Somehow while traveling through Europe, I managed to stumble upon not one, but two kitchen design showrooms.  One in Bonn and one in Vienna. Crazy.  They had some very cool stuff and design ideas worth checking out.

Bonner Küchenstudio, Bonn, Germany

This island countertop layout is interesting.  The induction stovetop and sink share the same side, with a prep area in between.  Also, instead of people cozying up to the counter, the table is offset perpendicular to leave the countertop clear for more room for tools, ingredients and whatnot.

Here we have a layout against a wall, with storage both above and beneath, as well as the center with a small shelf above the sink and a knife holder in the center. 

Plenty of storage underneath for items of all sizes in this kitchen island.

I thought this was a pretty cool stovetop combining gas and induction.

Gaggenau Showroom, Vienna, Austria

They had all sorts of cool stuff at the Gaggenau store.  Here’s a nice table setup with benches for chairs.

Some nifty tilted glassware.  Reminds me of the glasses being made by Martin Kastner for his Porthole project.

Here’s something I haven’t seen: a double bowl sink with a cutting board that integrates into it so that the board can be slid back and forth between the sinks.

Yes, I’ll take this please.  First, the stainless steel countertop, just like restaurant kitchens.  A nice big prep area, and of course the two combi ovens in the back wouldn’t hurt.  You could even use the space underneath for storage for large/weird items like they do at Modernist Cuisine.

Installed into the countertop above, they had the pièce de résistance, a sweet, beautiful, gorgeous thing: the Gaggenau CX 480.  It is an induction cooktop whose entire surface can be used to heat pans. Any size pan.  Just throw it on and it will automatically detect its size and position and heat just that area.

How cool is that? Arrrgh!!!  Sweet, beautiful, and gorgeous I tell you. Here’s a slick video to show the features:

The price?  From what I could find, around $4400US.  Yikes.  Guess I’ll stick with the $60 induction cooktop I got off of Craigslist.  A boy can dream, though.  A boy can dream.

Jethro