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Rating: 
Summary: Take a Calm, Centering Breath
Review: Deborah Krasner's book contains many good ideas relating to kitchen design, but it falls short on detail. Of the book's 151 pages, only 64 are instructional, in that they deal with the issues at hand and educate the reader. The next 64 are filled with photos and descriptions of real-world kitchens, some of which are useful, and others which appear to be included simply for show.Of particular annoyance to me are the lack of floor plans for the photo kitchens, making it very difficult---in some cases impossible---to understand a kitchen's layout from the array of photos. We should care more for the sizes and layout of the kitchen, not the custom pottery being displayed and described. Many of the photos simply show pretty displays: this is decorating, not design! What's worse, Krasner litters the instructional section with random floor plan sketches, none of which is labeled or cited in the text---they appear to be simple art pieces to fill space. Virtually all the drawings of appliances and kitchen layouts in this section are foolishly oversized, again in an apparent attempt to fill more space than needed to convey their information. The typography is annoyingly oversized, using what appears to be 12- or 14-point type, with broad leading and word space. Were the type set in a smaller size---and the unnecessary graphics deleted--- the instructional section would probably shrink by 20%. Such a size reduction would more readily telegraph the text's lack of useful detail. As for Krasner's Green suggestions, they are not overly preachy, though it is too easy to skip a grain of information among a paragraph of Green chaff. I would prefer that all the Green suggestions be grouped into a small section of their own. After all, a two-page outline can express all the mechanical design considerations for a Green kitchen. Three pages on composting are, quite frankly, 2.9 too many. As an example, the author spends about 150 words disparaging trash compactors and wasteful food packaging, and in so doing she never advises the reader about these appliances, their suggested locations, and their installation considerations. For the most part, the book is not outdated, despite its 1994 publication date, though some of the photo kitchens are. The price guidelines Krasner quotes are almost certainly suspect, especially given the changing trends in kitchen materials and preferences. Krasner also includes a seven-page supplier directory, stretched from about four pages of text by many unnecessary photos. To be fair to the author, the World Wide Web was virtually unborn in 1994; today, there is little need to list more than a collection of manufacturer addresses and URLs in a book. I estimate that this 150-page book could be effectively reduced to perhaps 110 pages by reducing wasted space; it's ironic that Krasner's waste of paper in this book undermines her Green ideals. The book has no index.
Rating:
Summary: Take a Calm, Centering Breath
Review: Except that I know how important and challenging kitchen design can be, I would be tempted to say, "relax and chill out." Even so, I'm not sure this book is worth all the anger. Planning a kitchen takes all kinds of insight, delivered at all levels of complexity. Some people are actually beginners or in other ways insecure; others passionate about being "green." They, too, deserve books that serve their needs. When my wife and I recently remodeled our kitchen, we used this book, among several others, to inform and inspire us. Taken collectively, they allowed us to achieve a kitchen that we think, after six months of use, is pretty much exactly what we wanted. Kitchen for Cooks more than held its own with these other volumes, filled in gaps in the others and left us grateful for buying it. We have no complaints. (Just don't get us started on the plumber.)
Rating: 
Summary: Split personality, sparse info
Review: I was very confused trying to find a good kitchen book. They all seemed to be useful only if you had $100,000 to spend and want your kitchen to be in style for a year. Somewhere I had read a wonderful review "Kitchens For Cooks" by Deborah Krasner. I purchase it and found it to be exceptionally helpful. She takes you by the hand and forces you to think about- Here are your choices of countertops, which one do you want...
Here are your choices of sinks...
Floors...
How do you deal with garbage?...
Ovens, rangetops, etc. It provides you with a checklist of what you want. I had the kitchen cabinet maker put in pull out steps so visiting children could help too. The choices can be overwhelming. This book allows you to make the decision before hand. Not in the showroom. Read this book with a pad of Post-Its nearby.
