A celebrity chef puts Monogram’s luxury cooking appliances through their paces at a delicious event in steamy south Florida. By Dianne M. Pogoda
The weather wasn’t the only thing sizzling in Miami this month.
At a special demonstration event hosted by Monogram Appliances at the Impel America showroom, Chef James Briscione, Food Network TV personality and judge, two-time Chopped winner and owner of Angelena’s Ristorante Italiano in Pensacola, Fla., showed a crowd of designers the advantages of Monogram’s Advantium speed oven and induction cooktop — and shared a few pro tips and tricks.
NKBA and Interior Design magazine partnered to sponsor the evening, with highlights including a sampling of the chef’s creations and an in-depth look at Monogram’s suite of luxury products.
Susan Cozzi, Monogram’s senior designer engagement leader for the East region, said two key factors are driving appliance selection today.
“The biggest regional trends in appliances are influenced by the type of power delivery in a given market: are you electric or gas? That’s where everyone starts,” Cozzi explained. “With the prices dropping in induction technology, that’s becoming more accessible. And, because of renewable energy technology, the price of electricity supply is also coming down, making [induction cooking] more efficient and accessible in more markets.”
The second factor is the size of the kitchen. In markets that typically have small apartment kitchens, like New York City, where space is at a premium, a convertible refrigeration system, like Monogram’s 30-inch unit that has settings for wine/beverage, fresh food, classic refrigerator and freezer options to accommodate changing needs, makes sense.
“But,” she added, “luxury details are what people want now. Our luxury column refrigerators, what you see and feel, are getting great reception. The refrigerators feature extruded aluminum and glass — no plastic — and after midnight, the fridge can be set for ‘snack mode,’ with the lights coming on at 30%, so as not to be blinding. These are the creature comforts. It’s just like details that define a luxury car.”
She said Baby Boomers are driving the luxury kitchen business and have been for the past 20 years. Boomers might be on their third of fourth house at this point, but the desire for luxury is transcending generations now.
Briscione took the short hop down to Miami with his wife and business partner, Brooke Parkhurst, who is marketing director and wine director at the restaurant, but acted as sous chef for this occasion. Her first career was as a writer and novelist, and together, the couple has authored cookbooks, including “Just Married & Cooking” and “The Flavor Matrix: The Art and Science of Pairing Common Ingredients to Create Extraordinary Dishes.”
On this evening, he was preparing seared sesame-crusted tuna, Sorento-style gnocchi — easy when the potatoes can bake in eight minutes — and shrimp prepared simply in a sauce of white wine, garlic, tomato puree and fresh lemon zest.
The Advantium speed oven uses four types of heat to work so quickly: microwave, convection, radiant and halogen for browning. “Being able to control the heat precisely is the key,” he said, adding that the oven’s versatility makes it well-suited for small spaces.
The induction cooktop doesn’t require special pots, and in fact works well with any pans that have a steel or iron base — “if a magnet sticks to the base of the pan, you’re good to go,” Briscione said. It heats a pot or pan extremely fast even as the cooktop surface remains cool enough to touch. Briscione said one mistake home cooks typically make is they don’t get their pans hot enough.
Asked about key trends in food and cooking, Briscione said without hesitation that rapid integration of technology in the kitchen is having the greatest impact at the moment. From Wi-Fi-connected appliances to induction and sous vide cooking, technology is simplifying the cooking process and giving home cooks more confidence and greater control.
Briscione, also director of culinary development and a culinary arts chef-instructor at the Institute of Culinary Education in New York, said he’s been teaching sous vide cooking for about a decade. When it first started catching on, he said it was very intimidating to a lot of students, from the temperature — in Celsius — to the food weights and timing, which all had to be very precise. Now, with app-controlled sous vide, the process is much simpler and therefore more accessible to more cooks.
That’s the key, he said: “Technology, like the pre-programmed oven or Wi-Fi-connectivity, makes cooking easier to understand, easier to control and enhances performance.” And it’s not only digital or app control, it’s design innovation as well. For instance, Monogram’s French-door oven makes for easier access; its hearth oven gets up to 1,300 degrees (Fahrenheit) to produce a perfect, crispy crust. “Remote-enabled settings also give you greater control, no matter where you are. It’s all about convenience.”
Cozzi told the assembled designers, architects, builders and specifiers that “if you’re not talking to your clients about Wi-Fi-enabled appliances, you’re about six years behind. You’ve got to learn about them and be able to talk to clients about them.”
Briscione and Parkhurst will be back in a Monogram showroom — this time in Brooklyn, N.Y. — on Sept. 24 for another evening of cooking, talking food and sampling delectables, sponsored by Interior Design and NKBA.
