Since Eppie’s is a study in efficiency, serving up the food we crave before we can even reach the end of the counter, it comes as no surprise that flow was at the top of owner Dan Epstein’s list when renovating his home kitchen.
Dan, his wife Kate, and their 2-year-old daughter, Libby, moved into the house in the Greenbrier neighborhood this summer and got straight to work on the kitchen, commissioning Formwork Design to do the drawings and Jeff Barratt to do the build-out.
With a busy toddler on their hands, the goal was to make the kitchen and living area one big room with enough counter space to make their Sunday brunch ritual—challah bread French toast—a cinch. Dan, the head cook in the family, makes the entire loaf so they’ll have quick leftovers to look forward to on Monday morning —with coffee from his beloved Aeropress for Mom and Dad.
Dinner’s at home almost every night with lasagne and spaghetti (made with Kate’s Crockpot meat sauce) among Libby’s favorites, no doubt because it’s a messy meal she gets to enjoy naked.
Dan loves roasting chicken and carnitas in his royal blue Dutch oven, listening to music and taking his time. “Cooking at home doesn’t require the same sense of urgency as the restaurant does,” he said. Yet clearly it’s still something he values: “I just wish the sink would drain faster.”