I first noted the availability of a Godin range and hood on ebay some weeks ago, but the handsome devil remains available and it's breaking my heart.

On Saturday, in a triumph of hope over good sense, I emailed the seller to ask the length. It is in fact 48" long, impossible in my 11' x11' kitchen with two doors, two windows, and no room to expand in an old rowhouse.

So, here it is:

See, stately, but not over-blinged.

According to the seller's response to my query, it has never been installed, just unpacked, photographed, and packed up again. It is dual fuel, with one of the ovens electric. It has all the specific number btu burners that real cooks (of whom I am not one) can make good use of. It is a smashing matte black. It has real gold trim, which seems a bit much to me but apparently saves polishing.

Godin's are so scarce in North America that I had to google "Godin cooker" to get any info. They seem to be well respected across the pond. And the price for this seems like a great deal. Apart from verifying that the original price would have been about what is described in the ebay posting, this is a sculptural pro style range and hood for the price of another good brand of pro 30" range alone.

The bonus is that this elegant brute is in Monmouth County, NJ, very near where Springsteen sprung. So excellent is that karma that I was not deterred by the prospect of remotely getting someone to check out its innards or arranging for the shipping...just the size.

So please, someone who does fret about flame height, please investigate with an eye to buying it. It will have a good, appreciative home, and I will have endless vicarious joy.

I'd go for it but I'm pretty sure I'd be in the doghouse if I had another range sitting in the dining room waiting for the kitchen to be finished.

Dear Wife has the patience of a saint but I fear that would be too much.

Damn.