Designers Who Cook: David Brian Sanders' Asian Cobb Salad Lunch & Learn

On August 19, 2026, The Luxury Kitchen's West Hollywood showroom traded its usual quiet elegance for the sizzle of a hot griddle, the clatter of prep bowls, and the easy hum of conversation between old friends and new collaborators. The occasion: Designers Who Cook, an invitation-only gathering that brought together designers, architects, and vendor partners for a lunch that was equal parts culinary demonstration, design education, and celebration of craft.

The event marked the latest installment in an ongoing series that began last year, in which a designer takes over the kitchen to cook a meal representative of their own cuisine. It's a simple premise with a deeper purpose: to explore the relationship between cooking and intentional kitchen design, and to show, rather than simply tell, what's possible when great appliances meet great planning.

Meet the Designer Behind the Apron

Leading the day was Los Angeles interior designer David Brian Sanders, who trained in the culinary arts and previously worked as an Executive Corporate Sous Chef. That dual background gave the day's demonstration an insider's fluency on both sides of the kitchen island: Sanders holds a culinary degree from Peter Kump's School of Culinary Arts in New York, where he went on to serve as Executive Corporate Sous Chef at the acclaimed Flavors Restaurant.

"The room was a great mix of designers, architects, and vendors we work with regularly to bring projects to life," Sanders said of the crowd gathered around the island that day.

A Showroom That Cooks

The entire meal was prepared and served within The Luxury Kitchen's fully functional demonstration kitchen, giving guests the rare chance to experience the showroom not as a static display, but as a true working kitchen.

The action centered around a fully outfitted island setup complete with a large overhead ventilation hood, all gas range with griddle and charbroiler, convection steam oven, and built-in ovens, and full-height refrigeration visible in the background. The open layout meant the cooking process became part of the event itself.

"Guests gathered around the island and bar area and watched most of the food come together live," Sanders said. Some stood, some sat at the bar, but all were within arm's reach of the action, close enough to watch Sanders carve cooked chicken and serve it directly to a waiting attendee.

"The theme of the day was an Asian Cobb salad with grilled chicken and greens, paired with a cilantro, lime, and mint basmati rice, and finished with a dark chocolate French mousse for dessert," Sanders explained. Warm sourdough bread was served alongside, and each course was plated and passed as it came together, so guests were tasting the meal in real time right along with watching it get made.

"The stars of the demo were the Wolf Gas Range with its griddle attachment and the Wolf Convection Steam Oven, which is honestly my favorite appliance in the whole line," Sanders shared. "As I cooked, I walked everyone through how each one worked and why they're such efficient tools to have in a kitchen, and I made the case for why I think every home could benefit from them."

Beside him, Sherry Gvili, owner of The Luxury Kitchen, offered live tips and commentary as each appliance came into play, narrating features, capabilities, and real-world performance in real time as Sanders worked. "What makes a kitchen truly special isn't just what's built into it — it's what happens inside it," she said.

The Appliances at Work

That day, four appliance categories worked together to make the meal possible. As Gvili put it, "It was never really about appliances. It was about what those appliances make possible." At Designers Who Cook, that possibility played out through the Wolf Convection Steam Oven, Wolf Gas Range, Wolf Wall Oven, Sub-Zero refrigeration, and Cove dishwasher, each one narrated live by Gvili as Sanders cooked.

• The Wolf Convection Steam Oven and Wolf Gas Range with griddle attachment anchored the cooking demonstration, handling everything from grilled chicken to rice to freshly baked sourdough bread.
• The Wolf Wall Oven rounded out the cooking lineup.
• Sub-Zero refrigeration kept ingredients fresh and ready throughout the preparation process.
• The Cove dishwasher handled cleanup once the last plate was served.

Bart Johnson, Project Manager at The Luxury Kitchen, sees the day as proof of what good design and good appliances can do together, calling it "a great illustration of how Sub-Zero, Wolf, and Cove appliances, thoughtful appliance placement, efficient workflow, ample prep space, and an open kitchen layout can work together to create a space that is equally suited to serious cooking, entertaining, and bringing people together."

Sanders moved effortlessly between the refrigerator, prep space, range, ovens, and serving areas, all while staying fully engaged with the guests around him, a kind of choreography that only happens when a kitchen is designed with real cooking in mind, not just aesthetics.

"Beyond flow, function, atmosphere, and artistry, that hands-on efficiency point was really the throughline of the session," Sanders said. "Watching the appliances perform in real time made the case better than any presentation could."

More Than a Kitchen

For Gvili, gatherings like this one are a reminder of why The Luxury Kitchen exists in the first place.

"The kitchen is the heart of the home. It's where families gather, where traditions are carried on, where memories are made. What we do at The Luxury Kitchen is help create the space where those stories come to life," she said. "Food has a remarkable ability to connect us, not only to one another, but to the experiences and moments we share around the table."

That mission extends beyond individual clients to the broader design community. "This space was created not just as a showroom, but as a resource for the design community — for designers, architects, builders, and creative partners to bring their clients, collaborate, exchange ideas, and truly experience what's possible," Gvili said.

Designers Who Cook captured that idea perfectly: a room full of the people who shape Los Angeles' most beautiful homes, gathered not around a spec sheet, but around a working kitchen island, cooking, tasting, and talking design in equal measure. As Gvili puts it, it's "not just kitchens. But connection, memory, and the stories that continue long after the meal is over." 

Sanders echoes that same philosophy in his own work. For him, when design supports how you actually cook, live, and entertain, the result is pure magic.