The News Journal from Wilmington, Delaware • Page 44

0 D2 THE NEWS JOURNAL WEDNESDAY, MARCH 11, 1998 Kitchen: Retail outlet caters to gourmets, gadget gurus Si' 't 9 I mmk if i Em-m Will illllHIIIJIIHJIl II I'TI 'J, Employee Mary Karl of Newark stocks glassware. Waterford crystal goblets share shelf space with 99-cent wine glasses. Hefners say marriage is still on Playboy magazine founder Hugh Hefner's wife has changed her mind. Kimberly Conrad Hefner, 34, filed for divorce Friday citing irreconcilable differences. "Then they made up and she forgot to tell the lawyer to stop," Playboy spokesman Bill Farley said Tuesday.

The divorce petition was withdrawn on Monday. In mShe People pie, who an- lV71 nounced a trial separation on Jan. 20, said: "We are still exploring a reconciliation and neither of us wants a divorce." Kimberly Hefner and the couple's, two children, Marston, 7, and Cooper, 6, live next door to the Playboy Mansion in Los Angeles. Hefner, 71, married the former Playmate of the Year in 1989. PAYING HOMAGE: To win the right to play one of his comedy idols, Jim Carrey had to do something rarely asked of stars with his box-office clout: audition.

With actors such as Kevin Spacey, Edward Norton, John Cusack and Nicolas Cage in the running to play the late comedian Andy Kaufman in the upcoming biography "Man on the Moon," director Milos Forman asked for audition tapes. Sources said Carrey sealed the deal with a stand-up routine featuring some of Kaufman's best-known characters. Kaufman died of lung cancer in 1984 at age 35. TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: Media mogul Rupert Murdoch is 67. ABC News correspondent Sam Donaldson is 64.

Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia is 62. Musician Flaco Jimenez (The Texas Tornadoes) is 59. Singer Bobby McFerrin is 48. Actress Alex Kingston is 35. Special to The News JoumalROBERT CRAIG Eric J.

Brinsfield, president of Kitchen Company, stands in the store's demonstration kitchen with a brass duck press mmti IT AaMMmnEmriiirtiiirmriiiiiniii nvaniiffMiniiiW He tries to keep the inventory fun, such as the welcome mats that read "Welcome" and "Go Away." In a few months, the stores will carry another one that reads "You're late." Brinsfield says he's so committed to the business, he can't visit a restaurant without turning over plates to see where they were manufactured or drink out of a glass without testing to see if it has "a nice hand" which refers to the weight and balance. He also admits to snooping in cabinets, pantries and refrigerators when he visits friends. "I like to see how people live what they eat and what they cook. I can't control myself" he says. "I really have to stop doing that." So what doesn't Kitchen Company have? Brinsfield says store does not carry mini blow torches that professional kitchens use to caramelize the top of creme bruUe.

But he isn't worried. He has already found a manufacturer to make them. They're on order, he says. You never know when a customer might ask for a blow torch. FROM PAGE D1 Kitchen Company, considered a superstore in the Home Depot, Sports Authority and Staples vein, is part of the Reading China More! retail chain.

The chain, just two outlets in Reading, when it was purchased in 1990 by Brinsfield's father, Jay has been rapidly growing. Privately held, the retailer now has 34 stores in 13 states. Company sales were expected to top $100 million in 1997, according to published reports. Although the company has been headquartered in Glasgow since 1995, Kitchen Company's Stanton site is the first store for the First State. "We opened 16 stores in the last 14 months and this store in Delaware took more time than all of them," says Brinsfield, 31, who grew up in Maryland, but has had Delaware roots since his father moved to the area when he was studying art history at Hampden-Sydney College in Virginia.

"We're committed to this, because we all live here," says the Greenville resident. Kitchen Company's main competition is the 11-store Kitchen Kapers chain, based in Cherry Hill, N.J. There is a Kitchen Kapers in the nearby Christiana Mall, as well as others in Branmar Plaza, Brandywine Hundred, and Powder Mill Square, Greenville. Kitchen Kapers president Bob Kratchman says while he views the store as competition, "hopefully, there's room for all of us." "We are a specialty store. We give personalized service," Kratchman says.

