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Cooking up high style

Monica Geran -- Interior Design, 1/1/2004 12:00:00 AM

Commissioned to join two 49th-floor units at New York's Trump World Tower, Charles Rabinovitch found the developer-issued kitchens completely unsuited to his clients' needs. "Size, function, location—everything was wrong," he explains. So C.M. Rabinovitch Architect devised something more user-friendly. After gutting both apartments, the architect carved out a 300-square-foot U-shape kitchen complete with a pantry, bar, and dining nook—a solution suited to large catered events and intimate take-out dinners alike.

His scheme registers as an interplay of transparencies. The cooking zone is backed by an etched-glass plane that hides the service corridor, visible through a clear stripe scored at eye level. Opposite, the dining nook's expansive windows offer sky-high perspectives on the Chrysler and Empire State Buildings.

Reflective surfaces reinforce the ample glazing: a glass-tiled backsplash, brushed-nickel faucets, stainless-steel sinks and ovens. Cabinetry, appliance doors, and cooktops are surfaced in aluminum, chosen for its inherent warmth and relative resistance to food marks and fingerprints. (Because Rabinovitch couldn't find any mass-produced aluminum kitchen appliances when he began the project, he teamed up with his supplier to create a prototype, subsequently developed for commercial distribution.)

The shimmery surfaces are counterbalanced by the weight of the limestone counters and floor as well as by cherry millwork, which wraps most of the bar, then continues along the soffit in the cooking zone. And there's not a bit of Donald Trump brass in sight.

From top: Cherry millwork distinguishes the bar area of a New York kitchen, continuing into the cooking zone as a soffit. Cabinetry is faced in aluminum and etched glass; countertops and floor are limestone.

STOOLS (BAR, COOKING ZONE): DAKOTA JACKSON. SINKS, FITTINGS: FRANKE HOLDING. SPOTLIGHTS: CALIFORNIA SOUND LIGHT. REFRIGERATOR (COOKING ZONE): SUB-ZERO FREEZER COMPANY. COOKTOP: GAGGENAU. METALWORK, GLASSWORK: ZUSTO ARCHITECTURAL METAL + GLASS. CABINETRY: STUDIO BECKER. GENERAL CONTRACTOR: TOWER CONTRACTING CORPORATION.