The Tour of Kitchens 2022

Return of a Beloved Event 

Each year, the Coral Gables Community Foundation presents the Tour of Kitchens, its annual fundraiser toward their Culinary Arts Fund that supports scholarships for the Culinary Arts Program and its students from Coral Gables Senior High School. This year’s March event marked a return to the indoors. It also marked the 13th such tour, with hundreds of ticket holders visiting nine homes that volunteered to display their culinary spaces. 

The lead sponsor for the Tour was Ray Corral of Gables-based firm Mosaicist, which installs custom mosaic pools worldwide. Other sponsors included Baptist Health South Florida, the Shops at Merrick Park, FXD Construction, Torre Construction, Evensky & Katz/Foldes, BHHS/EWM Realty, Lowell International Realty, Mercedes-Benz of Coral Gables, and Bellmont Village. Eight restaurants also participated, offering bites to visitors at the homes, including Clutch Burger, Orno Restaurant, MKT Kitchen, La Taberna Giralda, and Rita’s Catering. Two dozen vendors also set up outside the homes, including Miami Alkaline Water, Veranda Plants & Gifts, La Glace ice cream, the Coral Gables Garden Club (fresh corn!), and Zely’s Cupcakes. 

“This is our premier fundraiser for the year, and we were so pleased that it could return to the inside of homes,” said Mary Snow, executive director of the Foundation. “It was an excellent turnout.” Ray Corral, the lead sponsor for two consecutive years, said this year’s event was a sign that the city is now entering a post-Covid new normal. “It was just tremendous to see so many people out and about. We’ve been cooped up too long and this was a great reason to come outside and interact with the community.” Said Gables-based FXD Construction president Xavier Durana, one of the event’s sponsors, “We love sponsoring this event because it’s all about good design and quality buildouts. There’s no better event to be associated with.” 

What follows is a round-up of images from the Tour, and three of the featured kitchens. 

3500 Segovia Street

This two-story home of Patricia De Anda was built in 1953 as a duplex, converted after a two-year renovation (2019-2021) into a single-family home. The new open kitchen was located to provide easy access to the living and dining rooms. The checkerboard floor anchors the floor-to-ceiling custom cabinetry, with a large island placed in the middle of the kitchen and a “waterfall” extension of the surface down the side. 

The flooring is comprised of Hampton white and grey porcelain tiles; the cabinetry, by i-design interior, has a pepper finish; the cabinetry hardware by Schaub has a satin brass finish; the range is by Bertazzoni, with exhaust hood by Zephyr; the sink is by Kraus, with faucets by Brizo Artesso in “luxe gold.” 

548 San Esteban Avenue 

This newly renovated home is part of the Italian Village, one of seven such enclaves conceived by city founder George Merrick to showcase various international styles. The 17 homes of the Italian Village were built between 1925 and 1927. 

The renovation of this home, spearheaded by Calimia Home, took the walls down to the studs for replastering and painting. The oak floors and the original French range were retained. The exhaust hood is by Vent-a-Hood, the countertops are quartzite from Primestones, the wall sconces are from Circa Lighting. The farmhouse style sink is by Kohler, the faucet polished nickel from Perrin & Rowe, the floating shelves solid oak from Grove + Anchor, and the cabinet paint Farrow & Ball Pigeon. 

6510 San Vicente Street

Marlin Ebbert commissioned her new home in 2015 with the idea of replicating the Florida Plantation Cottage style of the early 20th century. This style is characterized by tall ceilings and numerous windows for light and ventilation. The open kitchen acts as the heart of the home, with easy access to the dining, living, and sitting rooms. The kitchen is flush with natural lighting coming from the windows above. 

The range is a Thermador 6-burner gas cooktop with dual ovens below; the exhaust hood is by Zephyr, enclosed by cabinetry; the KitchenAid refrigerator/ freezer is integrated with cabinetry panels; the sink is a double-bowl Kohler, with Brizo faucet in polished nickel finish. The custom installed paper towel roller is “for the grandkids.”