Food network enthusiasts and at-home chefs about to embark upon a kitchen remodel may find inspiration for their projects in the kitchens of their culinary idols. After all, to cook like a pro, one probably needs a kitchen befitting a pro. With that in mind, last year, K+BB interviewed celebrity chefs Marcus Samuelsson and Cat Cora (read the article here) about their own kitchens at home, the appliances they use and features they feel are must-haves for great functionality.

As a follow-up, K+BB interviewed Kerry Heffernan, executive chef of South Gate, which opened last year at the Jumeirah Essex House in New York City. Although the restaurant is known for its modern American cuisine, Heffernan's earliest culinary experiences seemed to have a decidedly European accent. Before and after attending the Culinary Institute of America, where he finished second in his class, Heffernan spent considerable time in Europe, traveling, cooking and sampling the local foods. Once back in the U.S., he honed his skills at several high-profile restaurants in New York City known for their French-inspired menus, including Montrachet, Le Régence, Restaurant Bouley, Mondrian (where he served as sous chef to Chef Tom Colicchio) and One Fifth Avenue, where he landed his first job as chef de cuisine. In 1998, Heffernan became executive chef and eventually partner at Eleven Madison Park, which, under his leadership, tied Per Se on Zagat's list of "Top 20 Most Popular Restaurants in New York" and received the James Beard Foundation award for Outstanding Service in America, Wine Spectator's Award of Excellence and Esquire Magazine's Best New Restaurant distinction. In October, Heffernan will be participating in the New York City Wine & Food Festival, during which he will be doing a "dessert nougat glacé."

When K+BB caught up with Heffernan, interestingly enough, he and his family had recently completed a roughly 400-sq.-ft. kitchen remodel at his weekend home in Sag Harbor, NY, which became the subject of the interview.

Is your home more traditional or modern, or in between?
The architecture is traditional, but it has a very clean, modern look. We intentionally didn't make our home too "citified," however, because it's in Sag Harbor. And the design sometimes gets so sophisticated that it's not a country home anymore. It's a country embodiment of your metropolitan psyche.

How involved were you in its design?
I was very involved in picking out the things for the kitchen. What was interesting was when the contractor told us to go to the stone yard and pick out a slab for our countertop. So we go thinking that we want Carrara marble until we see everything else. And we realized that Carrara lies at the lower end of the marbles. It's very hard to get the marble you thought you wanted when you've seen all these incredible stones, and you're just like: "I love that." That was an interesting exercise.

So what did you end up choosing?
The countertops are statuary marble. For chopping, I have cutting boards that I bring in and out. I like the chopping boards with the little rubber feet on them. Otherwise, you have to put a wet towel down every time you use it, so it doesn't slide. I like a wood board that has a non-slip surface on the backside.

How is your kitchen laid out?
There's a very large central island where I do most of my prep work. The island is overhung, so it's also a bar counter with four stools. It has a sink, dishwasher, garbage container and a lot of storage. We also have a lot of wall cabinets and a pantry for dry storage and bulky bottles. The pantry is big, like a large closet, but it's not a walk-in pantry.

The key in the kitchen was openness, so we didn't want to enclose too much. The kitchen opens right onto the backyard, which leads to the water, and a breakfast nook and living room. It's really the central space in the house and where we spend most of our time.

Where is the range and what kind do you have?
It's against a back wall. We have a Wolf range with eight burners, six of which are open and two of which heat a griddle. The griddle is great because you can cook anything on it, and it's relatively easy to clean. I leave it seasoned. I don't need it to be brilliant or see-your-face-in-it shiny. I just scrape it with a bench scraper and give it a good wipe. You don't have to use a lot of soap on it. It's great for pancakes and eggs, but also I cook meats and fish on it, too.

What do you like about your kitchen?
We have a separate faucet for practically boiling water and cold filtered water. It all comes out of one spigot with two levers for hot and cold. You can depress the cold lever and it will stay there, while the hot one won't, because it's dangerous with kids. Having the cold filtered water, you stop buying bottled water. The kids make hot chocolate and oatmeal with the hot water.

What's one thing that you would change?
I spend a lot of time at the sink because I like to clean as I go. We opted for one very large sink, which is a really cool unit and works fine, but they have these sinks with a built-in drain board that are another 18 or 24 in. wide and have a piece of stainless that is sloped. There's always something that's being cleaned and needs to drain, but you don't put a $3 Rubbermaid plastic dish rack on top of statuary marble.

So why didn't you get a sink with a built-in drainboard?
From a design standpoint, it just doesn't look as nice. It's practical, but it takes away from the symmetry. Another thing, we have a beautiful sink but it has square corners, which I don't like. Rounded corners are much easier to clean.

Do you have a favorite appliance? If yes, what is it?
It would probably be the Vita-Prep blender. It's amazing. It doesn't shoot the food up in the air and it has this clutch thing that engages slowly.
 
Any thoughts having just gone through this remodel?
I think people sometimes design kitchens to have more than one workstation, but I like having that fridge-to-sink-to-range distance not be too far. We looked at a lot of houses, and for aesthetics or whatever reason, they'd end up separating out one of those three elements by a significant distance, which I find to be very inconvenient.