Copyright The Philadelphia Inquirer
My brother and friends make fun of me because I don’t usually have much food in my fridge. But I have more than a couple sauces and dinner leftovers from a restaurant — which is all my colleagues found in a James Beard Award-nominated chef’s home fridge during a recent tour. Now I can’t call myself any kind of chef, but I’m feeling a sense of vindication anyway. Jesse Ito of Royal Sushi & Izakaya and dancerobot has a sparsely stocked kitchen because he spends most of his time at the restaurants. He said he eats simply at home. Come along as he and four other prominent Philly chefs take us inside their home kitchens. Keep scrolling for that story and more in this week’s edition: 📮Do you keep a full fridge or a more minimalist one like Ito and I do? Share your philosophy and what you have in your fridge. — Michaelle Bond If someone forwarded you this email, sign up for free here. Jesse Ito recently took my colleagues Kiki Aranita and Gabe Coffey on a tour of the kitchen in his apartment. He showed them what he calls his “cheapest, most useful tool” and “the scariest tool in any kitchen.” My colleagues also took a look inside the home kitchens of Their kitchens include commercial equipment, simple tools, and cookbooks. Keep reading for the chefs’ tips for your own home kitchens and video tours inside theirs. Do you know how old the typical first-time homebuyer is? (Hint: These buyers are getting older.) That’s one of the questions in a quiz I put together to test readers’ knowledge of the housing market. Questions are based off the latest data from the National Association of Realtors. Every year, the organization surveys recent homebuyers and sellers across the country to get a sense of who they are, how they’re making deals happen, and the types of homes that are changing hands. The latest report was released Tuesday and looks at home sales from July 2024 to June 2025. Here’s a sample of other quiz questions: Take my quiz to see how much you know about recent home sale trends. The latest news to pay attention to Vintage and contemporary furniture fills the basement and first floor of a Bella Vista townhouse owned by David Rosenwasser and Elisa Medina-Jaudes. But the pieces aren’t for them to use. These floors make up the furniture gallery that they operate from their home. The couple lives on the second and third floors of the three-story townhouse. The third floor is a purely private space. But the second floor — including the kitchen, living room, and dining room — also is an entertainment space and an extended gallery for work events. Medina-Jaudes, an architect, and Rosenwasser spent 18 months renovating their townhouse. They had to make some compromises so the house worked as both a furniture gallery and their living space. Peek inside their house and see the pieces they’re selling and the ones they’re sitting on. 📷 Photo quiz Do you know the location this photo shows? 📮 If you think you do, email me back. Last week’s quiz featured a photo of the Edgar Allan Poe National Historic Site. The raven statue was a big hint. Shout-out to Mark B. for being the first reader to email me with the right answer. Enjoy the rest of your week.
