Five-Star Chef

House Beautiful Magazine

As I was paging through a recent issue of House Beautiful I came across the photo above. I just fell in love, talk about how opposites attract. I love the stove and the mirror each by themselves, together they are so stylish that I think if the duo were in my own kitchen I might actually like to cook. In my current kitchen I would not be able to do this, but this photo is going into my dream file for my next house.

Until then the only way I am going to feel the way this photo makes me feel – elegant while cooking, is to pretend.

Pretending calls for “props and wardrobe”. Most of us have the props - pots and pans like they use on the Food Network, but what most of don’t have is the wardrobe – this can be easily accomplished by wearing a chef’s coat when you cook. Instead of an apron that only covers the front of your torso, a chef’s coat covers your arms as well, so no stains on any part of your clothes. I bought mine at a local Uniform and Linen supply. I found them in the Yellow Pages under “Uniforms”.

It was very inexpensive (I bought the Economy Chef Coat).

You can leave it plain or have it embroidered with your name, nickname, or a favorite restaurant. They also are a really unique gift; give it to a friend with their address embroidered on as if it was a restaurant name, Willow Road Bistro or the name of the town they live in. You can be really creative. I replaced the plain white buttons that came on it with silver ones with violet beads. I also added a few decorative buttons along the edge of the pocket to personalize mine.