TASTE of HOME

Small, strategic changes were all this Auckland villa needed, sprucing it up while retaining its honest warmth, which is as nurturing and welcoming as a home-cooked meal

- Text Shelley Tustin Photography Emily Chalk

Grey Lynn villa with one bathroom and two living areas. Gretchen Lowe has worked in some immaculate modern kitchens, including a couple she designed and renovated herself. One might expect a high-spec cooking space to be an essential tool of the trade for this food writer and stylist, whose book, My Weekend Table ($59.99, Bateman), is about to hit shelves. But she says, “You can create amazing meals out of anywhere,” recounting a six-month period where her kitchen consisted of a trestle table, a barbecue and a plugin stove. Though the decades-old kitchen in her current house is somewhere between the two – richer in charm than it is in mod cons – Gretchen says, “It’s gorgeous and quaint and totally workable.”

In a way, the kitchen is a perfect match for her food, which is accessible, charmingly humble and designed to share. “It’s about slowing down and gathering together and just bringing back the joy of cooking and making those ordinary moments feel more special,” she says.

A place to rest