Kalamazoo Outdoor Gourmet News and Press

House Beautiful
July, 2007

A Kalamazoo Hybrid Bread Breaker is at the heart of House Beautiful Magazine's Kitchen of the Month.

Kitchen of the Month

Guests love to help cook and the weather is glorious, so why not bring the kitchen outside?

Calistoga, California

CHRISTINE PITTEL: What a spectacular setting—on a ridge overlooking the Napa Valley, with vineyards next door and an outdoor kitchen that looks like it was made for a party.

ARCHITECT MICHAEL LAYNE: It's all about entertaining. People are going to gather where the cooking's going on, so you need lots of counter space and plenty of seating—the open kitchen is bracketed on one end by the pizza oven and on the other by a 30-foot horseshoe-shaped banquette, built with a wide back so you can set down a plate and a glass. And that big table can easily seat a dozen people.

Big is an understatement. What's it made of?

Wyoming sandstone, a 15-by-5.5-foot slab that weighs 4,500 pounds. We got it up here with a crane and a forklift. It's very rustic, which goes with the outdoor country look, more like a yard than a formal patio. No paving, just a strip of flagstone in front of the kitchen so you can hose down anything that drops. The rest is gravel—with a binder on the outside chance that somebody shows up in high heels.

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In an outdoor kitchen, you can take advantage of professional-style equipment with high BTUs. The Kalamazoo Bread Breaker Dual-Fuel Built-In Hybrid Grill (122,000 BTUs) gives you the option of using gas on its own, or to quick-start charcoal or wood. You can also cook with different fuels in each grilling drawer....

Explain that huge chimneypiece. A shelter for the appliances?

Just to make them feel nestled. They're solid stainless steel and don't need to be covered, and you don't need a vent, although it's nice to suck smoke away from the guests. So it's really more of a statement, very French château, a little tongue-in-cheek. It works with the house, which I'd describe as Tuscan Lite. And the pizza oven is vaguely Moorish. It looks like a big Hershey's Kiss.

Pizza ovens seem to be the new must-have accessory.

The clients often serve mini-pizzas as hors d'oeuvres. They'll have little balls of pizza dough set out with all kinds of toppings. Everyone creates their own pizza and then gathers around the oven to eat them as they come out. You have to start the fire two to three hours in advance, but then it retains heat for a long time. The oven cooks by radiant heat, which keeps food moist and gives you that crispy crust. And it really brings out the sugars in vegetables. You could even do a rack of lamb in there. Delicious.

I'm looking at that chicken on a spit. Is that the ultimate trophy grill?

It's a Kalamazoo rotisserie and barbecue, unusual in that it can be fueled by gas or charcoal or wood. Just pull out those drawers and put in the hickory sticks. It also has a griddle, to do hotcakes in the morning.

Those countertops look massive. What are they made of?

Cast concrete. They'll last forever. And over time, with spilled grease and wine, they'll take on a fabulous patina and be a sort of history of all the meals cooked there. And they're really only one inch thick, behind the dropped front edge. I just didn't want them to look timid.

So, low-maintenance countertops, rust-proof appliances. Anything else to think about outdoors?

Lighting. There's task lighting under the chimney, strip lighting in the metal rail behind the banquette, and more strip lighting in the trellis over the table. It's just a glow, very soft, but it feels like you're dining by candlelight.