What Celebrity Chef's Kitchens Really Look Like

When we watch most of our favorite celebrity chefs, they're not in their real home kitchens, of course. They're in studios and on sound stages, in kitchens outfitted by TV networks instead of the chefs and their families. And that doesn't really give you a glimpse into the life and style of your favorite chef.

But it's with an undeniable bit of curiosity that we all have to wonder what kind of kitchens they go home to, and where they're really whipping up lunch, dinner, and (probably) all sorts of in-between snacks for their families. What is Gordon Ramsay really cooking with? Does Ted Allen have a kitchen that's as classy as he is? Did Rachael Ray go for fun and eclectic?

Fortunately, many of your favorite celebrity chefs have shared bits and pieces of their lives — and their kitchens — on social media, so with a little bit of searching we can get a peek behind the curtain and see what life is like in the home of a celebrity chef... at least, a little bit.

When Pop Sugar got a look inside Giada De Laurentiis' home and specifically, her gorgeous kitchen, they found it was exactly what you would expect to see her coming home to. It's ultra sleek and super modern, with a gray, black, silver, and white color palette that's every bit as glamorous, chic, and welcoming as she is.

First, the counter space! There's enough there that it's going to make anyone and everyone jealous, even if you've just designed your own dream kitchen. Sure, white countertops might seem like a bit of a hassle, but that white marble pastry board is perfect for baking. There's a ton of cabinets, from floor to ceiling and still more inside a huge center island that's nothing short of majestic. Also there? A mini fridge, and here's the thing: There's also plenty of plants sitting in the windows, and a massive sofa not too far away from that massive island, perfect for hanging out on while everything's in the oven. And that all means it's the sort of kitchen — although it's super-chic and elegant — where you just know Sunday mornings are spent making French toast and parties of all shapes and sizes are hosted.

It's impossible to overstate the importance Julia Child played in shaping the world's culinary landscape as we know it today. On television and through her books, she reached out to several generations of cooks and not only made cooking something much less intimidating than it had been, but she taught everyone how food wasn't just important for nourishing the body, but for the soul as well. And that's why it's not entirely surprising that you can still see and visit her kitchen — in 2001, she donated it to the Smithsonian.

And it's gorgeous and comforting at the same time, even though — according to Bio — she had everything in this kitchen built to her stature. That means the counters are slightly higher than normal, and everything's just a little bigger. Let's be honest, who wouldn't want a kitchen like that?

There's all kinds of little touches in the kitchen, decorated in such a brilliantly retro set of 1950s-era colors. Copper pots and pans hang on the wall, each in their spot designated by husband Paul Child, who drew the outlines of the pans in the places they belonged. The kitchen was originally in her home in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and was turned into a set for filming the last of her television shows. She — and guests — used her personal cookware, and it's the same stuff you can still see at the museum.

Ina Garten — better known as the Barefoot Contessa — has a setup in East Hampton that most people can only dream of. According to Blue and White Home, her sprawling estate is both home and office; in addition to their main house, she also had a "barn" built for entertaining and for filming.

And the barn is a gorgeous building decorated in wood and white, one that most people would be perfectly happy to have as their main residence. It's the one you see on TV, with finishing touches like lamps on the counter and a massive butcher block. It's also the one that she shares the most of on her Instagram, but we also want to mention something else that's less frequently shared.

Town & Country reports that she also has an apartment in Manhattan, and in early 2018 she shared a photo of her new stove, complete with pot rack. It looks gorgeous, sure, but it's a huge deal. Garten reportedly partnered with a family-run French company called Lacanche to commission the $15,000 stove, which is one of only a relatively small number of units produced for American customers. It's good to be famous.

Fans are used to seeing Rachael Ray in the giant kitchen that is the set of her television show, but her real kitchen is the exact opposite. She told The Wall Street Journal, "If I put my arms out, I can reach from my refrigerator to my stove." The next time you think your kitchen is small, just remember that it's bigger than hers.

It's just as quirky and fun as she is, too. The kitchen — which is a part of her 1,800-square-foot home in New York City's East Village — has glass-fronted gray cabinets, dark blue appliances, and fun, funky orange mosaic tiles for a backsplash. She found those while she was in Italy, says Good Housekeeping, and the colorful mosaic perfectly matches the equally colorful dishware, towels, and bright orange kettles. It's tiny, sure, but Ray and her husband, John Cusimano, absolutely love it. She says the home — which features about one room on each of the narrow six stories — feels like a treehouse, and she's not going anywhere, she says, until "[they] carry me out of it in a box."

Is Ted Allen's home kitchen as classy and as well put-together as he is? Absolutely.

Food & Wine sat down with Allen and his partner, Barry Rice, who also happens to be an interior decorator. And it looks exactly like you would expect a kitchen to look when it's been put together in a collaboration between a designer and a culinary professional.

The house actually dates back to the 19th century, but you would never know it from the ultra-modern kitchen with its stainless steel, granite, and dark wood. The massive stove is built into the kitchen island, and there's a super comfortable-looking bench sitting opposite the island for the lucky person who's just watching the cooking, not doing it. There's a completely separate fridge and freezer (perfect for storing frozen meals they can reheat after a long day), and light fixtures that use xenon bulbs instead of halogen to cut down on the heat. There's also three sinks, and they're all operated with foot pedals because, Allen says, "I'm a fanatic about food safety."

In 2019, Alex Guarnaschelli got to do what many of us only dream of being able to do: Build a brand new kitchen in her home, backed by the experience, know-how, and bankroll of a professional chef. And the results are gorgeous — a kitchen you would never expect to find in a Bridgehampton, New York farmhouse that was originally built in 1925.

She told Food & Wine that she was very, very adamant about what she wanted in her kitchen, and no amount of convincing from decorators was going to change her mind. She wanted a ton of wide open, empty space, and a lot of light — the latter, mostly because she had spent decades working in rooms with no windows and no natural light.

Her other must-haves? A wine fridge (that she also uses for fermenting pickles and sauerkraut), a sink-and-dishwasher combo for food prep dishes and another pair for serving dishes, a ton of outlets, transparent cabinets, and a sink that's close to the stove. All that's wrapped up in a package that's mostly beige and stainless steel with red highlights, a mix of vintage Americana with a super modern feel. And what's in her fridge? A ton of condiments and many, many jars of pickles.