Keep the seating. The bow... not sure about. We have one and it creates an optical illusion when you photograph the front, that the island is bowed. However, when barstools are in, it's fine. We use this seating all the time. You have more room at the island and seating is more comfortable, with the bow - it's not like you are lined up in a row. That said, we usually eat at the kitchen table vs. the island. A couple comments on your plan. Am I missing it, or do you not have a prep sink? You have the beautiful huge cooktops and plenty of aisle space between them and the island. We have a similar setup and have the prep sink on the island - so it's chop and twirl and toss into pan. I love this. Also, we have 42'' between cooktop and island - this is fine for multiple people working in the area, I've found. I don't think you will see or access the front of the island, with barstools in place. This was a while ago: More recently (not our backsplash, just photoshopped option), with stools in place:

I just changed my office over so everything is on wheels. So this has been my experience so far. It's great for cleaning and rearranging. The casters need to really lock down and you might think about using 4 with locks. My desk has two locking and two plain - its just too easy to push it around in spite of the locks. For example, I can bring the whole desk towards myself when I want to open up the keyboard shelf - even with the locks set. A different kind of caster on the rolling around shelves does the same thing - not quite as easily but still wouldn't put it in a kitchen. Maybe there are better casters in the world and someone would have a recommended brand. Alternately, if you're thinking of something that has some size to it, perhaps get or build a section to handle the actual work surface and stools but not move. Then "dock" something like the flyetta cart below on one end.

First of all, congratulations- looks like a beautiful home! Aside from blocking the view of dirty dishes (which is a big plus), a raised height bar also provides a clear delineation of usage. For example, there's a natural indication of where the newspaper should go and where the dirty dishes should go. There are good reasons people stray from this natural pattern of interaction, especially in smaller kitchens or out of concern for small children (which your kiddos may be), but I think I would try and keep it raised in your kitchen if possible. I like your idea of placing some of the same materials found in the living room (such as the fireplace stone) in the kitchen. This will help bring the house together. I wouldn't worry too much about whether the fireplace lines up with the hood, in part because the rooms are designed such that folks will rarely have a view of both together. And even if there was some natural vantage point which caused you to see them both inline, I wouldn't rush to shift the hood down any further because that will increase the number of steps you take from the cooking area to the sink (a trip that is taken quite often). People often don't think enough about their day to day interactions with the elements of the kitchen. For example, what will you be looking at while you do the dishes? In your case, a dish washer can look out many windows, but also interact with folks at the bar or keep an eye on kids in the living room. Seems like exactly what you want. So, I would keep the angled island despite folks' accurate comments on your other post that it's not an ideal layout for storage space. Speaking of day-to-day interactions and your concern about storage, I would think about what each cabinet will be used for. For example, how far will you have to walk to put away a stack of heavy plates that just came out of the dishwasher? Can you put pots & pans where they're easily accessible from the cooking area? If you walk through this exercise, my hunch is you'll find that the cabinets around the sink/DW/oven end of the kitchen will be in high demand, and the space in the pantry and next to it is not as much. However, overall I think you have plenty of space (especially considering you've got a dining room buffet and wet bar cabinetry for some items other folks would have in kitchen cabinetry), so it may simply be a prioritization exercise. One thing I might think about changing is the pocket door between the mudroom and the kitchen. I love pocket doors for their efficient use of space, but they are not as easy to open and close. The passageway from the garage to the kitchen is one of the most heavily used in many households, and making it as simple as possible to pass through will pay off frequently. Because pocket doors are more difficult to open/close, they are also often left open. This is not a big deal in many of the situations where they're commonly used, but may be something to consider in your...

9" sounds better--I misunderstood the measurement of the island depth on the last plan you'd posted. There are many pics of cooktops under windows (I linked some above), and a few GW members have done the same. Angie_diy and cotehele are two that I recall. You might do a search, and message them to find out how they feel about the issue. If it gives you a better layout, I think it would be fine, and although glass shows spatters, it is durable--more durable than my bead-board backsplash. I would assume that any solid surface behind the hood would help contain the steam and grease plume better than the open cooktop first considered. Where would that grease have gone? I've never had a cooktop under a window, though, so I can't add any first-hand experience. One GW discussion/pros and cons cotehele (and a few others) weighed in on this discussion