Kitchens

"The Help" is a delicious peppery stew of home-cooked, 1960s Southern-style racism that serves up a soulful dish of what ails us and what heals us. Laughter, which is ladled on thick as gravy, proves to be the secret ingredient — turning what should be a feel-bad movie about those troubled times into a heart-warming surprise. The movie is richly flavored by the work of a sprawling cast that puts the exceptional Viola Davis and Emma Stone at the film's impassioned center, with the scene-stealing tang of Octavia Spencer and the sweet-tart of Jessica Chastain thankfully never far away.

Restaurant chain California Pizza Kitchen Inc. will move its headquarters to Playa Vista after signing a sublease with Fox Interactive Media. CPK officials and staff will relocate this summer from their longtime headquarters on Century Boulevard near Los Angeles International Airport to the top floor of 12181 Bluff Creek Drive, said real estate broker Dave Toomey of Cresa Los Angeles. The pizza chain will occupy 33,000 square feet on the fifth floor, which has a large private balcony with views of Marina del Rey, Toomey said.

My children will starve in the new kitchens. They won't recognize the refrigerators (there'll be more than one), and they won't be able to find the dishwasher. They'll stand in the middle of what looks like a family room, empty plates in their hands, surrounded by juicers, blenders, pasta and bread makers, and whine, "There's nothing to eat." But they do that anyway.

PITTSBURGH - Jon Rubin had an important question, and he knew where to find the answer: at the North Korean Embassy in Cuba, which he was visiting in March on a business trip. A man in jogging clothes and flip-flops came to the embassy gate after Rubin and his small entourage of fellow Americans rang the doorbell at the ornate diplomatic mission on a tree-lined street in Havana's Vedado neighborhood. The Americans posed the question: What exactly do they eat in North Korea?

Until I bought my first and only house six years ago, it never occurred to me that I might take on a kitchen remodel. I was an apartment dweller, with apartment dweller logic. Kitchens came with a place. The way to transform a kitchen into my kitchen was to put my cast-iron pots on the stove and my scales on the counter and to hang up the French dish towel rack with labels above the hook for what each towel may touch: hands, glasses, plates, cutlery. Presto. Home.

In one kitchen, Bob Suchyta perfects his muffins and brownies, trying to build a business in case the economy costs him his radio job. In another, Chelsea Britt, a recent college graduate, bakes in hopes of keeping her dad's panforte business going. In a third kitchen, Robyn Chandonnet prepares vegan raw cheesecakes. There are dozens of stories behind the bowls and stoves and recipes at Chef's Kitchens, an incubator for food businesses.

Michael Voltaggio has no idea how many tattoos he has. The question makes him laugh. The wise-cracking 33-year-old chef is pretty well covered. The name of his restaurant, after all, is Ink. Before dinner service on a recent Friday, Voltaggio plays around with an insulated bucket of liquid nitrogen, dipping his hand in it and tossing the residue on the floor where it morphs, CGI-like, into little rolling marbles of chemistry before dissolving into wisps...

During chef Ludo Lefebvre's one-night gig at Akasha in Culver City this year, the top of a white chef's hat could be seen barely peeking above the counter back in the kitchen. Jacob Greenberg, an 18-year-old senior at the Oakwood School, had hoped to get a reservation for the French chef's famous fried chicken pop-up dinner, but by the time he called — just an hour after the meal was announced on food blogs across the city — there was already a waiting list. But the mom of one of his friends is an acquaintance of chef Akasha Richmond and tried to pull a few strings to get him a table.

IN America's rush to duplicate every indoor room in the great outdoors, kitchens seem to be a favorite. Forget for a moment the recent spate of outdoor living rooms, sleeping pavilions and elaborate spas springing up across the land. They add minimally to one's gastronomic social status. But a well-planned outdoor kitchen? It can transform a garden or deck into a kind of island resort, where great friends and great flavors mingle under sun or stars.

If your rock band is good enough to survive indefinitely but will never be the next big thing, you might become a bit discouraged and cynical. At which point you can either pack it in or, like Kitchens of Distinction, put on a show that pivots on your discouragement and cynicism.

