Despite its history as a previously hidden space in the home, the kitchen has come to the forefront, and, unless you’ve got a retinue of full-time cooks and helpers, chances are you spend quite some time there. The place where our meals are cooked has slowly transformed from just a practical work area to a living space that balances form, function, and socializing. It’s the space where you make memories and demonstrate life-changing kitchen hacks to friends and family, whether it’s ripening bananas in the oven or grating chilled butter so it’s easier to spread.
Since the 1930s, the kitchen island has been an increasingly popular kitchen fixture that perfectly embodies the balance of providing extra functional space and an area for people to interact in between mealtimes. Before the kitchen island, there was the cook’s table — a simple worktop for additional kitchen prep space and perhaps some drawers or small shelves for storage. However, the former offers larger work and storage spaces and usually incorporates a stove or kitchen sink. While the kitchen island was a clear winner in the days of yore, its heavy functionality and blocky design aren’t for everyone. With its quaint dining-table-like aesthetic, a cook’s table can be used for meal prep or as a social space. Plus, the added flexibility of being movable makes your kitchen more versatile. While the countertop of a wooden cook’s table may require some maintenance, just like you should occasionally oil wood cutting boards to prevent them from drying out, it’s easy to customize it to your needs. In short, it could be the right balance of functionality and charm that your kitchen needs.
A cook’s table can make a functional yet charming addition to your kitchen
A kitchen island is better for prepping meals because of its taller height and the fact that it’s usually covered in a smooth, non-porous material that won’t get damaged by wet ingredients. Plus, if it incorporates a stove or a kitchen sink, it easily forms a work triangle which puts the kitchen’s main areas — sink, stove, and fridge — within easy reach. The bar-stool height seating that most kitchen islands have is also conducive to quick meals.
On the other hand, a cook’s table, despite the name, is more conducive to a leisurely process, be it cooking or eating. The lower height makes it more akin to a dining table and comfortable to sit around for extended periods. It still gets the job done for prepping and plating, and is much nicer to sit down and eat on.
Unless the time you spend in the kitchen requires you to be at your most efficient, or you want significantly more counter or storage space, a cook’s table could fulfill your needs and also make the kitchen a more intimate leisure space. Just like a kitchen island, you can customize a cook’s table to your needs, so if you want to non-porous work surface, get a table that’s topped with quartz or granite, or pick a laminate top for a budget-friendly option. While you might not be able to store large pots and pans underneath, a cook’s table can incorporate small shelves to store, say, all your essential baking tools in one place.