Rating: 
Summary: For those who don't have $100,000 for a kitchen remodel
Review: I was very confused trying to find a good kitchen book. They all seemed to be useful only if you had $100,000 to spend and want your kitchen to be in style for a year. Somewhere I had read a wonderful review "Kitchens For Cooks" by Deborah Krasner. I purchase it and found it to be exceptionally helpful. She takes you by the hand and forces you to think about- Here are your choices of countertops, which one do you want...
Here are your choices of sinks...
Floors...
How do you deal with garbage?...
Ovens, rangetops, etc. It provides you with a checklist of what you want. I had the kitchen cabinet maker put in pull out steps so visiting children could help too. The choices can be overwhelming. This book allows you to make the decision before hand. Not in the showroom. Read this book with a pad of Post-Its nearby.
Rating:
Summary: Some limitations, but well worth it for design information
Review: Kitchens for Cooks is an excellent resource for people who are passionate about cooking, and want to design a custom kitchen that works. It isn't for the everyday remodeler who wants some design tips or who would be most comfortable in a traditional kitchen. Breaking up the zones into hot, cold, etc. seems obvious upon first read, but it makes sense when working with either unusually shaped kitchens, or when building multiple work stations for family cooking. The author breaks away from the traditional triangle theory - about time! - and shares how professional kitchens are laid out based on the type of food preparation for each area. Some of the ideas, while intuitive, were groundbreaking for me, since the book opens up the options of multiple height workstations, different counter materials throughout the kitchen, open shelving and/or drawers instead of cabinets. Much of what I'd read in other kitchen design books was standard old-kitchen design. I also appreciated the author's suggestions on incorporating green design into new kitchens. For those of us who live in towns with well water and septic tanks, these considerations aren't optional, since poor kitchen design can have a large impact on your water supply and disposal. If you are starting from scratch in either a new home, or scrapping your existing kitchen, I highly recommend this book. If you're looking for quick remodeling tips or traditional design, this isn't the book for you. The example kitchens are a bit lacking, and don't use many of the author's design ideas, but otherwise the book is a unique addition to kitchen design.
Rating:
Summary: Kitchen solutions: yes and no
Review: The author's preface gives you the most concise description of this book: it is a "how-to-think-about" book. It is design book. It is meant for people who really cook in their kitchens and would like the kitchen to support--not hinder--their cooking efforts. This book is not for microwave cooks or folks who want a "show-off" kitchen. The author asks many questions about current kitchen design standards. She also offers many possible solutions to the questions she poses. There are a number of things which make this book valuable: 1) most home-builders, architects and even many kitchen designers are not real cooks hence their designs do not usually work well for cooks; the author is a cook and that perspective influences the whole book. 2) The author considers the kitchen not only as a gathering place but as a place in which it is very likely that there will be more than 1 person working (2 cooks, children helping mom and/or dad, guests, etc.). 3) The author realizes the need for kitchen to fit to their users. 4) The author tries to shed light on making the kitchen flexible. Some of the many kitchen standards the author questions (and offers solutions for) are: the kitchen triangle, single counter height, countertops made of one product (e.g. all laminate or all solid surface), traffic flow, realistic appliance usage, cabinet types and many others. I do not necessarily agree with her WET/DRY/COLD/HOT solution to the kitchen triangle but it was a useful tool in thinking about kitchen design. Probably the most useful aspect of the book is that it made me really think about how we use the kitchen and how it could support our work and fun in it. Also extremely useful was the look at a number of real kitchens used by real cooks (chefs, cookbook authors, etc.). The photos, though they were not coffee table book quality, were very helpful in seeing actual examples of some of the suggested solutions. The text is as boring as a high school textbook, but this book is not meant to be a novel. The are a some hokey "green" suggestions, but some are at least a little valuable in making one think about environmental issues. Unfortunately, the author glosses over the most important environmental solution: a well-designed kitchen is one that is not wasteful. It will not waste appliances (e.g. having unused appliances or having appliances that are too large or powerful for what you need or vice versa). It will not waste electricity in ineffective lighting; task lighting is energy efficient. Unused extravances are a waste of building supplies. Etc. As to the reviewer's comment that this book is a "green" tract, I disagree. I am not "green" by any stretch of the imagination; I simply believe in sensible, realistic care for the environment we live in. The book does not spend that much time on "green" issues: most of the text and illustrations are about DESIGN issues. As I mentioned above, there are some hokey green suggestions, but they are really pretty much in one chapter. You can probably just skip most of the environmental stuff. It's not a perfect book, but it is worth the price if you are a cook who needs a better kitchen. On you own, it is not likely that you will have thought about everything that the author has. I found it a very useful book in coming up with the design of my new kitchen.