Michael Voltaggio has no idea how many tattoos he has. The question makes him laugh. The wise-cracking 33-year-old chef is pretty well covered. The name of his restaurant, after all, is Ink. Before dinner service on a recent Friday, Voltaggio plays around with an insulated bucket of liquid nitrogen, dipping his hand in it and tossing the residue on the floor where it morphs, CGI-like, into little rolling marbles of chemistry before dissolving into wisps...

After leasing her West Hollywood house out last year, "Gossip Girl" actress Kelly Rutherford has returned it to the market at $1.099 million. The Spanish bungalow, built in 1926, features a living room with fireplace that opens to a sky-lighted dining room, an updated kitchen, two bedrooms and 13/4 bathrooms. The deck contains a bar and a built-in barbecue. Rutherford, 43, plays husband-hopping Lily van der Woodsen on "Gossip Girl" (2007-present). She was also in the series "E-Ring" (2005-06)

A condominium in West Hollywood owned by comic actor Milton Berle and his wife, Lorna, has come on the market at $695,000. The Shoreham Towers condo has views of downtown L.A., Santa Monica and the ocean. The one-bedroom, 11/2-bathroom unit features an updated kitchen and motorized window shades. Floor-to-ceiling stacking glass doors open to a balcony with a counter and seating. The high-rise building includes a pool, a gym and a doorman. Berle, who died in 2002 at 93, was an early television star following work in vaudeville, on the stage and in radio.

If you're a fan of soft-boiled eggs, or just like to enjoy your breakfast in the comfort of its own shell, you might consider splurging on an egg topper. Egg toppers are meant to cleanly remove the top of the tapered end of the egg. Properly executed, the shell pops off, revealing an opening just large enough to fit a small spoon. No mess, no problem. A spring-loaded topper looks a little like a mini-plunger, with a base that fits neatly over the egg. Pull the handle back, then release; the vibrations should cause the blade just inside the base to crack the top of the shell in a neat line.

"No Kitchen Required" is a new show from BBC America in which three chefs from three corners of the English-speaking world travel to remote locations to have their way with the native cuisine, and vice versa. If the words"Top Chef" and"Survivor" were not uttered in the same sentence at some time while this series was being pitched, I will eat my own cooking. All the chefs have appeared on reality TV, but in the 21st century that is just what chefs do. Michelin-starred Michael Psilakis has been on "Iron Chef"; probably not coincidentally, he is an executive producer of this show.

Actor Christopher Lloyd has listed his Montecito house for sale at $6.45 million. He built the Umbria-inspired country home after the house he had on the site was destroyed in a 2008 wild fire. Recently completed, the single-level ocean-view house features a double-island kitchen, four bedrooms, 41/2 bathrooms and 4,600 square feet of living space. The five-acre site includes a pool, a spa, gardens, fountains, an expansive lawn and a Bocce ball court. Lloyd, 73, is widely known for his roles in the sitcom "Taxi" (1978-83)

Imagine a fully networked kitchen with pots and pans, utensils, appliances and ingredients loaded with sensors and links. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Media Lab in Cambridge is conjuring just that--inventing new domestic devices for the most sensory-rich place in the home.

THE backsplash is a small area that can make a big difference in your kitchen's personality. Although cabinets are often the first concern -- and where most of the money goes -- the backsplash is "a wonderful opportunity to do something fun, colorful and unusual," says designer James Swan of Beverly Hills-based James Swan & Co. With so many options, the process can be confusing. How to decide between glass or ceramic tile? Solid color or pattern?

Mireya Ingham follows her favorite food trucks on Twitter so she knows when the movable feasts set up curbside in her East Hollywood neighborhood. But some recent foodie tweets are giving her heartburn: A state lawmaker wants to significantly limit where lunch wagons can operate, keeping them even farther from schools than marijuana dispensaries. That could put many of the mobile kitchens out of business just as the industry is surging with creativity. Dozens of colorfully painted trucks have hit the road throughout California, serving gourmet dishes to largely young epicures and becoming nearly as emblematic of the state as surfboards and convertibles.