Out of the Frying Pan: Social Kitchen Set-Up for Healthy Living
Self-sufficiency is key in this contemporary family home, where chickens, bees and a vegetable garden make clean eating easy
Restaurateur Nic Watt and his wife Kelly, along with their two children Kiana and Lucas – not to mention Eddie the dog, and the chickens and bees – live in the last of a row of four townhouses in Kohimarama in Auckland’s eastern suburbs.
The home borders the local school grounds and has a large, leafy backyard, giving it a feeling of seclusion. The house provides a place for the family to unwind from a busy working life at the popular Japanese robata restaurant Masu by Nic Watt – and their new venture True Food & Yoga, which opens at the end of June. This family of four has a hectic schedule, and the kitchen is central to it.
The home borders the local school grounds and has a large, leafy backyard, giving it a feeling of seclusion. The house provides a place for the family to unwind from a busy working life at the popular Japanese robata restaurant Masu by Nic Watt – and their new venture True Food & Yoga, which opens at the end of June. This family of four has a hectic schedule, and the kitchen is central to it.
The entertaining space is open-plan and has a natural flow. The living, dining, outdoor and pool areas are interconnected, which creates a social environment. “The kitchen is the centre of the home,” says Nic. “You can see everyone.”
The island in the middle of the kitchen allows the family to interact while the kids eat their afternoon tea or watch TV, and Nic and Kelly prepare dinner. The kitchen is bathed in light and the floor-to-ceiling louvres around the house allow for plenty of controlled airflow.
The island in the middle of the kitchen allows the family to interact while the kids eat their afternoon tea or watch TV, and Nic and Kelly prepare dinner. The kitchen is bathed in light and the floor-to-ceiling louvres around the house allow for plenty of controlled airflow.
A deck leads off from the kitchen and runs out to the pool. The kitchen also looks out to the nearby school fields: Kelly loves the fact that she can see Lucas and his friends at lunch time.
Back inside, the living area comes alive with blocks of colour dotted throughout the home; yellow makes a regular appearance. Nic’s brother gave them the large horse painting by the Chinese-American artist Walasse Ting.
Back inside, the living area comes alive with blocks of colour dotted throughout the home; yellow makes a regular appearance. Nic’s brother gave them the large horse painting by the Chinese-American artist Walasse Ting.
The family eats dinner together every night during the week; they split their time between the couch, and the outside and inside tables. The colourful dining chairs and white lion-legged table are certainly a focal point in the dining area. Both are from Republic.
Little needed to be done to the kitchen when they moved in – it’s relatively new. The only problem is a lack of storage for their appliances. The overflow of appliances currently occupies the space beside – and sometimes on top of – the Bosch hob. “A walk-in pantry is on my wish list,” says Kelly.
Well-used appliances help the family stay healthy. Two of their favourites are the Oscar juicer and Kenwood Chef Series mixer. Daily smoothies are made with ingredients such as oats, Maca powder (a powdered superfood root), berries and honey with rice milk.
Kelly is a tinkerer, says Nic, and enjoys creating things from scratch. The Watt household has homemade kombucha every day: the flavour changes with the seasons and the fruit they have in the garden.
Kelly is a tinkerer, says Nic, and enjoys creating things from scratch. The Watt household has homemade kombucha every day: the flavour changes with the seasons and the fruit they have in the garden.
Kelly is also an avid tea drinker, having between six and eight cups a day – she says it’s the British in her. Her tea collection is wide and includes tea from New Zealand artisan tea makers Storm and India. The 25-year-old green tea roll Kelly brought back from her last trip overseas is from the 200-year-old Huxinting Teahouse in Shanghai.
The kitchen fruit bowl provides another opportunity to add pops of colour.
Seen here, the bright yellow fruit is a Buddha’s hand – a type of citrus with a beautiful perfume. It’s used to finish salads both at the restaurant and at home.
Seen here, the bright yellow fruit is a Buddha’s hand – a type of citrus with a beautiful perfume. It’s used to finish salads both at the restaurant and at home.
The Nespresso machine is a favourite in the family: every morning, Lucas brings Kelly and Nic a coffee. Nic prefers Nespresso as a teaser before his regular Allpress coffee at work, since it is “a sneaky bit under-caffeinated, but gives you that hit you need,” he says. They also use it to steam milk for Kelly’s macha tea. The Japanese aesthetic from restaurant to home is evident again through their beautiful ceramics and wooden Japanese tea mixer.
