CBS 17 News – Distinctive Outdoor Kitchens

Trent:

A well-designed outdoor kitchen is one of the best upgrades you can make for your home here to show us how it’s done is the owner of Distinctive Remodeling and Distinctive Outdoor Kitchens. Eddie Casanave. Eddie, thank you for being here.

Eddie:

Thanks for having me, Trent.

Trent:

Well, you’ve been doing this for decades. You know how it’s done, but tell us specifically with this one outdoor kitchens.

Eddie:

Yes.

Trent:
What what inspired you to go there?

Eddie:
Well, I’ve been cooking since I was five, and I’ve had a cabinet business as part of my business since 1996. And ever since I started that, I would get customer requests for outdoor cabinets. And it’s just grown over the years, especially after COVID with everybody wanting to cook and stay at home. Outdoor kitchens are a natural extension of the home. And we’re in North Carolina, so this is a great place to be outside.

Trent:
The climate is perfect for it, right?

Eddie:
Yes.

Trent:
It’s such an amazing spot. Outdoor living, when it comes to top trends, what are a few you can touch on?

Eddie:
Well, some of the more recent ones are, you know, pizza ovens are very popular, cooking over live fire, and we’ve done several outdoor kitchens that have two different types of grills, so they’ll have different grills for different applications, so multiple grills.

Trent:
We’re looking at some right now, Eddie, and these are just state-of-the-art grills. What would you recommend to someone who says, you know, we haven’t spent a lot of time on the backyard, but we want to be out there more with the whole family? How can we do it? How do we jump in?

Eddie:
Well, it all starts with how you live and how you want to live, how you cook, what you would like to cook, how you entertain, how many people. There’s a lot of questions that we ask and we have a survey that we provide and go through with folks to help them, walk them through that process of figuring out what they need, things they may not even know that are available that they may want and incorporate into their outdoor living.

Trent:
You help them step by step. You guide them through the process. They step into your showroom. Where do you begin there when they first visit you?

Eddie:
Well, a lot of those questions on that survey is where we start and what we ask them because we have to ask a lot of questions about how they want to use it so we can make the best recommendation and show them the right products.

Trent:
Yeah. If you caught his name, it’s Eddie Casanova, but they call him the Casanova of the kitchen. Why is that?

Eddie:
I started cooking for my kitchen remodeling customers about 10 or 12 years ago. After we do a kitchen remodel, I’ll go back with my wife and we cook them a gourmet meal to have some friends over and celebrate the project being done.

Trent:
I love that. Oh, my gosh. Come around the table. It’s like Sunday dinner, the Italian family. I love it. Well, this is a question for those out there who don’t have a sprawling estate. They might not have a huge home and a smaller space. What would you recommend to them? Is an outdoor kitchen still possible?

Eddie:
Oh, most definitely. All sizes, even if it’s something on a balcony, there are electric grills that can be used in a very small space, can be tabletop if need be, or built in if there’s space for that.

Trent:
And you can help them with that at Distinctive Outdoor Kitchens.

Eddie:
Exactly.

Trent:
The small spaces, the big ones. Where can everyone learn more? How can they visit you online and your showroom in person?

Eddie:
Well, Distinctiveoutdoorkitchens.com is an online resource. We have a showroom at Durley Corners on Durley Road in Raleigh, right off of Glenwood. and it’s probably the most comprehensive outdoor kitchen space. And we have, you know, furniture, we have lighting, we have outdoor rugs, we have patio covers, pergolas, you know, a lot to choose from.

Trent:
It doesn’t stop at the pizza ovens. You cover the whole space. Thank you, Eddie.

Eddie:
Thank you.

Trent:
I appreciate you.
Depend on the experts.
Distinctiveoutdoorkitchens.com and check out their showroom in person at Durley Corners. We’ll be back with more My Carolina.