Julia Child's Kitchen: The Design, Tools, Stories, and Legacy of an Iconic Space

Julia Child's Kitchen is a deep dive into the beloved cookbook author and television star’s favorite place in the world—her home kitchen—and how this space has influenced the ways we cook today.

Foreword by Jacques Pépin

Julia Child's 20’ x 14’ kitchen was a serious workspace and recipe‑testing lab that exuded a sense of mid‑century homey comfort. Now, it has been on display at the National Museum of American History in Washington, D.C., for most of the past twenty years and museum goers have made it a top destination. Authored by Paula Johnson, one of the original collectors and keepers of Julia Child’s home kitchen for the past twenty‑one years at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History, this book provides an intimate portrait of Julia at home, first‑hand accounts of cooking with Julia in her kitchen, and a deeper understanding of why her kitchen is a window into larger themes in twentieth century American history. 

Between lively narrative, compelling photography, and detailed commentary on Julia's favorite kitchen gadgets, Julia Child's Kitchen illuminates the stories behind the room's design, use, significance, and legacy, showing how deeply Julia Child continues to influence food today. The kitchen contains more than one thousand parts and pieces—tools, appliances, utensils, furniture, artwork, knick‑knacks, books, and bits of whimsy—all reflecting Julia’s status as an accomplished chef, gastronome, delightful cooking teacher, television trailblazer, women’s advocate, mentor, and generous, jovial friend. The kitchen’s layout, design, and contents reflect Julia’s philosophy of cooking as well as a period of social and cultural change in the United States, providing a platform for exploring such post‑World War II themes as shifting attitudes about gender roles and domesticity or the tension between tradition and innovation regarding culinary tools, materials, cooking, and food itself. This book, a beautifully designed tribute to Julia Child's legacy, will be a must‑have for every home cook and Julia Child fan.

Includes Color Photographs

About the Author

Paula Johnson is the curator of food history and director of the American Food History Project at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History. She was one of the curators who originally collected the kitchen from Julia Child herself in 2001 and has worked with the kitchen and its contents for many years since, building expertise in American culinary history, food technology, history, and culture. Jacques Pépin is one of the world’s most celebrated chefs. Through his long and distinguished career as a professional chef and instructor, host of 14 popular public television series and author of dozens of cookbooks, Pépin has advanced the art and craft of culinary technique as much as any other figure of the past century. His dedication to culinary education led to the creation of the Jacques Pépin Foundation in 2016.