NOAH FECKS

Inside the SAVEUR Test Kitchen

The SAVEUR test kitchen is laid out for efficiency — but thanks to natural light and good design, it's beautiful too.

The test kitchen is anchored on two large kitchen islands: one houses two electric stovetops (the building where our office is located doesn't allow gas), while the other provides expansive workspace for chopping, mixing, or rolling out dough. Both have plenty of storage space underneath for pots, mixers, cutting boards, mixing bowls, and other hard-to-store items. Back to Inside the SAVEUR Test Kitchen »

Kellie estimates that SAVEUR must have one of the largest Le Creuset collections in New York City -- she guesses the count at over 50 pieces. "I love how proudly we store our pots and pans in plain view on our kitchen islands," she says of our colorful collection. "Not only does it allow easy access to our tools of the trade, but they're beautiful as well." Back to Inside the SAVEUR Test Kitchen »

Sometimes we get creative in the kitchen in more ways than just recipe development: Pot lids are held in place with a repurposed roasting rack, and we dry our dishes in a file rack. Back to Inside the SAVEUR Test Kitchen »

Kellie took the doors off the pantry closet for easy-access to condiments, spices, flours, pastas, and other dry storage, all organized in labeled bins. "Our wide open pantry is a great source of pride for me," she says. "The remnants of the strange, unusual ingredients stand as a testament to all the incredible dishes we've gotten to cook here." Back to Inside the SAVEUR Test Kitchen »

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The SAVEUR spice collection is ever-expanding. Our kitchen interns love getting to know spices and ingredients from far-off places. Back to Inside the SAVEUR Test Kitchen »

Windows line one entire wall of the test kitchen, filling the space with natural light. This isn't just good for staff morale (the luxury of a windowed working kitchen is rare in New York) but helps us immensely when it comes to photographing the finished dishes for inclusion in the magazine and online. Back to Inside the SAVEUR Test Kitchen »

Three items are kept by the stovetop at all times, because they're in constant use: extra virgin olive oil, kosher salt, and pepper, stored in various peppermills. A small grinder for white peppercorns comes in handy when you want to add the spice but not discolor a pale bechamel, while our workhorse Barcelona peppermills glide smoothly between superfine pepper powder and the intense coarse grind we love for photo shoots. Back to Inside the SAVEUR Test Kitchen »

Our wall of knives lives between windows near the sink. From paring to butcher, they're all kept sharpened so they're ready to grab and use at will. Heavy ceramic crocks hold utensils, while pots that don't fit under the islands hang from a rack. Back to Inside the SAVEUR Test Kitchen »

We've built up quite the liquor collection from the various cocktails featured in SAVEUR; the bottles are housed on shelves above Kellie's computer, roughly organized by type. We also keep a "drink drawer" of accessories for photo shoots: plastic monkeys, colorful straws and napkins, delicate trays, and stir sticks from all over the world. Back to Inside the SAVEUR Test Kitchen »