KITCHENS TO COVET Heart of the home

Food writer and cookbook author Shivi Ramoutar shows us around her sleek, modern kitchen in London, a place to work, relax and enjoy spending time with her young family

I am a food writer, cookbook author and TV presenter, and I live in London with my husband, Ben, my seven-and six-year-old sons, and four-month-old daughter.

We moved into the house at the end of last year. As with all of our previous kitchens, this one has become the heart of the household - I work from it and my kids do their homework, play and do arts and crafts in it.

It has a rectangular shape, with half the space used as a dining area with a conservatory-style glass-panelled roof - gorgeous for light- and the other side the cooking area. There is a little bar area that I love to work from, with a hatch to the dining side of the kitchen. It's very family-style, with kids' art, timetables, etc, and touches of our adult life - chandelier-style lights above the bar, art from before kids, and a handful of my cookbook collection.

My must-have kitchen equipment includes a veg peeler (my version of a mandoline), pizza cutter (for chopping salad bits in a hurry), Nutribullet (for everything from pestos to smoothies and pancake batter) and our Aarke sparkling water maker - we don't seem to drink water if it isn't bubbling!