Amano Kitchen Consulting

Turning Your Kitchen Into Your Hearth.

Commercial kitchen with stainless steel appliances including an oven and stove, copper pipes on the wall, and gray tiled walls.

A chef’s insight into your kitchen layout and design

WHAT WE OFFER

Amano Kitchen Consulting works in cooperation with your project team to identify and meet your unique kitchen needs. We are not architects, interior designers, or builders; rather, founder Hugh Amano applies over 25 years of experience as a professional chef, cookbook author, and culinary instructor to understand the needs of each homeowner and restaurateur, collaborating with the project team to create solutions tailored to each client.

Over 25 years in professional and residential kitchens

OUR EXPERIENCE

A chef cooking in a commercial kitchen, lifting the lid off a large pot, with steam rising, wearing a black shirt and an apron.

A wealth of experience gained over 25 years of working in professional, residential, and resort kitchens—consulting on the design of many of those kitchens—allows us to deeply understand what’s at the core of good cooking, lively entertaining, and gracious hospitality. Our experience cooking with and for individual clients in their homes, along with founder Hugh Amano’s experience writing cookbooks for the home cook, allows us to be able to identify and understand each client’s unique needs. We’re not after showroom kitchens—we want to help build your kitchen.

Collaboration across the board

THE PROCESS

Interior of a room under construction with unfinished brick and concrete walls, a window showing greenery outside, and construction tools and woodwork scattered around.
Blueprint or architectural drawing on paper resting on a wooden surface.
Modern kitchen and dining area with wooden furniture, white countertops, pendant lights, and a green plant visible through a glass door.

Our process is simple: we start by meeting with each client to explore their culinary needs. From there, we’ll collaborate with the entire project team to review and, if needed, adjust floor plans, large equipment selection, and basic layout of the kitchen. We’ll discuss the outfitting of the kitchen with cookware and any other small equipment required and, if desired, assist in its procurement and placement. Finally, clients can choose to book one-on-one time in a session (or series of sessions) tailor-made to instruct them on the best and proper use of their new kitchen to make the most of it. After all, we are not private chefs—we want to teach you to become your own private chef.

New home builds and kitchen remodels are performed by architects, whose talents focus on structural design and code compliance, and interior designers, who emphasize aesthetics and materials within the home.

Amano Kitchen Consulting elevates the functionality of the kitchen’s layout and its equipment, applying our deep culinary experience, knowledge, and ability to understand each client’s needs to ensure customization to their specific culinary, homemaking, and entertaining desires.

OUR WORK

Kitchens we’ve consulted on:

  • 3 Corporate Headquarters across Chicago’s West Loop

  • James Beard Award-Winning Restaurant, Chicago, IL

  • Luxury Guest Resort, Kamas, UT

  • Bar and Restaurant, Teton Valley, ID

  • Various Residences, Chicago, IL

Our other work in the culinary field:

  • 25 years as a professional chef, including:

    • Corporate Chef cooking solo for 100+ people per day

    • Chef for several restaurants (including Bon Appetit’s #4 New Restaurant in America)

    • Culinary Instructor

  • Published author:

    • Down South + East (Abrams Books 2026)

    • Let's Make Dumplings! (Ten Speed Press 2021)

    • Let's Make Ramen! (Ten Speed Press 2019)

    • The Adventures of Fat Rice (Ten Speed Press 2016)

    • Bon Vivant Culinary Journal

GET IN TOUCH

Tell us about the kitchen of your dreams

Black and white illustration of Leonardo da Vinci's anatomical drawing of the human hand and arm, with detailed muscles and bones.
CONTACT US