My friend Adam Roberts, a cookbook author who publishes a fun food newsletter, always reminds me of Disney princes. He has a great smile, is charming, and plays your favorite songs on the piano. Adam lives in a cabin-like house in Brooklyn with his equally adorable filmmaker husband, Craig Johnson. This is what it looks like inside…
kitchen
Adam, left; Craig, right
Moving from Los Angeles to New York: We were house hunting in Los Angeles when I suddenly wanted to move back to New York. I grew up in New York and missed it, so we started looking for a place here. My husband has all the criteria for an LA home – nature, lots of natural light, etc. – so when we found this rental it felt like we had found our dream LA house in Brooklyn.
Embrace the season: I almost feel guilty describing all the things I love about this house because it’s so unusual to have them in New York: a bedroom surrounded by trees, a porch where I can grow tomatoes, a kitchen overlooking the garden. In the winter, I made pasta while watching the snowflakes fall, and this spring, I baked strawberry-rhubarb pie while looking out the window at the pink trees. Living here is an absolute dream.
About Vintage Discovery: I have a bit of an obsession with vintage plates and platters and I look for them on Etsy and eBay. My medieval flour and sugar bowls are almost 70 years old; they have so much history and character.
Cake stand: Food52, similar model.
In a recipe book: I love cookbooks so much that the biggest fight in our marriage comes down to me buying more when our shelves are already full. But I like when cookbooks surprise you – for example, I’m reading one called The Summer Kitchen by Olia Hercules, a Ukrainian food writer living in London. It’s all about Ukrainian food, which obviously, because of the war, is very touching. I had already made pickled plums, but when I was looking through it, there was a recipe for sourdough bread and I thought, What is this, an epidemic? But she used rye flour, so I was inspired to make some.
About cooking at home: My husband, Craig, loves my cavatap crust with sun-dried tomatoes and cannellini beans, grilled chicken with root vegetables, and seared scallops with citrus risotto. But I prefer dessert. My favorite is Amanda Hesser’s Almond Cake, which I’ve been making for years, and I love making apple pie in the fall.
Dining area
Dining table: CB2, similar model.
About low-stress entertainment: My dream is to get it all done forward People arrived because it was going to be the most fun dinner ever. I make dessert the day before. In the morning, I start seasoning or marinating. If it’s winter, you can make a stew ahead of time and it will taste better the longer it sits in the refrigerator. If I’m feeling socially anxious at a dinner party, I’ll sneak into the kitchen and take a break. That said, as I became more relaxed and took more Lexapro, I became more comfortable with people joining me and helping me cook.
About displaying treasures: Craig collects microscopic creatures. He’s like Kathy Bates in Misery, remember when she realized the guy was getting up because her ceramic penguin was spinning 40 degrees? Craig would be like, Someone touched my toy frog!
living area
Sofa: Bloomingdale’s, similar.
Solution on the couch: When our moving truck arrived, we realized we couldn’t get the couch through the front door. So, I called Dr. Sofa urgently. They ripped the fabric off and took apart the wood – it looked like they were destroying our sofa! But when they brought it in and put it back together, it looked incredible.
About watching movies: As a filmmaker, Craig was obsessed with the Criterion Channel. In the meantime, I could spend the entire afternoon watching America’s Test Kitchen. I also love Downton Abbey; it’s so cozy and classy.
Arc lamp: CB2. Armchair: Macy’s, similar.
At the beginning of the conversation: Fifteen years ago, Craig and I went to Barcelona and ate at a restaurant that had works by the artist Sergio Mora. All the paintings are of anthropomorphic body parts – such as a heart and a face – which we think are both funny and cute. So over Christmas I contacted the artist and he sent me a spreadsheet of all his paintings. I told Craig he could choose one, with a heart, legs and a brain, but he said, I want the penis painting! I was like, do you really want to paint a giant penis painting with a face and an umbrella in our living room? He said, yes, yes, I do.
Record Cabinet: HD Buttercup.
About the music ceremony: Our Sunday morning ritual was to read the New York Times, play records, and drink coffee. Craig plays his record player with the same passion that I play the piano. If I buy a lot of cookbooks, he’s going to buy a lot of records, so we’re kind of tit-for-tat. It feels so good to go to a record store and look through albums – like, Oh, I didn’t expect to find this random Kinks record from 1971.
Perform for friends: All my life I have played the piano by ear. I’m not a professional musician, but I’ve played at bar mitzvahs. Having a piano at home brings me so much joy. I try not to force people to sing, but at Christmas, I sing carols and when my Broadway friends come over, I play show tunes. My retirement plan is to become the piano player for Mary in Crisis.
master bedroom
In a comfortable place: Our bedroom is the dreamiest part of the house. The light coming through the windows in the morning is spectacular.
Bed with bookcase and footboard: Crate and Barrel, similar. Bedside Lamp: Crate and Barrel.
About favorite books: We have always had a bed with a bookshelf on the bottom. I’m a big fan of former New Yorker theater critic John Lahr. He wrote a biography, “Prick Up Your Ears,” and a book about his father, “Notes of a Cowardly Lion.” I love George Saunders – his book Swimming in the Pond in the Rain is one of my favorites. I also like Nora Ephron.
About writing: I just sold my novel Gourmet Man, which will be published in the summer of 2025! It’s the story of a 20-something aspiring food writer who reluctantly accepts a job ghostwriting recipes for celebrities. My protagonist is a bit of a lost soul and the celebrity is a mess, and it’s about their relationship and how they end up helping each other. Our pitch was that it was The Devil Wears Prada meets The Bear. We’re pitching it to Hollywood now.
Linen: Cultivator.
On modern art: My father and I bought this print from the Museum of Modern Art gift shop twenty years ago. This is a dollar store photo, but you might think you’re looking at a watercolor landscape painting from a distance; then as you get closer you’ll think, wait, that’s just a bunch of junk, like gum and candy Same.
backyard
Sweet rescue: Winston is the greatest dog in the world. We found him at a rescue site in LA and he looked up and looked at me so sweetly that I called Craig and he held him; Craig didn’t even think he was as keen as I was dog, but he still started crying because he thought Winston was so cute. We brought him home and he is the cutest dog. The only annoying thing is that if he walks too hot, he puts all his weight on his back legs and doesn’t move at all. I must carry him over the threshold like a bride.
At the lovely meet-and-greet: Craig and I met in graduate school at NYU. He checked out my Friendster profile, and I wrote him a letter with the subject line “Mysterious Stranger.” We had dinner at a French restaurant on April 8, 2006 and we instantly connected. We were looking for the exact same thing at the same time—I was looking for someone to cook for him, and he was looking for someone to cook for him.
Thanks Adam and Craig! We love you both.
PS There are more house tours, including a downsizing dream home and a colorful apartment for book lovers.
(Photo by Julia Robles for Cup of Jo.)
