nutherokie--I'm so jealous! I can't wait to see pics of your baby. I don't know how you are restraining yourself and not taking delivery until next week.

I'm still waiting on a ship date :( Hopefully I'll hear from Christa this week. The range is the last piece of the puzzle. I'm taking a big chance that the specs are right and having the granite cut accordingly without the range here...cross your fingers that it just slides in nicely.

chris11895--tell us more about your visit? Did you cook on a range? I was debating between the Changy 1400 and the Citeaux but I just couldn't wrap my brain around the size of the vertical ovens. It's nice to hear that they are larger than you thought. Did you get samples of the colors? I was debating between the black and the anthracite also. But then I got the samples and they were pretty close in color....close enough that I didn't want to pay the upcharge. Now for the frangipane....that I'd pay the upcharge for!

Hope you get a delivery date soon.

Stork lowers new arrival onto porch, Dad and helpful neighbor stand by to assist:

still in her cocoon:

Cleaned up:

home at last (with the help of four strong movers and a dolly:

another view:

Whew!

Flevy-thanks for starting another Lacanche thread. I needed it. Tell us about the Lacanche that you are expecting. Be sure to share the due date when you know.

We are going to take the plunge ourselves with a Chagny. The tough decision is Burgundy or Black. If it is Burgundy, the windows through out the house, will be painted Burgundy, too. I'm hoping that it will look like jewel red in some light, and then look like Dark Cherry wood in other lights. Or, if we go Black, the granite that has turned my head is Arctic Cream with lots of black slashes...then the walls can be painted from a larger choice of colors. This is tough.....Burgundy or Black......Burgundy or Black......or maybe that dark Green! Aubergine was my first choice....but the double upcharge was too much. Hmmmm. Frangipane....sounds like a dessert!

The most exciting part of our remodel/rebuild is happening right now with the framing. Each room is taking shape rather than 2D on the plans. It's like....like.... like being engaged. LOLOL

I don't know what we'll cook first. We're still not moved in. I just visit and play house! The stove (still settling on a name) was the last big item, but there are still a few details remaining.

I can't wait to see your range, Flevy.

And Zippity, I had exactly your struggle. I actually had a plywood "stove" made that I'd paint black, then burgundy, then black. I wanted the burgundy SO badly, but I'd already collected approximately a zillion dollars worth of my beloved vintage deco light fixtures and they just didn't play all that well with the red. I hope you can make it work!

Your fans would dearly love to see your vintage deco light fixtures as well as more photos of your dreamy home which appears to be ready to move in...heck, it looks like you have already moved in. There are flowers on the table!

The baby is a Chagny 1400, isn't she? Sweet. We love the concept of dual broilers and 3 ovens....but wow, you can slow cook, too.

Flevy, Any signs of a stork circling the skies above your house?

Christine, Are you planning on ordering a Citeaux? Got a fix on a color yet?

Is there anybody else dreaming of Lacanche babies out there?

Does anyone have names befitting a fine French cooker?

.

Zippity-do-dah, yes. It's a Chagny 1400. She's still negotiating her name. As for the flowers, I'm just so ready to move in that I can't resist "playing house.". How sweet of you to ask about the deco lights. I'll snap some pics this weekend. I was so focused on the range that nothing else made it into the photos.

We're just embarking on the which-Lacanche adventure, so I'm busy doing my homework.

Can I ask; how far is your island from the Lacanche, how big is your island, and what did you choose for an exhaust/range hood behind the lovely mantle?

Why not me, thanks for your kind words. Which models are you considering? I'll javelin to measure my aisle next time I'm at the new house. I believe it's 42 inches. The islan itself is a little over six feet by seven feet.

My exhaust is kind of cobbled together. We had it done locally and well, I'm just keeping my fingers crossed. It's an 800 cfm blower and pretty basic filters. Foetunately, its a short straight run out the roof. We'll see.

My husband doesn't think we need the warming oven on the side, and the Chagny will be plenty, but I figure that extra bit will be very useful when we're holding dinner parties, etc, and we do have the space for it. It does add quite a bit to the price, though, which surprised me, although I'm still wandering back and forth around their excellent website figuring everything out, so maybe I've got that wrong.

I like the idea of the very small oven, and two other mid-sized ones.

The Art Culinaire people seem suuper to deal with, too. One of the things that put us off Aga was the awful post-purchase customer service (and frequent requirement for service!), although my initial contact with the area rep was great.

Colour - as my husband says, the black looks STUNNING, but what about a bright colour, lol. I can see another looong debate about that!

Funnily enough, I think our set-up will be quite like yours - sitting underneath a cathedral ceiling, with a full "wall" hiding the exhaust fan, vs a range hood, and a wee bit of cabinetry on either side. We have lots of aged hand-hewn barn lumber, so even that part we had thought of, so were pleasantly surprised to see yours and how lovely and "meant" it looks!

