Indian cuisine is whipped up daily in Bimal Bedi’s Presto kitchen and every mega-modern appliance in the remodeled room makes it a chef’s utopia. ● When she is cooking for her husband, Maninder, and their two teenagers, her new premium range, hood and complementing amenities make her culinary time easy to savor. ● “This kitchen is fabulous,” Bimal says. “I’ve gotten a lot of ‘wows’ about it.”
A black and white aesthetic
That wow factor is due, in part, to the vision of interior designer Natalia Dragunova of Notion LLC. The look of the space is fairly transitional but it has some décor twists.“Bimal loves sharp colors, so we went with black cabinetry. She wanted a brushed brass finish for the hardware and we also incorporated that into the hood a little. We kind of mixed a traditional design with modern finishes,” Dragunova says. “This is not just a show kitchen. She is a cook, so this kitchen gets used day in and day out.”
To accommodate Bimal’s cooking needs, the appliances were cherry-picked for utility. She chose Sub-Zero integrated refrigerator/freezer columns and an inte- grated wine unit; a Wolf dual fuel range and a drop-down drawer microwave; a BEST built-in range hood and exterior blower; a Bosch custom-panel dishwasher; and a Brizo Litze smart-touch pull-down faucet. These pieces make the kitchen a standout in the revamped 6,500 square-foot, four-bedroom home, where the Bedis have lived for 12 years. “I really like my hood and blower because we cook a lot of Indian food with onions, garlic and ginger. Before, the aromas would just stay in the house, but this hood gets rid of them all,” Bimal says. “I also like the bigger stove and fridge, and the hot water faucet provides instant hot water. It makes my cooking time shorter for anything I have to add hot water to, and I can have tea in seconds. I enjoy hav- ing six burners on my stove and having a second dishwasher too—these are a big deal when you have kids.”
Making a statement
The kitchen layout is separated into a cooking area, a relaxing spot, and a coffee and tea station. One of Bimal’s favorite conveniences—the hood—is a statement feature that is as practical as it is aesthetically pleasing. “That hood was the biggest challenge for us because of the way it was constructed; it is made of two different stone materials. I wanted it to look black on the outside and white on the inside, so we had to miter the pieces,” Dragunova says. “The hood area is a little over eight feet and it is probably my favorite look in the kitchen.”Bimal’s preferred color scheme is especially unique. “When I tell people the kitchen is black and white, they’re surprised when they see it because it’s much warmer than what it sounds like,” Bimal says. “I think the gold hardware and the metal back- splash add a lot of warmth. I love the look of it.”So does Dragunova. “Bimal is wonderful. She really let me do what I wanted to do,” she says, add- ing that features like the hood and quartz columns were gratifyingly bold design statements. “That she trusted me so much was, to me, as a designer, just absolutely amazing.”
APPLIANCES
Sub-Zero 30” Integrated Refrigerator/ Freezer Column (IC-30RID-RH/ IC-30FI-LH), Sub-Zero 18” Integrated Wine Unit (IW-18-RH), Wolf 48” Dual Fuel Range (DF486G), Wolf E Series Drop- Down Drawer Microwave (MDD24TE/S/TH), BEST Built-In Range Hood (CP57E482SB), BEST Exterior Blower (EB15), Bosch 800 Custom Panel Dishwasher (SHV878WD3N)
PLUMBING
Brizo Litze Smart Touch Pull-Down Faucet (64043LF-GL), Brizo Mini Hot Water Dispenser (MT1840DIY-NL/PVDBB)