Rating: 
Summary: ...add 1 cup diced linoleum...
Review: The front cover of this book is pretty and the back cover is too. Too bad there`s more in between. This is not actually a book on kitchen design; it is a prayer tract for a Green lifestyle. Because I am agnostic in all things I am forced to value the book by its stated purpose. It is lacking. The intellectual skeleton is this insight: The kitchen is divided into areas, DRY, WET, HOT and COLD. They are always capitalized lest we forget this concept. To the writing. On page 73 we read about linoleum. "There are many designs....with expense frequently being a gauge of durability." Duh. This is only one gobbet of banality, plucked at random from the book. You will learn to say "Duh" on every page. Many times. The writing style is precious, self-regarding, and insulting at the same time. Come to think of it, it is written in the literary style of an IRS document. The author's religious mania gives some unintentionally hilarious results. Mining again on page 73, we find that the Germans are making a non-toxic linoleum. No doubt we have all by chance eaten a little Teflon from year to year but I have never seen a recipe calling for linoleum. How would you cut it up? Her one-page dissertation on knives doesn't include a linoleum knife. How would it be sauced? Motor oil? Béchamel with contact cement? Oh, she does recipe development. Perhaps another book will tell us. I apologize to Page 73 for citing it twice; I am completely nonjudgmental about page lifestyle and believe absolutely in each page's right to pursue his, her, its, or their individual pageness. The pictures are name-dropping, and they're Photoshop victims, oversharpened to graininess. Pages 145 through 150 have manufacturers' addresses. Best part. Do not order this book if you seek facts; it sells attitude. If you want to order a kitchen-design book of use, try "Kitchen Design with Cooking in Mind" by Donald E. Silvers. It's an ugly little book with smart things on every page. And he doesn't tell us to treat waste "sensitively." Get Silvers' book if you want know how to rehab your kitchen. Get this book is you want to "challenge conventional assumptions" about the kitchen. And if you want to sit and envy the kitchens shown you. You won't learn how to build your own here.
Rating:
Summary: Split personality, sparse info
Review: This book has a split personality, the first half gives some ideas to consider in kitchen design, the second half shows some kitchens of cooking enthusiasts, cookbook authors, and caterers. The first half concentrates on rejecting the standard "kitchen triangle" and using "zones" instead. Zones being areas dedicated for "hot" "cold" "dry" and "wet", but the commentary rambles -- lacking concrete examples of how to do this well.
Donald Silvers "The Complete Guide to Kitchen Design With Cooking In Mind" was more inspiring than this (but also lacking in details) regarding, dropping the triangle in favor of areas dedicated to specific jobs, as in a professional chef's kitchen. The first section then continues on with some basic ideas regarding kitchen design, but the author also refers to the book "The Smart Kitchen" by David Goldbeck. A book which is much much more thorough in covering many of the same subjects. Take the author's implicit advice and read that one instead. The second half shows pictures of various kitchens belonging to cooking enthusiasts, cookbook authors and caterers giving a sparse newspaper like commentary on them. There are a few good ideas from this section, but its probably more inspiring visually for examples of "some clutter is OK" to counter the often seen immaculate model kitchens in advertising, or for those who have a huge kitchen space to fill up (7ft x 11ft kitchens need not apply).
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