So often concocted from a template, today’s kitchens tend to be clean, austere, and monochromatic, designed more for resale value than for cooking. My wife and I love to cook and entertain, but our kitchen just wasn’t working for us. It was a little cramped and awkward; things weren’t in quite the right place. We decided it was time to renovate. But before I could even start designing, I wanted to know everything about the kitchen: the architectural history of the floor plans, historical attitudes toward cooking and eating, and the development of various foods and drinks. So, I mapped out a quest across North America to explore excellent kitchen designs throughout history with the goal of learning how to improve our own.

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