A Kitchen That Works

The kitchen in John Tinios’ home is something of a hub — walk in the front door and you very nearly walk right into the kitchen. In fact, to get to an office area, dining room, a living room and the deck, you practically have to walk right through it.

For Tinios of the Galley Hatch Hospitality Group in Portsmouth, this emphasis on what for many is a practical necessity is simply a necessity. Here he can cook and entertain in the comforts of his home with all the tools and equipment of a restaurant’s kitchen.

With some clever storage design, a cozy decorating theme and professional-grade appliances, this kitchen easily melds both the functionality of a restaurant with an ideal entertaining space, perfect for a home environment.

When trying to pick his favorite thing about the kitchen he designed, Tinios is hard pressed to come up with just a single answer. It isn’t any particular appliance or gadget, but how the layout allows him to do two things he loves at once: cooking and entertaining.

“I love both ends,” says Tinios after looking over the kitchen. There’s the “preparation end,” he adds, where a powerful DCS professional range gives him 35,000 BTU, the highest rated for home use. But then, says Tinios, there’s the serving end, with a countertop that overlooks the dining room and a beautiful view of a private golf course.

Along with the stove in the “preparation end,” Tinios has all the equipment you might find in his restaurants, including a Viking professional refrigerator, a conventional oven, a convection microwave and a warming drawer.

For all these large appliances though, the kitchen still belongs in a home with its warm and inviting décor.

“When I moved in I wanted it to feel like I’ve been here for 10 years,” says Tinios. The look he envisioned, an old French country look, is accomplished in part with distressed cabinets by Custom Cabinets in Epping and a “Hawaiian Green” granite-topped island and counters that pick up the design theme with their rust hues, echoed in the cabinetry and tile.

Part of what keeps it from looking like a home rather than an industrial kitchen are the numerous built-in storage areas. Around the large island, under every counter and even in the tiny corners where counters meet, are cupboards and drawers filled with everything Tinios needs. Flanking the stove are even two slim pull-out spice racks, and in the deep windowsill resides Tinios’s herb garden. The herb garden, which rests in a copper-lined tray, also pulls out to allow for easy trimming.

The center of this kitchen, the island, is also designed with maximum use in mind. To one side near the refrigerator and stove is a second preparation sink with trash receptacle to the side, built into the countertop. Besides the ample counter space for cooking and serving, the island has four stools where family and guests can sit, talk and observe as Tinios cooks.

“Every inch counts in a restaurant,” says Tinios, and he’s applied that same concept to his own kitchen. Nothing is wasted, yet the kitchen is open enough to allow for both guests and chef to comfortably occupy the same space.

Though, as Tinios says, every inch of the kitchen is used for something practical, nothing feels cramped. Everything has its place and there is still ample room left over for entertaining. Guests are not relegated to another room while Tinios cooks, rather they can sit and visit together.

Truly, as the painted Latin words over the sink encourage, “Vivo, Amo, Ceno” — this is the ideal place to live, love and eat. NH

Glass tiles for accent

Look deep inside the glassy surfaces of Robert Rossel’s ceramic tiles and you will find a reverence for nature and a willingness to experiment.

Rossel is perfecting the art of the large tile. Tiles have always been a challenge to the potter because they tend to warp or crack. While it is possible to create a mosaic for a backsplash, he is working to create one large piece.

His glassy tiles have almost a quarterinch of clear glass above the glaze and textured sculptural relief. To create the design, objects are either pressed directly into the clay or photographed and projected onto a wood plate and carved to use as a mold. The resulting relief creates a variation of depths where the glassy glazes pool into a variety of hues.

In contrast, Rossel also offers a natural clay surface with a dry glaze that is textured in a similar manner.

The tiles can be considered as wall art or have a more utilitarian usage in the kitchen as a backsplash or accent pieces in the shower.

Rossel first developed the tile technology (it is not easy to create a flat tile) in his field work with children. He let classes of children from around the state each make a tile that was used for a larger mural in the school. Rossel found their young minds and playful designs an inspiration.

His work will be on display at the Designer Home in Bedford through Oct. 11.

(www.vanloanshowhouse.com)
Symmetry Tile Works
Robert Rossel
www.symmetrytileworks.com
(603) 679-4355

Your Own Private Spa

After a long day or a particularly punishing trip to the gym, there isn’t anything better than visiting the spa. Sitting in the steam room or basking in the sauna always makes those muscle aches and pains fade away.

But spas don’t equal privacy — you’re doing your relaxing alongside other sufferers of aches and stress.

For the ultimate in convenience and relaxation, BainUltra has created the Temazkal, an in-home spa.

With thermotherapy, light therapy and aromatherapy coming in one stylish package you’ll barely have to leave your home for the benefits of a spa visit.

You can turn up the heat to relieve stress and relax your muscles, click on the powerful lights to treat sleep disorders or seasonal depression, and use the moveable wooden diffuser to circulate essential oils.

With two versions available, one with acrylic walls and one without, there’s a Temazkal option for every décor.

www.bainultra.com
Available at Standard of New England
100 West Rd.
Portsmouth
www.standardne.com
(800) 225-7747
(603) 436-1400