A range of ranges

 

So many possibilities.

After my last post about our kitchen design, a lot of people have been asking me about our choice of a Lacanche range. Seems Lacanche owners are fanatics. That bodes well.

Our selected finishes. Matte black with brass knobs. The brass looks good all shined up and even better when it gets a patina.

As we thought about our kitchen design we were pretty convinced we were going to buy a 48" Wolf range. We had heard some jibber jabber about technical problems, but Wolf seemed to have a better track record than most upscale ranges. When we went to a Wolf showroom a few years ago we were struck by how bulky the knobs looked on the dual fuel ranges (gas burners/electric ovens). They seemed almost cartoonish. The knobs on the ranges with gas ovens were much more elegant. I really wanted an electric oven, but we couldn't stomach the big knobs. So we decided to go with the gas range and put in an electric wall oven. Seemed a little crazy, but what cook wouldn't want three ovens?  (For more on changes to Wolf knobs check out Appliance Dude's blog post about them.)

Bulky Wolf knobs and a whole lot of electronics.

About a year later when we were looking at the work of a potential contractor we were in a kitchen that had a really beautiful range which turned out to be a Lacanche. Both of us were drawn to it like moths to a flame. As much as I liked the look of it, I was resistant to the notion that it might be a choice for us because in my mind I kept conflating it with La Cornue which I hadn't found all that attractive. (I think they are a little over designed.) I soon got over that because the only ornament on the Lacanche is functional. The knobs and the handles are the only real decoration. I liked that simplicity. As we learned more about Lacanche we were also drawn to the simplicity of the technology. It seems pretty basic. Gas plus spark equals heat. I did worry a bit about the somewhat smaller size of the oven but after measuring the Thanksgiving turkey I got over that. Plus, ding dong, we were planning on having a wall oven anyway.

La Cornue. Way too much detail for me.

But then price. Surely the cost of a range from France would no doubt eclipse the cost of our 48" Wolf. Turns out, no. They are almost evenly priced once taxes and shipping are figured in. Granted our Lacanche is about five inches narrower so it isn't completely apples to apples but close enough for us.

The Lacanche we wish we had room for.

So after much consideration we embraced our budding love for Lacanche. We visited the showroom on a trip to New York, we tracked down online reviews, we chatted at length with Elisa, the lovely east coast Lacanche rep for Art Culinaire, and then we ordered our very own. (You can see our chosen model and configuration by scrolling down to the next post.)

I can hear some of you already: AGA!, What about AGA? I can appreciate many things about AGA, but I can also appreciate that it would not suit my lifestyle and way of cooking at all.

Not for me.

My favorite Top Chef personality (well maybe second favorite, I think I like Gail Simmons better) enjoying her Lacanche.

I will have much more to say when our Lacanche gets installed. It is set to land in the US sometime in June I think but not sure when it will be installed.