Hedley & Bennett’s Ellen Bennett is tackling kitchen design for Tastemade with Kitchen Glow Up. While Ellen Bennett might not be a household name just yet, her aprons are sought after by everyone from the world’s best chefs, amateur household cooks and did we mention the Emmy-Award winning cast of The Bear?
As the founder and CEO of widely successful apron and kitchen gear brand Hedley & Bennett, the chef, author, designer and mother is now taking on TV hosting duties with Tastemade’s Kitchen Glow Up. In each episode, Bennett, or EB as she’s more commonly known, will take on the task of redesigning kitchens from a chef’s point of view. Beyondish caught up with EB to chat about the show, kitchen design, fried branzino and more.
You’re going from aprons to hosting a TV show. How exciting! Tell us how this amazing collaboration came to be.
It has been so fun and rewarding. I’ve known Andrew Zimmern for at least 10 years and when we met we always said we were going to do something together one day. Originally I met him through Hedley & Bennett and he was an early supporter of our aprons. I love that we’ve been able to create this beautiful relationship together through my company and also rock the partnership on the show to have those two worlds collide. It really went full circle.
What’s the most surprising or challenging thing you’ve learned in the process of working on “Kitchen Glow Up?”
Most design renovation shows stop at the cabinets. Everything is about the surface – like painting the walls, choosing the countertops, etc. On Kitchen Glow Up, we start with the interiors. We purge every single cabinet, clean every single corner, and go through all the random trash bags hidden under your sink. It’s quite the opposite of the other shows you see. It’s so deeply rooted in function, so I feel like everyone can enjoy the show. It’s about where all your tools go and how the kitchen flows, something everyone can use.
Have you always been interested in home design and remodeling?
I’ve always loved design. The idea of taking something basic and elevating it is very fun and I get a lot of joy from it. Just because it’s a pantry doesn’t mean it can’t look good and work well too. Even a fridge, there’s a way to make it look magical. That’s what I love about design – you can design interiors of anything from closets to refrigerators.
Fun fact: when I was 14, I lived somewhat close to a Home Depot and I convinced my mom to give me money to go buy some paint and I painted her entire living room, kitchen, bathroom and bedroom over the span of a couple of weeks. She totally embraced it and that gave me the wings to feel like I could design anything.
What is one tip to refresh or organize your kitchen that you can share with our readers?
One tip would be to pick a singular type of container vessel for your pantry. Go with all plastic or glass. Have the same color lids and labels. It’s easier to store, wash and view when you have one type of container. The Neat Method has some really beautiful containers that I highly recommend looking at. I’m also highly obsessed with retractable drawer dividers. It’s an easy way to split up your kitchen drawers/tools. Instead of looking for the perfect drawer container, you can get dividers on Amazon that allow you to use the entirety of the drawer.
Was there one kitchen that you found most challenging?
There was one that we had a $10,000 budget for and it was tiny. So instead of sticking to the kitchen, we turned it inside out and expanded into the hallway, took over half of the husband’s office to turn into a wine room/pantry, and also used part of the dining room. That allowed the main kitchen to get the room to fit only the things they use for cooking and move the other things to other areas. If you have a tiny kitchen, think about using areas around it. The only rule on that is to make sure the areas are connected to the kitchen in some way. You don’t want to walk across the whole house.
Now, since this is for “On the Dish,” do you have a favorite dish you make in your own kitchen?
Currently I’m very into fried branzino. Take a full branzino, cut some slits, split down the middle, season it with 5 to 6 cloves of garlic grated on a microplane, take lime juice and squeeze over the garlic, and rub salt all over the branzino. Let it sit for 30 minutes and then fry it for 3-5 minutes. Serve it as tacos with salsa and cucumbers. It’s so easy to make and fun to serve to guests coming over. It’s something delicious but also beautiful and easy to produce, so that’s my go-to right now.
What’s the one kitchen staple you cannot live without?
A sharp knife. Everyone needs a great quality knife that is sharp when you get it and when it gets dull you have the tools to continue to sharpen it. You can get a whetstone or honing steel to sharpen.
Obviously designing aprons and running a company poses its own challenges and rewards. How would you compare your experience with Hedley & Bennett to hosting a TV show on kitchen design and remodeling? Were there lessons you’ve learned that carried over?
Season 1 of any show is extremely entrepreneurial. You’re building the plane as you’re flying it. There were moments when we were doing five kitchens at once, so we’d be designing one while tearing out was happening for another. It reminded me of the early days at Hedley & Bennett. I will have done every job of the inner guts for the making of the show, just like when I started my company. The best managers are the people who have done all of the jobs and know what to look for or what the standards should be. It might be stressful not having a roadmap, but there’s a beauty in figuring it all out. The stress turned out to be a gift because we got to do everything ourselves and in the future, we’ll be able to change and adjust that.
When you’re not cooking in your own kitchen, do you have any favorite restaurants or dishes you indulge in on days off?
I love Sushi Gen in Little Tokyo. It’s an old-school sushi space that’s iconic and amazing. I’m also a huge fan of Valerie Confections in Echo Park for coffee, pastries, pie and sandwiches. Another favorite of all time is Park’s BBQ in Koreatown. Also, I’m currently beyond obsessed with boba. It has been my post-pregnancy craving. I have been going to Jin Tea Shop for boba a lot.
Is your own kitchen as organized as the ones you organize on “Kitchen Glow Up?”
My kitchen is 85% organized, most of the time. But just like any kitchen, it requires maintenance. In the same way every Sunday I go grocery shopping, I have to put things back where they go. I clean out and scrub down the fridge once a month. I find a therapeutic session with myself to decant the products I bought at the store and put things in their right bins. This is not just for the purpose of my pantry to look good, but if you can see the product, you’ll use it. If it’s buried behind things it will go bad. Take the time to organize your space so you have less food waste. Everything has a parking spot and you should return things to where they belong and you’ll have a much more enjoyable experience cooking.
AUTHOR
Elizabeth Hazard is a writer, producer and photography editor. Her work has appeared in various publications and she writes frequently about art, culture, fashion and history.
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