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

by Paula Johnson, Jacques Pépin (foreword)

Julia Child's Kitchen is a gorgeous 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

This book, a beautifully designed tribute to Julia Child's legacy, is a must‑have for every serious home cook and Julia Child fan.

Including interviews with famous chefs who knew Julia well, commentary on her favorite kitchen gadgets, and a stunning array of photos, Julia Child’s Kitchen illuminates the stories behind the room’s design, use, and significance, revealing how Julia Child continues to impact food and cooking today.

Julia Child's 20’ x 14’ kitchen was a serious workspace and recipe‑testing lab that exuded a sense of mid‑century homey comfort. 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.

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.

Authored by Paula J. 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.

Includes Color Photographs

Genres: Nonfiction, Cooking, Food, Cookbooks, Biography

288 pages, Hardcover

First published October 8, 2024

Reviews

[Hannah Dalpiaz · Rating 5 out of 5]

My jólabókaflóð book from my parents this year. I loved learning more about Julia’s kitchen and its preservation at the Smithsonian. She is such an inspiration! Can’t wait to see if again hopefully this February!

[Heidi · Rating 5 out of 5]

I always wanna know what people’s kitchens look like, what kitchens tools they use, how they organize stuff. This book is a super fun look at that, and also lightly covers biographical info about Julia Child’s life. I love the thick, high quality paper, large coffee table size of it, and huge color photos. It also spends a great deal of time exploring the changes in American food ways, cooking tools, appliances and kitchens-how they changed between WW2 and now. The last part of the book covers the museum curation process of Julia’s donated kitchen and behind the scenes details of the changes to the Smithsonian exhibit over the last two decades. Enjoyable read—hope to see the exhibit in person someday!

[Karen · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you ever wanted to see every single kitchen item in Julia's kitchen, this is the book for you. There are several anecdotes from other cooks as well as mini histories of the gadgets and appliances that Julia used along with some great Julia quotes. If you can't get to the Smithsonian, this book is the next best thing.

[Simone · Rating 4 out of 5]

I will be going to visit Julia's kitchen at the Smithsonian National Museum of American History ASAP!

[Jamie Johnson Leach · Rating 5 out of 5]

At first I was just going to look at all of the wonderful pictures in this book, but then I just had to read every bit about Julia and her fabulous kitchen 😊💜

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Among everything else, I just love the celebration of clutter.

[Nicole · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thought this might be a bit dry, but there was plenty of "Julia" in it, so it was a very enjoyable read. Photos are important in a book like this and they were excellent. My only real disappointment was seeing no mention of the Foley Fork that I found out about at the Recipe for Life exhibit currently at the Minnesota History Center.

[Jen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent source on what goes into creating an archival collection and exhibition. Subject herself is a favorite of mine, so I found this to be top-notch.

[Martin · Rating 5 out of 5]

To say I'm surprised I read this book is an understatement. We visited the Smithsonian's Museum of American History late last year, To my wife's utter surprise, she discovered Julia Child's complete kitchen there in all its glory. She promptly bought this book on our return home, and I'm somewhat chagrined to say that she hasn't had any time with it since it arrived.

I've never read a cookbook to save my life, but this book isn't in fact a cookbook at all. Instead, it's a fascinating account of Julia and her husband Paul's meticulous building and design of the kitchen in their Cambridge home. From pantry shelving, to butcher block counter tops, to fascinating airport-style flooring, and finally to the amazing Garland stove, this book is quite a fascinating read. Paula Johnson's deep dive into the history, plus her own part in bringing the entire kitchen to the Smithsonian, is a compelling story.

[Jiri · Rating 5 out of 5]

Be prepared that there are no recipes in this book - perhaps the negative reviews expected some recipes.

This is a wonderful and amazing book about Julia Child's kitchen, how it was designed, put together, used over the years for daily use as well as filming and teaching.

It is full of wonderful stories of the kitchen, Julia's life, the gadgets and the people who came to spend time with her in the kitchen. Finally it's a great description of how and why it was moved and put on display at the Smithsonian. ( I can't wait to visit it)

The whole book was riveting to me as I enjoyed Julia's books, shows and the movie "Julie and Julia".
It was very descriptive and interesting , peppered with little outtakes of her life and shows.

The section on moving the kitchen and setting it up at the Smithsonian and making use of it was good but seemed to have some repetativeness.

For anyone into cooking that is at least aware of Julia Child's, I would recommend this book!

[Clifford Watson]

Julia Child's Kitchen: The Design, Tools, Stories, and Legacy of an Iconic Space by Paula Johnson is a fascinating read that beautifully captures the heart of Julia’s legendary kitchen. The book blends history, design details, and personal stories in a way that feels both educational and inspiring. It’s a must-read for food lovers and anyone passionate about functional, timeless kitchen spaces. I’d highly recommend it to those exploring Kitchen Design Services in Boulder, as it highlights how thoughtful design can truly transform the cooking experience.

[Kristin Ruxer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Julie and Julia has been on my TBR list for quite some time now, but before I read that, I wanted to listen to this. As a cooking teacher, I have always loved Julia and her cooking philosophy, so I very much appreciated listening to this account of her life! My favorite quote of hers from the book is the same philosophy I have in my classroom kitchen “If I can influence anyone to keep into the kitchen and make it a real family room and part of your life, I will have succeeded beyond hope.”

[Jil · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderful photographs. I especially enjoyed the last couple of chapters on how the Smithsonian obtained permission, conserved and exhibits the kitchen. As someone with a career in the food industry and also not a chef, I have always appreciated how Julia worked to take the mystery out of beautiful food. My favorite book of 2024; I even read all the footnotes!

[Nikki LB · Rating 5 out of 5]

Completely fascinating book that’s about so much more than a TV cooks kitchen. It really a social history book as well as a biography. As someone who loves cooking, design, kitchen equipment and social history this book was perfect for me.

[Olivia · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved how granular this book was, like the images and labels of her entire pot and pan collection and her tips on choosing kitchen items that last. Readers will enjoy plentiful photos, stories, and information on Julia Child's kitchen and legacy.

[Barb · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved, loved, loved this book! I’m old enough to remember Julia on PBS in the 1970’s and was really impressed by this biography and retrospective on Julia and her contribution to food, television and teaching. Very inspiring!!

[Nora Berry · Rating 4 out of 5]

I fear I am now obsessed with Julia Child.

[belle · Rating 5 out of 5]

as an archivist and food history lover this was everythinggggg

[Dorothy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great history and artifacts of a cooking legend

[Barbara Sanders · Rating 5 out of 5]

Julia Child's story as told through beautiful photographs of her kitchen artifacts... what's not to love.

[Lorraine Sulick-Morecraft · Rating 4 out of 5]

Julia Child’s life as an enthusiast home cook shines bright decades later and her kitchen remains enshrined at the Smithsonian Institution - devoured every image, every tool & gadget.

[Jess˚*•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙*˚ · Rating 5 out of 5]

If only I had an intricately curated and perfectly decorated kitchen that held every tool you could ever need....
Reading this made me want to revisit her kitchen at the Smithsonian.