Delaware's Kitchen Company store will be the prototype for all future expansion. An in-house cooking school will be held in the store's professional "Cook's Kitchen." Classes are expected to begin in May, says Pat Tabibian, a former Delaware Technical Community College culinary arts instructor, who will run the school along with cookbook author Linda Drachman. Kitchen Company is the ultimate enabler for gizmo junkies. More than 2,000 contraptions hang from the store's 110-foot "Great Wall of Gadgets," which includes everything from French bean slicers to British cake mixers to Mexican lime squeezers to grape scissors. (The company supplies Food Network chef Emeril Lagasse, an admitted gadget guru, with spatulas and wooden spoons he uses on his "Emeril Live" show.) Brinsfield says the company's merchandising concept has been refined to incorporate home entertaining.

"We like to think cooking and dinner parties are fun. When you have a party, where does everyone always end up? The kitchen, right?" he says. "We focus on food, the preparation of food and the service of food." Gourmet food aisles carry chicken-shaped pasta for chicken noodle soup, roseflower water, okra pickles, habanero chili-flavored pretzels and at least a dozen different salsas. The 1,900 choices of cookware includes the All-Clad, T-Fal and Calphalon brands. Waterford crystal goblets share shelf space with 99-cent wine glasses.

The store stocks more than 140 styles of flatware, 300 fine china and casual dinnerware patterns and 3,000 different linens and kitchen textiles. Brinsfield says he and his 14 buyers troll markets and towns in Poland, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, France, Greece and Italy for interesting and hard-to-find products. "I'm better known in some little town in Portugal or Italy than I am here in Delaware," he says, joking. Brinsfield also cruises back Shopper Mary Gamis of Stanton Inspects bottled vinegar in the gourmet food aisles. roads in the United States in search of merchandise.

"I was driving down a back road in North Carolina and spotted a little country store with these," he says, holding up a galvanized steel bin. "The store was closed, so I pressed my face against the glass until I could see who produced it." He placed an order the next day. "You have to live with your eyes wide open," says Brinsfield, who subscribes to more than 50 magazines to keep up with trends. iCy VAC tew Dctoo 3K WUF Warning: TV May Be Hazardous To Your Health! Cooking for the health of it Held at PMRI's headquarters, "Cooking For The Health Of It" helps you learn and practice new techniques for healthy cooking. You'll experience this hands-on class in our state-of-the-art demonstration kitchen.

Each "cook" will prepare recipes designed specifically for use in the home. And best of all, it's healthy axiking that tastes gcxxl! $45 per class or 3 classes for $120. Heart Healthy Baking March 12 p.m. Fast, Fabulous Family Fare March 26 6:00 8:30 p.m. s- vV yAf Chew on this: What you put in your mouth can have an impact on your health.

That's why PMRI sponsors nutrition education. You'll get the facts, have fun, and learn how to eat right. But don't take our word for it. Join us and see. In just weeks, you can actually feel better, stay healthier, and even look better.

Classes include: ShopWell Don't be fooled by false nutrition claims and fancy packaging. Held in supermarkets and taught by a registered dietitian, ShopWell helps you become a healthier and smarter shopper. $30 per shopper or $50 per shopping couple. March 30 6:00 to 8:30 p.m. Scientific studies indicate a high incidence of TV watching leads to obesity which causes other diseases that are big risk factors to your health including diabetes, hypertension, heart disease, arthritis and gall bladder problems.

Obesity is a serious health problem which requires medical treatment. As a bariatric physician, I care about your health and can help you in your weight reduction efforts. Meridia at Wholesale Call my office and get help now! For more information, or to register for any of these classes, call WII.MINUnjN IPKRT (302) 661 UBAtililKIMi MKDK'AI 571-TRIM (X)NTKOI. JEFFREY h. ARBICKLE, MD Tf 7.1 WE HOXXIG, PA Christiana Ore Eugene du Pont Preventive Medicine and Rehabilitation Institute Pelleport, 3506 Kennett Pike (Intersection of Rts.

52 and 1 00) Greenville, Delaware A member of the American Society of Bariatric Physicians Amman erf Butwt Itirncbni 98PMRI23.