| | Published February 4th, 2009
| Miramonte Benefit: Heart of the Home Kitchen Tour-February 11th
| | By Andrea A. Firth |  | | Sara Menke with daughter Peyton and son Asher are pictured at the five-seat dining bar in
their newly remodeled kitchen in Orinda Photo A. Firth
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The upcoming Heart of the Home Kitchen Tour will showcase six beautifully remodeled kitchens throughout Orinda. From 9:30am to 12:30pm on February 11th, patrons are invited to visit the variety of homes and kitchens that have been assembled for the Tour ranging from a contemporary Italian-styled kitchen within a vintage 1930's Art Deco home to a country-style kitchen featuring a warm color palette with copper hood and sink to a cozy family kitchen with a baking station, seating nook, and recycling features.
Not to be missed is the newly remodeled kitchen and pantry in the Menke family's Mediterranean style home. It's worth the mile-long trek up their steep and winding street to enjoy the vista and witness the transformation of this 1950's cinderblock home into an Italian paradise. "Supposedly this house was built with more cement than any house in Orinda," states Sara Menke, "It even has a bomb shelter."
Sara, her husband, and three young children have lived in the home for three years. They worked with Orinda contractor Jerry Texdale to convert what had been a red-walled kitchen with shiny, black marble tops into a warm, open contemporary-styled kitchen with Italian accents that more aptly suits the style of the home and their family. The deep brown cabinets are made with an exotic Italian wood, appropriately named Penelli Sapelli, and paired with honed granite in honey black sand and warm yellow and sand-colored tones on the walls and floors. The kitchen includes kid-friendly refrigerator drawers and a family-fitting, five-seat dining bar. A spacious pantry adjacent to the kitchen houses a large refrigerator and looks out onto the patio. Large six to eight foot windows provide impressive views of the Moraga Valley on one side and Lost Valley and the Oakland Hills on the other.
The Heart of the Home Kitchen Tour will also include designers from Studio Mehler in San Francisco, who will be on hand in two kitchens to answer questions. Orinda-based artist Allison McCrady will offer four paintings in a silent auction and Ron Morgan of Loot in Lafayette will provide a floral arrangement for the raffle. Several other prizes will be available for raffle ticket purchase at the kitchens. Proceeds from the Tour will go toward grad night for the current Miramonte Junior class.
Tour tickets cost $25.00 and are available at McDonnell Nursery, Orinda Books, Entourage, Allison McCrady Gallery, Lazy K Nursery. Miramonte families can also purchase through the school's web store.
Tour Hotline: 925 235-7232.
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Lamorinda Weekly, Moraga CA