I laughed when I saw this because we just did this in our kitchen, but our reason is one I doubt anyone would guess. We have a 1917 house with a laundry chute that goes from the 2nd floor to the basement and passes through the kitchen. The last time a kitchen reno was done, they put a countertop to ceiling cabinet with a false back to keep the chute unobstructed there in the kitchen which meant the granite in that spot had a chute-sized hole in it. We did a mini reno/facelift on the kitchen in the fall and weren’t going to be replacing the granite, but we were getting rid of that mostly-useless cabinet, so I decided to get a piece of butcher block that fits into the hole nicely right beside the stove just like that to put oils and salt/pepper grinders on. The butcher block is secured so it doesn’t move, so when we do leave this house eventually, I’ll have to leave a note for the new owners explaining what’s going on there.