Tackle Kitchen Clutter Like a Chef
How three restaurant pros organize their home kitchens
When it comes to organizing, I’m a firm believer in function over fashion — especially in the kitchen. I organize to make my small kitchen easier to work in. I can't say it's especially beautiful. And, after having my preschooler home so often over the past month thanks to winter break and winter cold and flu season, I'm due for a reset. And this year, I want to take more inspiration from how restaurant kitchens do it.
A restaurant kitchen lives and dies by its efficiency, its every pan with assigned home and every inch of space maximized. So, I asked three restaurant pros for their insight on how they bring that efficiency into their home kitchens. Like me, these experts are also parents to kids who still live at home, adding a whole other dimension to the clutter.
Is anyone else decluttering right now? What’s been your biggest challenge? Do you have any great kitchen organization strategies to share? Sound off in the comments and we can help each other out!
Without further ado, meet the experts:
Katianna Hong - Chef/restaurateur, Yangban in Los Angeles
Alex Stupak - Chef/restaurateur, Empéllon Restaurant Group in New York City
Bricia Lopez - Co-owner of Guelaguetza in Los Angeles, newsletter and cookbook author
Today’s post includes affiliate links. Shopping from The New Family Table is a great way to support this publication! All products recommended below are linked here.
Declutter and Organize At Least Twice a Year
To have a truly organized kitchen, the pros recommend decluttering, purging, and organizing semi-regularly. Katianna does it twice a year, Bricia does her pantry 4 times a year and the rest of the kitchen 2-4 times a year, and Alex does even more. “I’d say I [purge and reorganize] 4-6 times a year,” he says. “I am the issue. I hoard spices. I have to face the reality that I might not use all this orris root or dried omani lime up this year.”
There are ways to make decluttering of your routine, too. Are you making a recipe that calls for a spice you aren’t sure you have? Maximize the time you spend going through your spice inventory by checking expiration dates and tossing what needs tossing. Use the cue of putting clean food storage containers away to give your storage area a quick refresh, tidying up the drawer and ditching any containers that no longer have lids. Is there a single drawer or cabinet that’s getting on your nerves? Try reorganizing it while dinner is in the oven. Staying tidy also helps you stay organized. Follow pastry chef Justin Burke's lead and close your kitchen each night (read more about how to do that in this article from September).
How You Work Tells You Where Things Go
“It’s all about functionality,” says Bricia. “Cabinets and drawers near the stove should house pots, pans, spatulas—anything you’ll need within arm’s reach while cooking.” If you're working in a small kitchen, “arm’s reach” may well mean on the countertop in a utensil holder. (More on those below.) She and Katianna both recommend organizing by category. Katianna stores her cutting board near her knives and her food storage containers and bags near the fridge so they’re close by when she’s putting food away. Bricia does electronics in one area, storage containers with their own lids in another, and baking items in their own drawer. Organizing by category “keeps things efficient and easy to find,” she says.
Alex and Katianna both consider depth in their cabinets, too. “I like to store things that I rarely use like my largest roasting pan, pressure cooker, and stand mixer far back and away, often in the most inconvenient space to access,” says Katianna. With the specialty items further back (or further up, depending on your layout), you should now have space to maximize the front and center of your cabinets.
How to Store the Trickiest Kitchen Items
Plenty of cooking tools are too top heavy to fit in a standard kitchen drawer, let alone one that is especially shallow or narrow. Alex stores things like spiders, skimmers, mashers in a weighted stainless steel bain marie (a tall metal pan that are typically used in restaurants for storing tools and prepped foods, but can also be used for cooking). I use this approach too (but with a large ceramic utensil holder) since I have very little drawer space. I keep all of my stove cooking tools in there (wooden spoons, spatulas, tongs, ladles, etc). I store my two fanciest pots right on the stove (I don’t have room for my Dutch oven in my cabinet, anyway), and I use this rack to keep my pans organized in the cabinet.
If you’ve been amassing plastic grocery bags, take Bricia’s advice and fold them into rectangles and then stash them in a container under the sink. Here’s a TikTok tutorial from influencer Mattie James for how to do that fold.
