36" is ok (not desired, but ok) if it tends to be a single individual doing the cooking. you do need room to get your fridge into its location tho so it can roll back. a counter depth is helpful for this.

I know wider is better but we ended up with 34" from counter to counter on our renovation. It works for us. Two people can pass each other and you always load the DW from the side so it's not a problem.

I'm not specifically recommending this, just saying it works for us.

Kitchen from Hell transforming into Kitchen from Heaven · More Info

Kitchen from Hell transforming into Kitchen from Heaven · More Info

Thank you all for your very helpful comments! The thing is that my kitchen is 16 feet 9 inches wide. In that space, going across, I want cabinets (24") and fridge (36") [side by side] then spacing to the center island. The island will be 36" wide. Then I would like to put an old small table in the remaining space (the table is 42" wide). So I am reading there should be 36" on all sides of the table. Starting at the fridge I end up needing 18 1/2 to 19 feet. I guess I can put the small table against the wall by the window opposite the fridge, etc. That would save me 3 feet and then I can get 42" (or even 48") spacing between the fridge and the center island. I know this is confusing without a picture but we are redoing the kitchen because of a fire and where we are we have a printer but no scanner to scan in my plans. Your comments have me convinced that I should put 48" between the fridge and the center island and I will just keep the small table against the wall. Thanks so much again for your help.

if you have a phone you can take a picture of the layout for better advice.

Creative Visual Concepts, Kevin Strader Curious, what is the distance between your pantry/bar cabinets to the edge of your island from the Kitchen from Hell transforming into Kitchen from Heaven photos you posted above? And are those 12 inch pantry/bar cabinets?