Wine country cookout in Buddy Rhodes outdoor kitchen designed by famed restaurateur, Paul Bertolli.
                                                        Ericka McConnell Photography

                                       
We're joining forces with Schiffer Publications once again to begin our second book, due out in early 2008. This sequel to Making Concrete Countertops with Buddy Rhodeswill document the creation of one outdoor kitchen project designed by Buddy. The step-by-step instructions will include advanced techniques not covered in our first book such as: an integral sink and drain board, a curved edge, and ample more tips and tricks.  We are responding to the growing interest in outdoor kitchens around the country, as well as the abundant requests for more professional techniques by concrete artisans.

Nowadays, more of us want our outdoor adventures to take place right in our own backyard, literally. In the last twenty years we have torn down dining room walls and moved our dinner guests into our kitchens. We've invited them to join us for drinks and tasting while sharing the cooking experience. Forget that bar in the living room with the martini glasses and the shaker, come on in while I'm cooking and sit at the concrete countertop for a chat!

Similarly, we now want to move everyone outdoors when the weather gets warm. But we don't want to go back and forth into the kitchen and miss all the fun. No more of dad at the BBQ and mom inside mixing up the potato salad. Let's just move the kitchen outside!

Concrete turns out to be the perfect solution for the outdoor kitchen countertop. Hot summer sun tears up granite, warps other solid surfaces and melts the glue in laminate. But concrete, now there's a material  made for outdoors. It may have come indoors recently, but you can march it right back out again!

We hope to show a gallery of beautiful outdoor kitchens made with Buddy Rhodes methods and materials at the conclusion of the how-to section of our book. Stay tuned.