Grove kitchens, opened up at last.

Most Coconut Grove kitchens were designed for a different century. The 1920s houses in Center Grove and the North Grove blocks off Tigertail Avenue were built with kitchens meant to be closed off; the mid-century homes in Natoma Manors got galley layouts that ignore how anyone cooks now. What Grove owners actually order is a structural fix: walls opened to the living space, an island with seating, custom cabinetry run to the ceiling, and stone chosen slab by slab. The kitchen becomes the room the house is organized around, which is what it should have been all along.

Kitchen remodels in Coconut Grove are permitted through the City of Miami Building Department — building, electrical, plumbing, and mechanical, each with its own inspections. The good news: an interior kitchen stays clear of most of the Grove's NCD conservation review, which concerns itself with exteriors and trees. The catch is structural. Opening a bearing wall between kitchen and living room needs an engineer's calculations and a permit that reflects them, and moving a gas range across the room brings its own trade permits. We file complete drawings the first time, which is the quiet secret to decent timelines.

PGX builds kitchens the way the rest of a high-end Grove house deserves: a fixed written scope, cabinetry ordered to the millimeter, and a site supervisor there every day the crew is. We template stone after cabinets are set, not before, and we protect the oak floors and everything else staying put. From first measurement to final inspection you deal with one accountable team — licensed, insured, CGC1539072 — not a parade of subcontractors managing themselves.