Elizabeth David lands on your doormat

As a writer who used the letter form to communicate with her own mother when they were both in the same house, my aunt would probably have liked being on a stamp.

I think she would also have approved of her Royal Mail 'Great Britons' companions: Vivien Leigh (no more beautiful than her), Mary Leakey, Norman Parkinson and Richard Dimbleby, David Lloyd George, among others. This reappearance of hers coincides with a new book of recipes, Elizabeth David on Vegetables, published by Quadrille. It's a collection of our favourite, most useful vegetarian dishes taken from all her book titles, her posthumous anthology of vegetarian cookery.

See blog for further ED references.

KBB KITCHEN AND BATH INDUSTRY AWARDS

I had the pleasure, for the fifth time, of being on the judging panel. In the budget kitchen category I was impressed by a group of architects who used IKEA units in an imaginative extension to create a light filled kitchen. In another scheme, Britain's only married wine masters collaborated with the designer to create a 1970s style kitchen using open shelves, blocks of furniture, exposed brick walls and a wood burning stove.

In the highest price bracket, soft geometry was in evidence in a pair of circular islands which brought order to a large space. Another design, with a slight Russian flavour also reminiscent of a yacht interior, used linen coated panels below counter level and showed flair bolstered by quality manufacture.

The contract category - for developers - stimulated much debate between judges, with well thought out designs maximizing architectural value. In one, a U-shaped wall containing kitchen appliances created a privacy barrier for the open plan living room. A strong contender for first prize was a dramatic, entirely white apartment, with all white furniture as well, that succeeded in being both glamorous and minimal.

Results are announced at the award ceremony on 25 March, at the Hilton on Park Lane. http://www.kbbreview.com/kbbreview_awards_2013.htm.

Fine Homebuilding describes Johnny as hero of home building

Nancy Hiller, distinguished USA cabinet maker and author, writes about Johnny in the Tailgate column in the October edition of Fine Homebuilding magazine.

In a lively and far reaching interview Johnny reflects on why the kitchen has become the most important room in the house, why he became to be a kitchen designer and how he cut his craftsman's teeth restoring a gypsy wagon.

Available in the UK at specialist foreign magazine newsagents and from bookstores across the USA.

https://www.finehomebuilding.com/design/departments/tailgate/johnny-grey-designer.aspx

THE CREATIVE INDEX AND KITCHEN DESIGN COURSE PRESENTED AT KBB KITCHEN CONFERENCE

Johnny presented The Creative Index to enthusiastic delegates and launched the first ever kitchen design course at Bucks New University. Watch the magazine editorial for the response letters.

See blog for description of the Kitchen Design degree course as well as our Facebook page

See interview in current issue: http://www.kbbreview.com/Home/interview-johnny-grey.htm

SPONSORED BY MIELE