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Now that's a kitchen

glassware She can sous vide (vacuum-seal) salmon in her RationalSelfCooking Center.

She can whip up a pizza Margherita (with basil from hergarden) in her wood-burning oven.

Or she can just make a peanut butter-and-jelly sandwich and call it a meal.

But this 800-square-foot cooking showplace isn't for Leineke'spopular catering company (Joan Leineke Catering). This is her home kitchen. It's the kitchen she and husband Jake, an industrialcontractor, have dreamed about for the 30 years they've lived inFair Oaks.

"The new kitchen replaces the family room, dining room and the oldkitchen," Leineke says. "It took 1 1/2 years to complete, and I'mamazed at how it turned out."

Richard Graber of Graber- Rasmussen Architects in Sacramento wasthe primary architect on the Leineke project.

"I had fun doing it," Graber says. "It's a commercial-type kitchenwith a residential feel."

The redesign was handled by Applegate Tran Interiors of SanFrancisco. (The company opened an office in Sacramento.) It alsoincluded additional square footage to the country/modern home: amaster bedroom/bathroom.

But it's the kitchen that Leineke's personal and professionaltouches heat up.

"The appliances, plenty of counter space and pull-out cabinetsinstead of overhead cabinets were my must-haves," she says.

And ample space to either use or store her 15-inch platters.

For example, the Sub-Zero refrigerator is 26 inches wide (with aneighboring 18-inch freezer).

The 36-inch-wide, six-burner Jade gas range is a beauty, with amighty 18,000 BTUs. (Restaurant stoves are usually 32,000 BTUs.) Itreplaces Leineke's 48-inch monster Garland stove. She even had afaucet built in overhead for easy water access – no trips backand forth to the sink.

The counters (and one island), honed out of antiqued granite, are30 inches deep instead of the traditional 24.

More than 60 cabinets hold dishware, glassware, utensils, pots andpans, even lids.

"I love pull-out cabinets for storing pantry items like vinegarsand oils," Leineke says.

The kitchen incorporates several cooking areas: the main "line,"which is similar to what you might see in a restaurant kitchen, anda pastry- and pizza-making area that's mere steps away from thewood-burning oven, which is surrounded by Venetian plaster. Longpizza paddles and fire-stoking equipment hang on the side. Oak, cutfrom the trees in the backyard, is stored underneath.

Each work area has its own sink (with disposal and trashcompartments). Both are within reach of two smaller refrigerators– for cheeses and pizza ingredients, and bottled and canneddrinks.

There's a dishwasher just for glassware and a Miele washer thatcleans a load in 10 minutes.

With all this storage space, what you don't see in Leineke'skitchen are countertop appliances lined up side by side.

"My Cuisinart, choppers and my dream machine Thermomix (it makeseverything from sorbet to home-baked bread) reside in the'appliance garage,' " she says. The cover rolls up and down justlike a garage door.

Her Kitchen-Aid standing mixer is hidden in the pizza/pastry area,on a lift-out board, "so you don't move it."

Leineke admits that when she saw the final plans on paper, shedidn't realize how much space she would have.

That's why there's also room for a wine-storage unit, a built-incoffee maker and the Rational SelfCooking Center, which Leinekesays her designer wasn't happy about including.

"But I insisted," she says. "You can grill, steam veggies and rice,roast, even fry an egg in it."

Vernon Applegate, the lead designer, e-mailed that the Leinekeproject took a modern approach yet remains informal.

"There is a distinct connection between the landscaping and theinterior and exterior spaces," Applegate says. "It's casual livingreflected in the materials we used, which were earthy and natural."