As an aside, how are you going to keep those gorgeous herringbone brick floors clean, lol. Mopping by Pekingese?

Thanks

F

The door itself is ( by my best measurement efforts) an inch and three eighths thick. Because of the gasket and hinge, the door does not sit absolutely flush against the face frame. So from the face frame to the front of the door it's about an inch and five eighths. I shot a couple of pics. I'll post them tomorrow when I have pc access. Im hoping a picture will be worth a thousand words.

Why Not Me, sorry. I just saw your post. Yes mine is the Chagny 1400. In testing the oven temps I noticed that they come to temperature amazingly fast. I guess that's the benefit of the smaller size!

I feel for you on the color. I still can't believe I didn't move heaven and earth to get the red. The black turned out to be the right choice in my case though. I would have hated to give up my other picks.

I can't wait to see your finished space. How could I not love it? As for the brick, time will tell. It was awful during construction. But now that the mess is out of the house, they seem to stay pretty clean ( looking, at least). The mopping Pekingese is a seriously tempting idea!

And I haven't forgotten about my promise of more pictures. Life is just interfering with my plans.

Debating between the Saulieu or Cluny 1400, large vs small oven. I'm a rice fanatic, & cooked up a nice pot @ Art Culinaire in Woodinville. Quickly boiled it on 11K BTU burner & then switched to Portable Simmer Plate on low 5K BTU. Also tried reducing trivet but it simmered too hot. Nicole also directed me to http://pinterest.com/lacancheusa/ which has beautiful Lacanche kitchens & some interesting kitchen do dahs & recipes.

Look forward to seeing more photos of your lovely kitchen.

Terzen,

We're still not moved in, but the counters have been in for several weeks now and I have used the sinks a fair amount. I notice no staining at all. I Waterloxed the living daylights out of the counters, so I'm not too concerned. My plan for the island was actually soapstone. I searched for months for a slab big enough to do the whole thing. I even had a slab shipped up by Dorado which they swore was over six feet wide. Wrong. Don't get me started on Dorado Soapstone of Austin, Texas. Not. A. Fan.

Anyway, I always planned wood for the perimeter and thought it would be a stop gap on the island, but I love it! I don't know that I'll want to change it even if the perfect soapstone slab should appear.

I went through the handwringing on oven sizes but finally decided that all the pans I use would fit in the Cluny sized oven. It may be a bit awkward at first to load them lengthwise, but I'm sure I'll adjust. And that fast preheat is fabulous.

Thanks for the tip about the rice. I wouldn't have thought of the simmer plate. That thing is seriously heavy, though -- maybe I'll develop biceps at long last. And thanks for the Pintrest link. I look forward to checking it out.

Terzen .... Did the Portable Simmer Plate cook the rice properly? The reducing trivet was too hot to simmer? Did you try anything else? Also, please tell us what stoves and colors that you saw while you were there. Were there any styles or colors that caught your attention? Please, some of us will probably never see the New York or Woodinville showrooms so we would dearly love a full report.

Ouis, the simmer plate cooked the rice perfectly. The reducing trivet is made of aluminum, and the 5K burner simmer was too hot for that pot of rice (Le Crueset pot).

Ah, the Woodinville showroom is interesting & not your typical appliance store! It's a wine tasting room with a large wooden harvest table in center & Lacanche ranges along the perimeter of the room. Ranges I recall are Vert Sologne Sully, either Aubergene or Burgundy Red Rully, Black Cluny on which I cooked, I think a Chagny , stainless (gorgeous), & a French Blue Citeaux. There had been an orange range, maybe Terra Cotta Cormatin, but I understand it has been shipped to a new Lacanche showroom in California. On one visit I got to see the new crated Lacanches, either waiting to be tested by Art Culinaire or to be shipped out to the new owners. They were calibrating a stunning Burgundy Red Sully at the time. Wish I had the room for one! Now that I have my range picked out, onward ho for the gazillion other decisions to make in my remodel. Thank goodness Garden Web is a constant source of support & ideas.

I agree with Why not me that a separate post may bring you more hits than from this Lacanche thread. Good luck!

I ordered the Changy 1400. The petite broiler really is petite...more like a big toaster oven. But it works when it's just the kids and I and I need to reheat chicken nuggets. No need to turn on the big oven.

I'm still learning how to adjust the racks. The range shipped with 2 different types of racks, one seems to sit level with the slides on the side and the other seems to hang below the slides. I know they're not the broiler racks though.For now, whenever I start cooking something, I place the pans in the ovens before I heat them in order to figure out placement.

But all in all, I love the range. Here it is with a pic of my little one. And the best news is that DH and I picked our backsplash today. We should really be done with the kitchen by the end of Jan!!!

