A true kosher kitchen, with separate areas for milk, meat and “pareve” food preparation, demands a generous amount of space. The Wolasky family, whose Baltimore kitchen was too small to accommodate these three separate zones, approached the designers at Baltimore’s Studio One to update their home and create a complete kosher kitchen.
“The original kitchen was very small and difficult to maneuver as a kosher kitchen. There was not enough space for each task,” says Marie Schwartz, who proposed a plan with colleague Rebeka Gurfinchel that would add more space to the kitchen in the front of the house. This addition would be balanced by a new loggia on the opposite side of the property.
The new front space became a large, light-filled dining area, where decorative painting on the walls reinforces a garden feel.
A breakfast bar connects this area to the main kitchen space, where there are three separate sinks and dishwashers. “The breakfast bar is for ease of dining without having to travel to the main body of the kitchen, as it is now very long,” says Schwartz. “We are partial to breakfast bars of varying sorts—we love the ‘bed and breakfast’ feel.”
Hearth-style cabinetry surrounds the main cooktop, with pull-out spice storage keeping essentials close at hand. A hand-painted tile backsplash creates an Old World look—as do the porcelain floor tiles from Italy.
The kitchen not only meets the family’s dietary requirements, but it’s also an elegant new spot for entertaining.
KITCHEN DESIGN: Rebeka Gurfinchel and Marie Schwartz, Studio One, Baltimore, Maryland. PHOTOGRAPHY: Anne Gummerson, Baltimore, Maryland.