inspires guests.
With turkey and Christmas pudding on the mind, your oven and refrigerator should rise to the occasion. But not all appliances are created equal. Found in the world’s finest kitchens, from 5* hospitality to celebrity chefs’ homes, Sub-Zero & Wolf appliances are built-in or professionally installed for a precise, custom fit within the surrounding bespoke cabinetry in your home.
Not only has the company been leading the line in home refrigeration and cooking for over 70 years, but they offer nearly limitless configurations and true design flexibility to complement, anchor, or disappear completely into your Tom Howley kitchen.
Food and drink preservation over the Christmas period is really where Sub-Zero & Wolf appliances come into their own. The technology and innovation that has gone into our products really does aid this time of year. The goal when using our appliances is to preserve, simplify, and enhance the experience when entertaining a crowd.
Ricky Davies, Director at Sub-Zero and Wolf UK.
By investing in appliances by reliable, reputable brands such as Sub-Zero and Wolf for your entertainer’s kitchen, you add value to your home whilst gaining peace of mind that every part of your culinary hub is made to last for decades of Christmas celebrations to come.
If you’re starting your kitchen renovation journey, step inside one of our 19 nationwide showrooms to see for yourself the exquisite quality of our designs. You can also request a free home design visit to speak with a Tom Howley designer in the comfort of your own space. We will work with you to bring your dream entertainer’s kitchen to life, ensuring that no detail is overlooked.