Owner's Voice Vol. 21 Master of Chinese Cuisine Chef Kinya Komoda

This time we visited the home of Kinya Komoda, a master of Chinese cuisine and owner-chef of 4000 Chinese Restaurant Minami-Aoyama.
Come in! The eye-catching item in the room that greeted us with a friendly smile was the passion orange "iNO".
The positive and energetic color matches his own impression.
We asked Mr. and Mrs. Komoda about their encounter with the kitchen and its actual usability.

It was love at first sight at the showroom. I couldn't think of anything else."

The two sons are now independent and have left home, so we took the plunge and remodeled the LDK," says Ms. Komoda.
In the Komoda's case, however, the purpose of the renovation was not to create a compact space for the couple alone, but to create a space where they could relax when their independent children came to visit as a family.
To this end, the kitchen, which had been freestanding and wall-mounted, was connected to the LD to create an island style, and the dark-colored floors and walls were updated to brighter shades.
The passion orange iNO was chosen for the clean and spacious one-room space.

The previous kitchen was small and the equipment was old, so I wanted to give it a modern look, so I went to a Toyo Kitchen Style showroom through an introduction from the design company.
I fell in love with the orange iNO at first sight.
The moment I saw it, I couldn't think of anything else," says Komoda.

Before visiting the showroom, Mr. Komoda had planned to create a chic, hotel-like interior, but he fell under the spell of passion orange and decided to change his plans at a moment's notice.
Mrs. Komoda says, "My husband said, 'I like this one,' and he wouldn't move from in front of the orange kitchen.
I showed him other kitchens, but he wouldn't budge.
He was definitely impressed by this kitchen.

The kitchen, equipped with a sense of excitement, is doubly easy to use!

Mr. Komoda explained why he liked it so much.
First of all, the color.
I was struck by the bright and cheerful colors.
This is nothing to do with my wife, but orange is also my lucky color.
And since our house has a staircase in the living room, I always pass by the kitchen when I go upstairs to the bedrooms.
At that time, I thought it would be exciting to have this color in the room.
I think such things are quite important in our daily lives.

His wife agrees.
At first, I couldn't imagine my house with orange in it, but it's true that this kitchen has an exciting feeling that you can't find anywhere else.
I thought it would brighten up the room and make me feel refreshed, so I agreed to the change of plan.

In addition, he says, he also liked the unique design.
The counter space allows us to eat in the kitchen without the dining table, which was attractive to us because we wanted to have more room to spread out.

The couple installed a built-in Miele dishwasher and heating system in the iNO.
The dishwasher is the wife's favorite of all.
The dishwasher is very convenient because it has a large capacity and can wash dishes and cooking utensils well.
I wish we had gotten it sooner.

After dishes are washed, they go into a storage cabinet behind the dishwasher, and cooking utensils go into a drawer in the kitchen.
The high level of functionality, which allows her to do everything from washing dishes to cleaning up without moving, as well as cooking, is a quality that she has realized anew since she started using it.

Bring the positive power of orange into your living space.

Another item that won Mr. Komoda's heart, for whom orange is his lucky color, was a sofa from the "Tsudoi" series wrapped in a velvet-like fabric.

Like the kitchen, I was a little hesitant to choose an orange sofa at first," she says with a laugh, "but I liked the comfort of the Tsudoi sofa.
The one I had before was too soft and my back hurt after sitting on it for a long time, but this one doesn't sink down so easily, so it's easy to sit up and down.

Mr. Komoda also commented, "My eldest son, his wife, and my second son are good friends, and they often come over for dinner.
At first, I thought, 'An orange kitchen? An orange sofa? But when they saw them in person, they complimented them, saying, "They look pretty nice! They praise the kitchen and sofas.
Just the other day, my wife's mother and my cousin's children came to visit.
They were all surprised to see this room, in a good way.

The orange sofa is also the favorite place of the Komoda family's idol, a toy poodle named Kurumi.
She jumped on the sofa as soon as it was brought into the room and is now completely at home on it.
Kurumi's black fur matches the orange color quite well, which is a nice touch.