Your Chagny is beautiful! & so is your little one in his holiday duds!

Could your 2nd oven rack include the cookie/pastry sheet that attaches to the rack? I know the Cluny I tested at Art Culianaire came w/two regular racks & a cookie sheet that sort of wrapped around the rack.

Love the dark counters surrounding your range. Are they granite? I'm considering the same thing w/marble or quartize on island.

Thanks for sharing.

So the granite, yes, both counters are actually granite. The black is called premium brushed black. I think it's a form of AB. But it has a leathered finish. It doesn't show dust or fingerprints so I love it. And the island is called sea pearl. With all the comments about quartzite that lturns out to be marble I was worried about etching and patina, but it has withstood sugar cookie cut outs, multiple juice stains, overnight chocolate, and all the other leftovers that comes with small children.

How exciting for you! The yellow definitely sounds cheery to me as we enter dreary, rainy Jan. in our great Northwest. I chose safe matte black. Have you peeked in your crate, yet? We've moved out of our home & currently it looks like a disaster zone. Hopefully 6 mos. down the road I'll be posting photos of my Cluny in our new kitchen. Congratultions!

I have talked to Art Culinaire and they tell me that there don't appear to be any Rully owners in Washington state. I need to ask them if there are *any* in the US. As far as I can tell from searching, there aren't any posts that mention the Rully except in passing.

While there is no denying the Lacanche are beautiful ranges, I wish we would've installed a Wolf. We've had to adjust burners that won't light from the pilot, the electric ovens don't cook evenly, and the gas range knob came delivered with a valve linkage issue. It wouldn't turn off in the off position. Eventually the linkage came completely undone. We were able to turn the oven off, but we've yet to fix the linkage. That is next week's project.

Eric in service has been very helpful. He has sent us video links to fix these things ourselves. In order to get to the valve linkage, the entire top has to be removed. While I don't anticipate my husband having a problem fixing the linkage, there's certainly a chance we will end up with a bill from an appliance repair. This was not the service I expected when I purchased this range. Videos and DIY.

We are doing our best to work through the kinks of the Lacanche. We are cooks and use it constantly and have been able to make adjustments for oven size and uneven cooking. I didn't think I'd miss self cleaning ovens, but I do. My husband kept his positive front up about the range until just recently when he admitted the Wolf is better but "this range is just fine." At this price point, I don't want just fine.

To those who love your Lacanche ranges, I'm happy for you. It was the happy reviews from which I based my purchase.

My Lacanche is sitting in storage, & your story is an uneasy one to hear. I empathize about the lack of on-site service for a range in this price point. My DH & I debated all the pros & cons read online, but decided to go for it. He is very handy & likes the simplicity of it w/o the computerized/digital do dahs. I know I will be relearning to cook w/this range & will constantly monitor the oven. I've had to do this with my past ovens, too, so not a problem for me. BTW, your wooden countertop & backsplash are stunning!

Beewoolie, you will have to decide what you are unwilling to compromise at this price point as renome pointed out. Check other threads for info on all the ranges you are considering. I'll try to input my Lacanche experiences on this thread as renome has done. Good luck in your choice!

1. cost: dollar for dollar for significantly less I can achieve acceptable cooking results with Bluestar/similar - will Lacanche really elevate our cooking worth $5-7 thousand more in cost? (the shipping alone is killing me... and potential service calls/repairs sound nightmarish)

2. form vs function: aesthetics are incomparable with Lacanche! oh so beautiful and appropriate for this lovely 100+ year old place we call home :-) However, I read on other sites its function lacks in basic areas: consistent heat with burners and ovens; cleaning/constant messy interior oven drips; poor interior oven lighting

Your experiences and thoughts? Many thanks ~

I haven't used a bluestar, but am pretty sure it would cook great. We have a cluny and have had it, I think, since 2005 or so. We cook a lot, and are (sad but true) food snobs so we cook from magazines and "high end stuff" a lot. We cook on it everyday. I still love her!

Our burners are fine and we adjusted our ovens to where, while maybe not perfect, are close enough for us. When we bake or roast we have always just used recipe times as a rough guide - even pre-Julia.

People drip in other ovens, I don't think that's exclusive to Lacanche. Twice a year we clean our ovens. Honest, it's just not that hard. I don't think I ever owned a self-cleaning oven that worked well enough for me to consider self-cleaning a great option. I would agree that oven lighting would have been nice.

The only problem we ever had with ours was when I removed an oven door and put it back wrong. I managed to bend a hinge. They sent me a new set and I had it back together in literally 15 minutes. Plus, it's pretty basic. I'm sure just about any oven repair man could fix any issue it might have.

Can't help you with the cost issue. Looks were certainly one aspect we considered, and that was no contest. Ultimately, we wanted a balance of fire power and beauty. We haven't once regretted our decision.

Joe