Ebony Test Kitchen Is Moving To Brooklyn

CHICAGO (CBS) -- The iconic and Ebony Test Kitchen, once located in the Michigan Avenue headquarters of Johnson Publishing, is on its way to Brooklyn, New York.

Landmarks Illinois bought the kitchen for $1 in 2018 and placed it into storage when it was confirmed the Johnson Publishing Building was being sold to a developer.

The preservation organization said it accepted a proposal from the Museum of Food and Drink (MOFAD) in Brooklyn to feature it as part of its national exhibition "African/American: Making the Nation's Table" set to open in 2020.

"MOFAD's impressive proposal included in-depth detail of how the kitchen would be preserved and cared for as it travels around the country in the coming years," said Lisa DiChiera, Landmarks Illinois Director of Advocacy.

Earlier this year, LI sought proposals for the Ebony Test Kitchen, designed in 1971 by Palm Springs-based interior designers Arthur Elrod and William Raiser.

The kitchen was located on the fourth floor of Johnson Publishing offices at 820 South Michigan Avenue. It's where Ebony editor Charlotte L. Lyons worked on recipes before publishing them in the magazine's monthly feature "A Date with a Dish."

Chicago architecture critic Lee Bey, who photographed the kitchen and the interiors of Johnson Publishing in 2013, said it's disappointing that a local piece of history is going elsewhere. But he's happy it will be saved for future generations.

"What's built in Chicago should stay in Chicago. But what really wins the day is that this important and historic interior is saved because Landmarks Illinois and the MOFD stepped up," Bey said. "A developer (was) willing to not demolish the space until it could be de-installed. That kitchen would've likely would up in dumpsters. And that would've been a real loss."

Bey added that the kitchen, bathed in autumn-hued swirls of orange and brown, has historical significance beyond being a space for cooking.

"Design-wise, the kitchen is an important remnant of one of the most high-style and avant-garde interiors of the 1970s," Bey said. "It's one of the few remaining corporate works of A-list interior designer Arthur Elrod. It also represents the pinnacle of the Johnson Publications' power as a cultural and media force."