Picture an immense, pristine, white kitchen: gargantuan, floor-to-ceiling stainless-steel appliances line the walls; high counters with bar stools resemble glistening laboratory benches, and an oven that’s barely used (or at worst, never) sits in the wall like art. These sorts of kitchens are certainly not what Julia Child would have imagined to be conducive for cooking and conversation.
On Thursday November 3, 2016, The Concord Bookshop welcomed authors, Pamela Heyne and Jim Scherer, to discuss their book, In Julia’s Kitchen: Practical and Convivial Kitchen Design Inspired by Julia Child. The event comes as part of the 2016 Concord Festival of Authors, a 2-week event series featuring author readings in various locations around Concord, Massachusetts.
Heyne is a Yale-educated architect and coincidentally, she and Julia Child are both alumnae of Smith College. In the book, Heyne and Scherer look at design concepts in Julia Child’s kitchen. Child’s kitchen was designed to make cooking easy and accessible. She had a table so she could sit and work, rather than stand at a high counter. Everything was close together for easy use. The book features modern kitchens that evoke the same welcoming warmth that is present in Child’s homey, cluttered workroom. Some of the kitchens included in the book are designs by Heyne, Child’s kitchens at her Cambridge, Massachusetts home and French vacation retreat, la Pitchoune, as well as other celebrity kitchens.
The authors note that the concept of sitting down to dinner is somewhat lost nowadays and that the kitchen is accessible anytime. This promotes grazing or snacking, as opposed to actually sitting down to a full meal. “The ultimate message is getting back to basics,” says Heyne, observing the importance of conviviality in the home at these get-togethers.
Scherer was Julia Child’s longtime staff photographer. He worked with her for many different publications and notably her PBS television shows, including Julia Child & Company. He tells the crowd, “Julia considered herself a teacher.” He explains how he photographed the food, step-by-step, that Child prepared, looking over her shoulder to give the audience a cook’s point-of-view. He also notes that Child’s own kitchen wasn’t showy—quite the opposite of many of today’s kitchens that are open spaces and household showpieces. He also mentions that Child was very interested in getting to know those around her, especially shown during the times that she and the show staff often broke for lunch and ate together in a family-style meal. “It was very warm, the conversation was very spirited,” says Scherer.
Scherer showed the crowd images that weren’t in the book, including behind-the-scenes looks at Child’s television shows and photographs of Child with well-known chefs, like Sarah Moulton and Martha Stewart. As the photos rotated on screen, it was clear how Child’s kitchen became the epitome of convivial kitchen design. It was small, but organized so all kitchen tools were within reach. A well-known part of her kitchen was the peg board that held pots and pans and was stenciled with each item’s shape to ensure they were put back correctly.
As Heyne and Scherer spoke in The Concord Bookshop, it was like everyone was sitting at home together in a living room having a friendly conversation. The lights in the bookshop shined against the tall wooden shelves, emitting a cozy glow almost like candlelight against the dark autumn night. Overall, this feeling throughout was similar to the ideals that a modern kitchen can take from Julia Child’s: togetherness, even amongst clutter, balances warmth and work together. Perhaps homeowners can also feel a bit of Julia Child as they serve up the plate saying, “Bon Appetit!”
Visit the Concord Bookshop website here.
For more information on the Concord Festival of Authors, click here.
Originally featured in Wordsby Arts & Culture News.
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