And now, the super-smart kitchen

Chefs talk about Gaggenau ovens in the same manner car enthusiasts talk about Porsches or Ferraris: reverently, with a mixture of desire and awe.

This 300-year-old German brand has the reputation that comes with age and innovation, you see. Gaggenau was the first to introduce the built-in oven, the first glass ceramic cooktop, the first pyrolitic self-cleaning system, and the first combi-steam oven for private use. Even the tempered glass they use is fingerprint-resistant. With this kind of attention to detail, their appliances are as precise and efficient as they are sleek and beautiful to look at … and their prices reflect that (around 6,000 euros per unit, negotiable).

“A Gaggenau kitchen is a culinary haven,” says Edelynn Tolentino, marketing manager of Living Innovations, the company that distributes Gaggenau in the Philippines. “It’s bought by famous politicians, rich clients, and boasts German efficiency and precision.”

Wow factor: At the push of a button, the base of the Gaggenau LiftMatic oven lowers and lifts like an elevator.

Living Innovations general manager Ferdinand Ong brought four other luxury brands for the home to these isles: Bang & Olufsen audiovisual systems, Minotti living-room furniture, Dedon outdoor furniture and Bulthaup kitchen counters and cabinets. While Minotti’s Italian furnishings are currently their bestsellers, Ong says that Living Innovations designs such culinary havens for their affluent clientele using Gaggenau appliances installed in Bulthaup kitchens — Bulthaup being another renowned German brand he discovered abroad.

“With these brands I wanted to increase the number of choices for Filipinos,” he says.

He notes that Pinoys use these kitchens mainly for show, which is a shame considering they’re as much about high performance as cutting-edge design.

Kalel Chan, the corporate chef of Raintree Restaurants (Chelsea, MoMo, Museum Café and Mr. Jones), proved it by preparing a four-course lunch in a Gaggenau-Bulthaup kitchen whose highlights were poached salmon with champagne hollandaise sauce and mushroom-crusted beef tenderloin. Every component on the plate was perfectly cooked, from vegetable to protein.

Futuristic functions: The induction cooktop features a removable magnetic knob that controls five cooking zones.

Chan told me his favorite appliance was the Gaggenau LiftMatic, a wall oven whose wow feature is a glass-ceramic base that lowers and lifts at the push of a button. This elevator function allows you to load your dishes easily and check the doneness of your food without the steam facial and risk of burns you get when reaching into a hot oven. It also keeps the heat trapped within, thus minimizing energy loss.

“I also like it because you can use it as a salamander,” said Chan.

We toured the rest of the kitchen to see what else Gaggenau has to offer:

• Induction cooktops — The futuristic function of this cooktop is the Twist-Pad, a removable magnetic knob that controls five cooking zones, the largest of which is a center ring that detects different pot sizes. This cooking range also has a booster, which Chan says allows you to boil water in 30 seconds flat! The induction rings heat your pots and pans evenly all throughout; it even has a child-lock safety feature. Just don’t lose the knob: though it can be removed for safety and cleanliness reasons, a replacement costs about 100 euros.

In-house café: Equipped with a grinder, milk frother and message screen, Gaggenau’s coffee machine is like having a professional barista in your home.

• Cooling appliances — Made of stainless steel and glass, the main feature of Gaggenau refrigerators is a motorized shelf: press a button and again the shelf elevates and lowers to accommodate large cake boxes and containers. There’s a chiller with different settings to keep vegetables fresh, and an odor filter so that fish and poultry smells won’t contaminate the rest of the fridge.

On the freezer side a filter purifies water before making ice, and it’s self-defrosting. If you’re one of those distracted homemakers, an LCD screen prompts you whenever a change needs to be made, and an alarm goes off when the temperature drops, before the fridge automatically goes back to the desired temperature.

Tolentino shared an energy-saving storage tip with us: “When thawing food, put it in the ref, as the frozen food helps cool down the ref as well.”

Wine and dine: With dual trays for red and white wines, the Vario Wine cooler has two temperature zones for short- and long-term storage.

• Coffee machine — This stainless-steel coffeemaker is like having a professional barista in your home. Equipped with a grinder and milk frother, it lets you adjust coffee size and strength, from normal to keep-you-awake-all-day. In turn, a message indicator tells you when to add beans, increase water, empty trays, and clean the unit. The single-portion self-cleaning function ensures the purity of brewed coffees, cappuccinos and latte macchiatos, and you can program it to shut down after a certain time.

• Wine cabinet — With dual trays for red and white wines, the Vario Wine cooler also has two independently adjustable temperature zones for short- and long-term wine storage. Fully extendable beech-and-aluminum bottle racks can hold from 70 to 100 bottles, including big magnums. And since the unit stores bottles at an angle and has glass doors for viewing, your collection will be on proud display.

• Kitchen cabinets — Sleek Bulthaup cabinets roll out smoothly with handy compartments for knives, utensils — even salt and pepper. Though the model we saw was made of blond beech wood, you can have your own design custom-made and laminates, lacquers and veneers are also available.

Living Innovations’ marketing manager Edelynn Tolentino (left) and Melissa Lotho, sales manager, kitchen division

For its energy efficiency, Gaggenau has earned a four-star energy rating in Singapore.

In a world of smart appliances the German brand, which the BSH Bosch and Siemens Household Appliances Group bought in 1995, comes up with innovations bordering on genius.

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The Living Innovations showroom is located on the second floor of the Makati Shangri-La Hotel retail arcade, Ayala Avenue, Makati, tel. nos. 830-2230 and 812-2649. E-mail info@livinginnovations.phor visit http://livinginnovations.ph.