I’ve found kids’ kitchen stuff to be the most challenging to keep organized — but I'm happy with the solutions I've landed on I kept those bulky silicone bucket bibs on a Command Hook fastened to the back of the high chair. I keep two kids plates, two kids bowls, and a mug full of kids forks and spoons on a low cabinet shelf so my daughter can get them for herself. Katianna corrals her daughter’s various water bottles and water bottle parts into a basket, but I opted for a water bottle rack, and it’s been a game changer.
To Decant or Not to Decant (Into Aesthetically Pleasing Clear Containers)
Chefs: They’re just like us! They love the look of those acrylic containers, but are split on whether the additional work of decanting — and cleaning — those pretty containers are worth it.
“Half of my pantry is transferred into containers because I like the feeling of accomplishment after organizing as well as the aesthetic, but then the other half of my pantry is in original packaging because I’m short on time and/or decide that I don’t like the burden of the maintenance of the clear containers,” says Katianna. While she can’t always commit to decanting, Katianna relies on bag clips for both pantry and freezer items.
Bricia decants specific pantry items like dried chiles for freshness, and the rest only if they’re already open. “I decant opened items into airtight clear containers. It’s better for preserving freshness and avoiding unwanted critters,” she says. “For unopened bags, I leave them sealed until needed, to avoid redundancy.”
Alex decants bulk items like flour and sugar, but little else. “My attitude is you paid for the packaging so you might as well use it,” he says.
Here’s where I've landed: I decant cereal into tall canisters to prevent it from going stale and to see how much we have left. I decant my dishwasher pods into a clear container, again to see how many I have left. I decant snacks that go stale quickly and that don’t have resealable packages (Like Katianna, I use bag clips a lot, too. I like these ones because they have magnets for storing them on the fridge door).
Embrace Deli Containers and Labels
When I asked the chefs what organizational strategies from their professional kitchens they use at home, they all gave the same answer: Deli containers and labelling.
Deli containers are the cylindrical, lidded plastic containers professional kitchens use for everything from drinking water on the line to storing mise en place (prepped ingredients). “We can’t live without them,” says Alex. “And yes, I still eat and drink from them at home, just like at work.”
Bricia swears by the quart and pint deli containers for weekly meal prep at home. “They’re versatile, stackable, and easy to label with painter’s tape and a Sharpie. Always date your containers and organize them top to bottom in the fridge so that the oldest gets used first. This small practice saves time and prevents waste.” I’d also recommend getting a tape dispenser (this one even has a spot to hold your Sharpie).
While Alex and Bricia do tape and Sharpies, Katianna recommends getting a label maker. She uses a label maker at the restaurant for everything from bulk storage bins to office supplies. For home cooks, she suggests using labels to put purchase or expiration dates on spices, baking powder, and yeast.
Whether you are using a label maker or just writing your own labels on tape, the most important thing is to get in the habit of doing it. As Katianna explains, “when things are labeled, everyone can find them and also know where to put them away.” This year, I'm committing to labelling leftovers going into the fridge (what they are, the date they went in).
Be Slow to Bring In New Things
Once you’ve done all the work of purging and organizing your kitchen, the easiest way to maintain order is to be thoughtful about what new products you bring in. Alex suggests avoiding single task items like cherry pitters, since multitaskers are so much more space efficient. Katianna recommends using your the limits of your space limited space to keep a boundary on whatever you tend to hoard (for her, and many professional cooks, that means kitchen towels, which she keeps to a small drawer’s worth). Bricia recommends being wary of new gadgets and equipment, generally: “Don’t buy anything until your space is fully organized and you know exactly what you need.”
Other Great Organizing Products
These are products I use and have previously recommended in The New Family Table.
These tabs to bookmark and label recipes in your cookbooks.
These small containers with snap-off lids that a preschooler can open themself
These reusable silicone food storage bags that can go in the freezer and the dishwasher.
This recipe notebook for writing down family recipes or do what I do, and use it to take notes while developing your own. (Disclosure: I earn a commission on this one.)
And here’s a guide to the pantry & provisions staples I rely on for my home cooking and for recipes here at The New Family Table.
Have any favorite organizing products, tips, or strategies? Let me know in the comments!