Chef Jose Garces Reveals His Sleek Home Kitchen In Logan Square

As a companion piece to this week's re-design of Curbed Philly and the greater Curbed network, Eater Philly takes a house tour of our city's most prominent and prolific chefs, Jose Garces, whose Logan Square home boasts a drop-dead-gorgeous kitchen design, perfect for any occasion, whether it's baking with his kids to hosting a kick-ass party.

And while Garces restaurants could range from classic Basque to hyper-modern new American, his home kitchen remains simple, unfussy, yet loaded with every kitchen utensil an at-home cook might need, and maybe some. It almost has that clinical Julia Child set-up, though somewhere down the line, he decided "crazed-utilitarian" was a better approach. Organized and not, simultaneously and beautifully.

Everything on the chef's BlueStar (basically restaurant-worthy equipment built for personal homes) range was designed by him, for his at-home cooking needs. "I had to have a plancha — it's the star quarterback of making weekend breakfasts memorable. It can handle a big batch of arepas or pancakes."

Like we said, the space is perfect for hosting groups and parties, so he keeps a loaded liquor selection — especially the locals like Bluecoat Gin, Vieux Carre, Root, and Manatawny Still Works. "And it's no secret that I'm a huge whiskey fan," cue Village Whiskey montage, "We bought an entire barrel of Four Roses bourbon (Jose Garces Four Roses Single Barrel) to serve at my spots in Philadelphia. Samples were taken from multiple barrels and we were able to select the one we liked best."

Of course, there's the requisite KitchenAid Mixer: "My kids, Olivia, 13, and Andres, 9, love to bake, and we embark on some pretty fun projects together. Cupcake decorating, cookie marathons, even donuts. We recently visited Beiler's Bakery in the Reading Terminal Market to observe the pros before starting in on our own donuts."

The mirror-like granite-meets-wood countertop is used for buffets at some of Garces's legendary house parties.