While common usage of the word hearth would refer to a brick or stone-lined fireplace or oven used for heating or cooking, it can also be used metaphorically as being the warmest place in one’s house, a central area from where cooking and the essential activities for creating the good life emanate from. Focus Global knows only too well how so much is invested and placed in the “hearth” of a home, and how very easily it becomes a primary focus for anyone building that idealized “dream home.” While its spanking new showroom on the ground floor of the Greenbelt Residences has more than 11 rooms devoted to Ethan Allen and its extensive and diverse range of home furnishings, it was the modules dedicated to SieMatic, Sub-Zero and Wolf, and the working kitchen it set up, that really caught my interest — and as I don’t cook, and can’t even boil water, really exceptional features would have to impress me!
SieMatic is one of the premium kitchen cabinet brands from Germany, at the forefront of merging technology with design. The handleless kitchen is its concept, as introduced in the 1960s. And now, its S1 and S2 kitchens feature built-in multimedia systems! What that means is you can watch cable TV, browse the Internet, connect your iPod and listen to music, and it’s all incorporated into the kitchen cabinet system. To see is to believe, and one look at the showroom will convince you just how seamless this has been done, and how SieMatic has really brought in lifestyle and technology into the kitchen without sacrificing space or design. And it still has its dust and insect proof cabinets, silent, self-closing cabinet doors and flexible shelf adjustments.
With uncompromising standards and workmanship, Sub-Zero and Wolf have blazed a name in refrigeration and cooking appliances respectively. Pioneers in the dual refrigeration technology, Sub-Zero is also about food preservation, via an air purification system that eliminates odors, bacteria, viruses and ethylene gas — that all contribute to fruits and vegetables ripening faster. A super sensitive microprocessor controls optimum temperature set points. With Wolf, its Dual Fuel Ranges allow for topside gas cooking with refined control, while the massive dual convection electric oven has two fans and four heating elements — giving us 10 cooking modes to choose from, depending on what suits the dish being prepared.
Truly, there is a revolution going on in how kitchens are designed, in what refrigerators and cooking appliances can offer, and it’s comforting to have Focus Global ensuring that it’s all available to the discerning Filipino homeowner!
Fiction for the New Year
Whether revelling with octogenarian detectives, discovering strange historical parallels or “levitating” at the cusp of modern commerce and technology, these three novels are welcome additions for your reading pleasure.
Bryant & May Off the Rails by Christopher Fowler (available at Fully Booked): Eighth in the delightful series created by Fowler, this is crime and suspense with an eccentric twist that never fails to bring a smile to my face. In any other country, detectives Bryant and May would have been put out to pasture, but in London’s Peculiar Crimes Unit, they’re partners and polar (even bipolar?) opposites who have their unique way of solving crimes. In this outing, the London Tube, and King’s Cross in particular, are as much characters as our detecting duo. A killer escapes, killing one of the junior members of the Unit and has fled underground. A band of students plays a crucial role, as our senior members of society have a grand time interacting with today’s disaffected youth and their attitude to crime.
The Death Instinct by Jed Rubenfeld (available at Fully Booked): In 1920, a bomb exploded on Wall Street, with 400 killed or injured and no one held responsible up to this day! With strong parallels to 9/11, Rubenfeld (who also authored the excellent The Interpretation of Murder) blends history with fiction in a gripping and convincing narrative. Central characters are World War I veteran Dr. Stratham Younger, NYC police detective James Littlemore, and French radio-chemist Collette Rousseau (who trained under Madame Curie). With cameos by the likes of Dr. Sigmund Freud, and a dizzying shifting of locations between Vienna, Paris and New York, the novel is a brisk, yet highly informative read. It may be historical fiction, but the research and conclusions reached are top-rate.
Zero History by William Gibson (available at National Bookstore): At the cutting edge of technology and commerce, with catchphrases such as brand vision transmission bandied around, Gibson’s latest is, at its core, a high stakes game of industrial espionage and one-upmanship. Our protagonists all work for Bigend and his London company Blue Ant, and they’re after US military clothing contracts. Naturally, there are competitors and in this world, there is no such thing as ethics or being the gentleman. But rather than being played out like some Mafia turf war, this “battle” is waged via technology, being street smart, and always looking behind your shoulder. Somewhere in all this, Gibson also provides us a love story that helps “soften” the overall effect of this novel.