We're in the current issue of dwell magazine (May 2006). Okay so maybe not me. But Silvio, one of our cats, Godzuki, and our kitchen are in four-color for your viewing pleasure. How did it happen? dwell ran a kitchen essay contest in their October/November 2005 issue. We were enjoying our newly renovated kitchen. I felt inspired to write 300 words and submitted the required three pictures. We "won" along with four others. Et voila. I increased the value of our home with these words:
MY KITCHENI grew up in a 1500 square foot house with four siblings, two parents, and three kitchens. As immigrants, we lived in a cash-poor, food-rich environment. My mom, a caterer and well-known Vietnamese chef had one kitchen upstairs (electric), one downstairs (gas) and one outside (Vulcan commercial gas range/oven for mom’s stinkiest – but delicious creations). For nearly two decades, Mom prepared a daily home-cooked meal for our family. To this day, we are all very grateful and spoiled by it. If it weren’t for Mom and Dad’s persistence that we try and eat everything these dishes would've never made it into my belly -- beef tongue, Vietnamese shabu-shabu, South American flan, French ragout, and many other unforgettable culinary delights!
So when I ventured to purchase my first home, I looked mainly, only at the heart of the house – the kitchen (okay, so I sat on a few toilets too)! I wanted a space that had the same warm fuzzy feelings my parents’ kitchens had. It was important the culinary center was big enough to fit a few bodies but most importantly, it had to work. My initial house-buying budget did not allow for a dream kitchen so I waited for five years to renovate. After nearly six months, we are the proud owners of a delightful room that can produce enough grub for a small army (or a big family).Eating is essential to my family and me. My husband is French/Italian; I am Vietnamese/American. We not only enjoy our kitchen alone, but also open it up to many friends (most of whom are single and are learning to cook with us). We host themed cooking nights where the ladies and gents trade off responsibilities. On several occasions, there was more drinking than cooking, but hell, nobody complained!
We celebrate and honor food with loved ones. It’s the only way to live; at least, it’s the only way we know how!
In hindsight I would totally re-edit this piece. But you know what? I turned in my words at 10:48 p.m. on November 14, 2005 and I think the deadline was November 15th. So I punched out what I could. We're in the magazine so I guess it was good enough.
Silvio is the only homeowner shown in the feature. I guess they really liked the shot with our cat. I still kind of wish they had run this picture (I believe it would have been the first time a game peripheral made it into this shelter title):
That said, here are the photographs from the dwell photo shoot. And if you're interested in checking out the runner-ups, here you go. Enjoy.
