Kitchen Essential

As home kitchens – and what we prepare in them – have become more sophisticated, it’s only logical that the tools we so long took for granted in those kitchens do the same. Enter Kitchen Provisions, the Coal Drop Yards store that has quickly become a go-to for professional chefs and keen home cooks.

As the name suggests, Kitchen Provisions sells a full and excellent range of all things kitchen-related, both in-store and online – and does it with all the insider expertise you’ve come to expect from Coal Drops Yard’s collection of specialty independent retailers.

The brand is the brainchild of Tom Saunders (a former chef), Helen Symonds (curator of the full Kitchen Provisions collection) and Jake Nibbs (whose background is in woodwork and design). Their passionate and highly-committed approach means they source and discover the store’s offering from many of the world’s finest makers first-hand.

‘We try to avoid gadgets or anything faddy,’ says Symonds of the logic of this. ‘Basically, if you haven’t got a good knife, it really isn’t worth thinking about mandolins, graters and the rest. We suggest you should focus on putting your budget into one decent all-around chef’s knife.’

Which is not to say that there isn’t plenty for kitchen geeks to discover (wasabi grater or suribachi for grinding sesame seeds, anyone?), just that the focus is on quality and functionality first and foremost.

Even items that might not, strictly speaking, be deemed ‘essential’, are selected on the basis that they offer what Symonds calls ‘universal application’. However niche or specialty- a piece of kit may at first appear to be, it will, says Symonds, be able to ‘be used across many different styles of cooking and applied to a wide range of tasks.’

While the Coal Drops Yard store is not currently open, Kitchen Provisions’ online offering is a wealth of information and inspiration – sourced from both up-and-coming and established makers around the world.

Alongside that excellent – and stylish – range of cooking utensils and household goods (everything from Japanese table brushes to baker’s twine), there are also gift ideas and packs that – in the case of its bespoke kits for everything from gin-making to bitters – should prove ideal for some much-needed distraction in the weeks ahead.

And because we all need something to look forward to, gift vouchers for Kitchen Provisions’ popular regular workshops can also be purchased online now, ready to use when the physical store and on-site workshop reopen.

With the option to laybuy (pay off in instalments), there’s really no excuse.

Discover the collection at kitchenprovisions.co.uk

This is an edited version of an article that first appeared in the Autumn 2019 edition of King’s Cross Quarterly magazine.