The family’s end goal is self-sufficiency; they dream of owning a place on Waiheke island to spread out. In the meantime, the family’s chickens – Monarch, Yolky, Ninja and DJ – provide the family with a dozen or two eggs a week.
Also on the wish list is a rooster for so-called ‘chicken whisperer’ Nic, although he says the “neighbours wouldn’t be very happy about that”. Eddie the wheaten terrier, meanwhile, does a good job of treating the livestock as friends and not food.
Also on the wish list is a rooster for so-called ‘chicken whisperer’ Nic, although he says the “neighbours wouldn’t be very happy about that”. Eddie the wheaten terrier, meanwhile, does a good job of treating the livestock as friends and not food.
The Eglu chicken hutch is located in the far corner of the Watts’ property, beside the beehive. Although the chickens have an enclosed area with a small run, they are given free range of the property. The only downside is the mess they make.
As well as having chickens producing fresh eggs, the Watt family has a horizontal beehive that produces more honey than they can eat. Nic and Kelly now bottle the excess and give it to neighbours.
Recycling and reusable resources are found throughout the kitchen, ranging from old tea tins to Honey Wraps, which have multiple uses around the house – from sealing honey or kombucha pots to wrapping sandwiches for school lunches.
Recycling and reusable resources are found throughout the kitchen, ranging from old tea tins to Honey Wraps, which have multiple uses around the house – from sealing honey or kombucha pots to wrapping sandwiches for school lunches.
The deck adjacent to the kitchen acts as a space for the herb garden. Large concrete troughs house various plants used to season and flavour the family’s meals. Nic says his children love to build and create – a trait reflected in the garden’s homemade terrariums.
The bookshelf under the island in the kitchen holds whatever is currently inspiring them – the cookbooks evolve depending on the project the pair is working on.
At the moment the books are made up of Japanese and raw- inspired cookbooks in the lead-up to the opening of True Food & Yoga, a wholefoods cafe and yoga space in an historic 1930s building on the waterfront in Kohimarama.
Although the couple cooks a lot of Japanese-style food, they are not limited by it, always trying new cuisines and exploring flavours, while trying to cook as ‘clean’ as possible. “I never follow recipes,” says Kelly – she uses cookbooks to gain ideas, not follow step by step.
At the moment the books are made up of Japanese and raw- inspired cookbooks in the lead-up to the opening of True Food & Yoga, a wholefoods cafe and yoga space in an historic 1930s building on the waterfront in Kohimarama.
Although the couple cooks a lot of Japanese-style food, they are not limited by it, always trying new cuisines and exploring flavours, while trying to cook as ‘clean’ as possible. “I never follow recipes,” says Kelly – she uses cookbooks to gain ideas, not follow step by step.
The majority of the space in the fridge is consumed by glass bottles and containers filled with healthy ingredients. Lots of colour, flavour and spice for a busy and colourful visual delight.
The wooden chopping board is Nic’s favourite, gifted by his mother 14 years ago. The thick, well-loved board is double sided, with a dip in the middle. “It has plenty of lifetimes ahead of it,” says Nic.
The house is a great social space, with the kitchen and living area flowing out to the well-used barbecue. Large spaces and multiple dining areas allow for many a guest to fit comfortably. “We have plenty of plates, that’s for sure,” says Kelly. The entertaining style at the Watts home is relaxed and not fussy, according to Nic. They like to provide simple and seasonal meals, which they spread out on surfaces for their guests to help themselves to. “The point of having friends over is to tear bread and drink wine,” says Nic.
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Who lives here: Restaurateurs Nic and Kelly Watt, and their two children Kiana, 10 and Lucas, 7
Location: Kohimarama, Auckland, New Zealand
Style: Contemporary/eclectic
Nic and Kelly bought the house sight unseen (though Nic’s parents had visited) from London, where they had been living for 10 years, and they moved in three years ago. The house has a modern aesthetic with high ceilings and lots of windows. “It’s greenhouse-warm – heating up in the sun but cooling down very fast at night,” says Kelly.
Only the third owners to occupy the place, the Watts have splashed around plenty of colour and added eclectic elements throughout to make the space a home.