Field Trip: Selecting Stone

 Saturday we took a trip to an amazing stone yard in Ventura

to pick  slabs for our kitchen counter tops

 this yard has more interesting stone to choose from!

 above is the slab of soapstone we chose...it's huge!

almost 10 feet across and 7 feet high
 quarried in Italy

  near the soapstone was another really wonderful italian stone...similar to soapstone
called Pietra Grigio

it looks similar concrete and is a beautiful pure grey

here is an example of that stone used to make a sink

wonderful!

Restoration Hardware uses this stone
in some of their bathroom consoles

  I'm stuck on soapstone for this kitchen...but I have to say, I would love to 

use the grey Pietra for something

 these are just a few of the amazing large blocks of stone

 for steps and exterior garden details that they sell

this yard caters to DIY'ers too...there were alot of guys with a few kids, 

the wife and a big pick up

I count myself in that group too!

 they also had these big huge slabs of 8 inch thick marble

about 6 feet long

 these can be fabricated into double sinks for a bathroom!

how wonderful would that double sink be?!

 I loved these huge granite bubblers

for a garden fountain 

 there are two HUGE interior rooms

 of more incredible slabs

 some of the colors were so stunning 

and unique,
 mother nature at her best

 blues, greens, rust, black...

 a piece of stone similar to the one below 

was purchased by a customer to mount on the wall as art

what a great idea...talk about a show stopper!

every rock that is quarried 

yeilds multiple identical slabs

all numbered and indentified

for use on a project 

 they had some really pure white 

Carrera below which was beautiful

the cost of that stone was about 5 times the cost 

of the ususal Carrera marble

when this type of special stone is specified on a project the rejection rate
can be really high too, sometimes up to 20 %

there is also some 3rd rate Carrera coming from Italy,
shipped to China then re-sold
with fillers and repairs as pure Carrera

it is labeled as "quarried in Italy" because that is
the Country of origin

buyer beware right?

thankfully none of that here

 and then of course the timeless Carrera 

that we all love with a touch of grey

and very affordable:
around $16 dollars a square foot
prior to fabrication 

 this showroom had samples of edge details 

and really great descriptions of the various types of stone they sell  

and where they can be found 

throughout the world

 lots of samples to take home...which is really nice

 the slab above was incredible...it looked like clouds

can you imagine that in a kitchen or a huge bathroom?!!!

you would never stop looking at it

 the slab above looked like shattered 

green glass...I loved it

 and finally they had a variety of slabs 

with fossilized shells and fish

 the fish and large shells were sometimes
2 feet across

 I can see these in a beach house in Hawaii...
I think this was a limestone, but who cares
it was so amazing!

 and finally...we had to make a pit stop in a small little town called Saticoy 

to buy metal studs

yes,
I know
my life is so exciting...

 but this is the building supply store 

which was once a train station
 (my contractor told me)

 the trussing and rafters were amazing and so detailed
that I couldn't help snapping a few shots to share

so that was my Saturday

actually pretty fun... 

and it is always a treat to stumble across a 

bit of history in the process


xxoo
kelley

ps:  I got to have really yummy fish and chips for lunch

The Kitchen Considered: The Trophy Stove

Nothing strikes fear in the heart of a serial kitchen remodeler (me)

 than the purchase of high end appliances.  

And the most expensive appliance is undoubtedly the stove.

Americans are sort of obsessed with kitchen design

 and "Looker Cookers" from Europe,  can set you back $10,000 to $30,000, take 4 months or more to build and are next to impossible to have repaired in the US....so why buy one?

And with so many other options available,

 what really should we be looking for?

The criteria seems to be mostly performance related 

but there is a bit of the "bourgeois" hanging around these stoves too!

  

I watched an episode of Iron Chef Masters 

where they prepared a three course meal in a dorm room

 with a microwave and a hot plate. 

So lets just say this shall we....great food doesn't necessarily have to be prepared on a behemoth monster with 6 ovens and enough stove top burners to cook for the marines. 

 Having said that....these stove are beautiful and come in dozens of colors such as pistachio and aubergine.  Die hard fans say that food tastes better when cooked in these ovens and they cook food faster as well.

 The Aga,  designed in 1922 has beautiful details as does the French made La Cornue.

The down side seems to be that the Aga has very small ovens and is an energy savers nightmare, as the oven pilot never turn off. It tends to make the kitchen warmer too, which may or may not be a problem.

The French La Cornufe is now being offered at Williams Sonoma.  It retails for $8,600 and requires a $1,300 dollar delivery....and then you have to hire a professional installer.  Ouch

I must say though, that the white stove above is just beautiful! 

And what a show stopper in the kitchen

The La Cornufe offers 3 burners at 12,000 BTU's and a single larger burner offering 17,500 BTU's.  Another feature is the ability to simmer at a low and steady 

600 to 6000 BTU's for unattended sauce reduction.  There is no glass in the oven doors on the Aga and La Cornufe which is supposed to allow for more even heat distribution. 

 The down side is obvious....you have to open the door to view what you are cooking, so you have heat loss every time you need to take a peek at the pie!

Now getting back to America.  

The 48" dual fuel Thermadore,offers a whopping 22,000 BTU's on all burners. 

 Thermadore developed this star shaped burner which is supposed to allow more even heat distribution to the bottom of the pan surface.  

The stove top is fully sealed with a black enamel top as opposed to stainless which allows the cook easy clean up when a sauce boils over.

The star burner can be reduced to an extremely low heat as well, 375 BTU's, which is the lowest available on any range on the market.  

This 48" range sells for around $10,500 dollars.

Known to many chefs as "The King" of stoves is the wonderful Wolf stove

Wolf is now part of the Sub Zero family of appliances and has been a mainstay in the professional kitchen for decades.  The BTU's are similar to the others in this category.  But many feel this stove is overpriced compared to the other at around $11,500 dollars.

I do have to admit having a thing for those red knobs!

I also like the clean look of this range.

And my last American lovely is the Viking.  

Having owned one or two of these I can say that I really like Viking....however if you are looking for special features on these stoves they all "add" to the price. 

 Things like full extension oven racks and griddles, and dual fuel capabilities can jump up the overall price pretty quickly.  

This 36" dual fuel stove retails for around $5,500.

I looked at a few others in this category:

The DCS range used by Americas Test Kitchen Chefs

and the Bertazonni, which I purchased for another house.

So what to do?

Do I buy based on looks 

or 

Do I buy strictly for performance?

any "Reviews" would be greatly appreciated

~kelley~