The kitchen is only the cool spot because you're in it

Ten years ago, I was living with two flatmates in a big Parisian flat. Once or twice a year, we organised a party, which gathered up to 90 people, a number we were rather proud of. During those parties, there was a consistent, yet slightly annoying pattern for us as organisers: the best discussions were bound to take place in the kitchen, rarely in our big living room, where we were concentrating our efforts to entertain the party with food, drinks, and music. You see, the kitchen was the room where smoking was allowed. Its door had to stay closed as much as possible, so that the smell of cigarettes and the cold from the wide-open window wouldn't spread to the other rooms. Smokers went there to smoke, usually accompanied by someone, even a non-smoker. People would start talking in the main area and one of them would eventually say something along the lines of: “I’ll go for a smoke, want to join me so we can continue this conversation?” From the hallway one could hear the laughter, the…