Recessed lights (4” LEDs now) are not necessarily everyone’s favorite kind of lighting, but they play a role in making sure your space is well illuminated. They are your ambient light, and the idea is to layer your space with ambient, task (under cabinet lighting or pendants/sconces) and accent lighting (lighting up your glass cabinets or lighting under the toe kick) although in smaller spaces I think three layers can be a bit much. I’ve seen pendants called ambient, task, and accent lighting, so don’t worry too much about the labels. You have other options for ambient light, so if you don’t like recessed lights you can try using several semi-flush fixtures, or you can flush-mount two linear LED chandeliers if you want something very modern looking. Whatever you go for, put it on a dimmer switch.

How many fixtures you need depends on how high your ceilings are, but there are articles on that online. Location, plenty of articles on that too, but generally 18” from the wall so the light falls on the counter, not behind you casting a shadow. Good luck with this!