How to Cook Like Alain Ducasse

When it comes to ultraluxury, Fiat has Ferrari and Volkswagen has Bugatti. Electrolux, maker of vacuum cleaners and dishwashers, has a luxe brand too: Molteni, which makes really, really fancy stoves that start at €21,000 ($26,775) and can fetch up to €200,000 ($255,000). Most Molteni stoves can be found in the kitchens of top chefs. Alain Ducasse’s establishments in Paris, New York, Hong Kong, and Monte Carlo sport Molteni stoves. So does Alinea in Chicago and Dolce&Gabbana’s Gold Restaurant in Milan. There’s one in the Chinese government’s guest quarters for visiting heads of state in Beijing. And another in the French Prime Minister’s residence, should he want to have Nicolas Sarkozy and Carla Bruni over for a home-cooked meal.

Now, in an era when so many people eat takeout as they watch celebrity cooking shows on TV, some home cooks are hankering for a Molteni stove, too. While restaurants make up most of Molteni’s customers, demand is increasing from private buyers, says Alberto Zanata, head of Electrolux’s professional products division. These customers, about 20 a year, tend to be the super rich, designers who favor the stoves’ standout aesthetics, or chefs who want one for their own homes. “People are looking for more appliances close to the ones used by the famous chefs,” Zanata says. Molteni’s biggest markets are France, China, and the U.S. (Its wares are especially popular in Las Vegas.) “Asia in general and China in particular” is growing fastest for Molteni, Zanata says, spurred by the region’s embrace of luxury and by “culinary trends becoming global.”