Lifestyle Kitchens created this vignette that features a glass counter top where guests can keep the cook company.
Sub-Zero and Wolf
showcase their kitchen
productsChuck Furuya will conduct
wine classes, and top chefs are
to give demonstrations
Wondered about that two-story glass and concrete building that suddenly sprouted on the corner of Piikoi and King streets?
The building is the new showroom of Sub-Zero and Wolf, housing some of the most innovative and progressive refrigeration and cooking products.
Robert Riggs, president and CEO of the Westye Group | West Inc. (an independent distributor of Sub-Zero Built-In Refrigeration and Wolf products), said the showroom will do more than just display cabinetry, countertops and appliances. "It will be an all-purpose showroom," he said. Kitchen vignettes, each created by local designers, will also be used to educate people. Plans are being made to have Chuck Furuya, Hawaii's only master sommelier, host on-site wine classes and to have celebrity chefs like Roy Yamaguchi and Alan Wong give cooking demonstrations or classes.
"There's a real trend in people wanting to eat healthy," Riggs said. Since the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, people are not traveling as much, he continued. "They're entertaining more at home ... and the kitchen is the center of the home."
Details International's dream kitchen has a 60-inch duel fuel range with six burners and a french top. The double oven will let cooks roast a turkey and bake a cake at the same time.
The showroom, which has two fully equipped exhibition kitchens, will make home cooks crave a kitchen makeover.
Drivers peeking into the glass windows while traveling up Piikoi Street can easily spy two of the vignettes -- one pristine white and cozy in the corner of the showroom, and the other stainless steel and big enough to contain demonstrative chef Emeril Lagasse before an audience of at least six, getting a close-up view from a countertop. The corner vignette, created by Highline Kitchen Systems, features trompe l'oeil cabinetry masking a refrigerator.
Other vignettes displayed stove tops with grills, deep fryers and steamers built into the surface, an armoire-style refrigerator and, for those who like to see what is in their fridge at all times, refrigerators with glass doors and hidden shelving that allow entertainers to whip up a dozen parfaits ahead of time and keep them chilled until it's time for dessert.
Each design team was given a specific-size area to create their dream kitchen. The results: a display of different-size kitchens for different tastes but all maximizing their space. The designers included CAC Fabrication Inc., Kitchen Concepts Plus Inc., West Maui Cabinets, Hawaii Cabinets and Countertops Plus, Details International, Lifestyle Kitchens and King & Zelko.
The showroom artwork, also for sale, was done by local artist Bernie Moriaz. Riggs said the plan is to rotate the local artwork every three months, to promote artists as well. "We want everything to be local," he said.
The showroom, designed and built by Benjamin Woo Architects and Brett Hill Construction Inc., is open 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Tuesdays to Saturdays. To get the full tour, schedule an appointment by calling 597-1647.
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