Rock star Gavin Rossdale often spends weeks at a time on the road performing to sold-out crowds with his band, Bush—but when it comes to his Los Angeles home, the doting dad was worried about entertaining only three very special VIPs: the sons he shares with his ex-wife, Gwen Stefani.

The 59-year-old front man had his boys top of mind when he bought his California abode in 2016, explaining in the latest installment of the Realtor.com Celebrity Sanctuary series that he loved “the communality” of the six-bedroom, seven-bathroom Studio City abode.

Since purchasing the 6,855-square-foot home, Rossdale has renovated it into a “super modern” space where he can spend time with his kids: Kingston, 18, Zuma, 16, and Apollo, 11.

But while Rossdale wanted to make sure that every area of the space would provide a sanctuary for his family, it was the kitchen that got the most attention. It quickly became his favorite room in the home, he explained, a place where he could spend time with his family and host guests.

Indeed, the Grammy-nominated musician is only too happy to trade his guitar for a spatula and some chef’s knives, preparing meals for his family and composing some incredible dishes for his famous friends—including Serena Williams—as part of his new VIZIO WatchFree+ series, “Dinner With Gavin Rossdale.”

While some stars are reluctant to allow cameras into their inner sanctuary, for Rossdale, it was a welcome bonus because it enabled him to remain close to his children, while also feeling completely at home throughout the shoots.

Now, Rossdale has given Realtor.com® a backstage pass to his favorite space in his home, his custom chef’s kitchen, lifting the lid on the restaurant-grade updates he has added to the daily rhythms he’s established to provide his family with a sense of stability and security.

This place is definitely an elaborate bachelor pad that I forced into a family home, and they probably didn’t think anyone was ever going to cook here. My three boys live with me. It really fit me, just perfect for me and my boys, and a spare room became a studio.

My main thing is being able to cook and function with everyone around. It’s a busy house, and there’s a lot of things going on, and so when there’s a full house with my kids, it’s the center of it all. The kitchen’s always the center of it all, but this is like the center of the house, so it’s almost like the house is built out from the kitchen.

I think because food is the source of such nourishment and it’s an incredible manifestation of what you think about someone, the way you make food for them is usually connected to what you think of them.

It’s a love language for me, and yet it’s really functional. Now I have teenage boys who just want to eat and it’s fun. There’s a kitchen table, so we often eat in the kitchen as well. It’s very ceremonial, it’s very ritualistic, and it gives structure in a really unstructured world.

I’m not like this crazy Michelin star chef and living that life—it’s insane their level of skill and expertise. I just enjoy it, and it’s a really fun pastime. I think because I’m artistic, I want to make it look as good as the clothes that I want to wear, or an album cover I do. I want my food to look like an album cover. I make food every day. My food is really vain; it wants to be photographed.

[My kitchen is] ultramodern, super functional, and everything has its place. I added the Wolf [cooktop] to get the most restaurant-like aggressive flame across all the hobs. A lot of people just make one good aggressive hob and then like four dormant hobs, and I don’t like that. I like it when you can cook with fire.

I have a [Big] Green Egg that I can see through the window and a grill for outside. My dream is to have those Grillworks Asadors. That’s my goal in life.

I changed most appliances because I wanted to cook with certain things. I put different hoods in the kitchen, you know, the strongest hood I could find for a house because it’s very open plan.

We had a double fridge with the freezer and a set of covers, and I ripped them out and put in [three] commercial fridges, stainless steel [doors], [and] a big SABA unit, so that really changed the feel of it.

I have a prep fridge in the kitchen because I cook for, like, six people every day—minimum—when I’m here, if we’re not ordering in, which we do plenty. We go out as well, but generally I like being home with them.

The regular fridge just isn’t going to hack it, so in the garage, you have to have these prep fridges so that everything is organized. That gives you the whole feel of a very intentional food-based place.

The knives that I have usually have a great history. I’ve got a good knife from my friend chef Grant Achatz from Chicago, who’s a very amazing man. My sister gave me a couple of knives. You get so attached to knives because obviously that’s how it all starts if you’re in the kitchen, you need a knife. 

I just redid the pantry, which in a weird way for a rock musician shouldn’t make me as happy as it does, but it’s really logical.

I spent years with this dark, inherited space that was next to the kitchen, and then I just totally hooked it up and put wider shelves and lights, and suddenly I realized that I was ordering like four of everything because I would order it and then never know if it ever arrived. I could never keep track.

It’s always a work in progress. I need more worktop space, so I have a big butcher’s block on a set of wheels, and that gives a bit more space that I want, but [there’s] always stuff you can be doing to improving it. That’s what’s fun about it all. But at this point, everything is really good enough for me.

I’ve always loved cooking, and people [would] say to me, “Are you going to do a cooking show?” I’d be like, “About what?” It’s like, “So what? I can put a really great plate of food together.”

[Filming at home] was a nightmare, worst decision I ever made. But it’s good for the show, and it looks really authentic because it f—–g is. It was super annoying having all those people in the house.

I like people taking their shoes off in my space. I’m like a rock Buddhist, so you imagine 40 strangers arguing over light placements. I’m just like, “Oh, kill me now.” But they’re all really cool, they’re nice people, they’re just doing their job.

I kind of psychologically was like, “Oh f—k it, just do it.” I just felt worse for my kids because it was a bit [of an] upheaval. There was only one or two days they were here, I think [the production] was just being shut down, so when they arrive it becomes a TV studio, which it’s not, it’s their home first.

It wasn’t my most responsible adult move, not my most responsible parent of the year award, but it’s OK, they get it, and that’s how it goes.

I think that [my celebrity guests] did enjoy it. My favorite thing is a lot of them would eat off-camera, so that was a nice sign. I’m not one of those people who seeks the compliment when they hand someone a plate of food. I can’t do that. I can’t give you a plate of food and stare at you as you eat just waiting for you to say something. I really hate that.

With Brooke [Shields], we go inside and we’re like “f–k, we’ve got to eat some of this stuff and not be on camera,” so that was fun.

When I did Serena, she really ended up liking the tomatoes. She told me she just liked the way I made them because generally she doesn’t like tomatoes. I managed to incorporate two things she doesn’t like in the main course, so I was like, “No!” We have a new policy: Also ask them what they hate!

I don’t let too much affect me anyway because you’d be crazy to get too affected by things. You’re super stressed and nothing’s really worth it. So much of the time is always spent worrying about the future or the past, and there’s no point. The sanctuary [is] somewhere you can just switch off and be in the moment and appreciate what you have.