PRO refrigeration, Sub-Zero’s boldest, most iconic design, was an instant hit when it came on the scene several years ago. Its 48” wide all stainless or stainless with glass refrigerator door designs changed the face of kitchens throughout the country. Now this bold, professional look is finally available in a 36-inch-wide model. This means the stunning PRO look and unparalleled features can fit into almost any kitchen.
“Everything about this new Sub-Zero is spectacular,” explained Marco Barallon, the corporate showroom director for New England’s Official Sub-Zero/Wolf/Cove Showroom and Test Kitchen. “For designers who are looking for a new way to make a stunning kitchen statement, you can create a six-foot-wide food preservation armoire by placing two 36” PRO units side by side – one with a left hinge, the other with a right – with the glass doors, this is like nothing you’ve ever seen in kitchen design. Beyond the show-stopping look, discerning homeowners love the features.”
Every two years Clarke, New England’s Official Sub-Zero/Wolf/Cove Showroom and Test Kitchen, hosts its Sub-Zero and Wolf Kitchen Design Contest to celebrate the best kitchen designs in the six New England states. On May 10th, Clarke awarded $15,000 in prize money to first and second place winners in three categories: Traditional Kitchen, Contemporary Kitchen and Transitional Kitchen. This year, two of the six awards went to kitchen designers in Connecticut. Veronica Campbell of Deane Inc. received the first-place award for a transitional kitchen, while Gerard Ciccarello of Covenant Kitchens & Baths won second place in the traditional kitchen category.
Clarke, New England's Official Sub-Zero & Wolf Showroom and Test Kitchen, is pleased to announce a unique offer for homeowners who make their first visit to a Clarke showroom between now and May 1, 2018. This offer is designed to inspire homeowners who are considering Sub-Zero and Wolf appliances to take the next step in their exploration. When you enjoy your first visit to a Clarke showroom in Boston Seaport, Milford, Mass. or South Norwalk, Conn., during March or April, you will be entered into a drawing to spend a day on the television set of Chef Lidia Bastianch on May 17th.
For decades, New England homeowners would shop for appliances by walking down a line of different models and make their selections based almost entirely on price and aesthetics. All they knew about the operation or benefits of an oven or cooktop was what they could read in product signage and learn from talking to the salesperson.
In the 1990s, Tom Clarke, founder of Clarke Distribution, changed all of that for Connecticut homeowners when he opened a Sub-Zero and Wolf showroom in South Norwalk. This Clarke Showroom not only won national awards for its extraordinary design, but also for offering homeowners the opportunity to cook on these appliances in order to make a much more educated buying decision. In fact, it is not unusual for a homeowner to make a Clarke Showroom appointment to bake her favorite pie or loaf of bread in multiple ovens to decide which model has the features and provides the results she desires.
There are a lot of appliances in the marketplace that claim to be the best, and as we turn our attention to holiday cooking and baking, we thought it would be valuable to understand how one manufacturer stands out in a class all its own.
Wolf distills legendary professional heritage, power and finesse into cooking equipment whose precise control ensures the dish you have in mind will be the dish you bring to the table. While Wolf offers a wide array of industry-leading appliances (Gas, Dual Fuel and, now, Induction Ranges; Built-In Ovens; Cooktops; Specialty Modules; Ventilation and totally unique Coffee Systems), their technology just keeps getting more exciting.
There's a whole new alternative to gas in a high-performance range and you can explore it at Clarke, your Sub-Zero & Wolf Showroom and Test Kitchen in South Norwalk. The new Wolf Induction Range (which will be available in Clarke's authorized dealers later this fall) gives you a cooktop with incredible speed, control and energy efficiency. It boils water faster than gas (really - with almost instantaneous temperature response!) It gives you precise high end to low end control. Imagine control steady enough to simmer sauces and melt chocolate without scorching. A Wolf Induction Cooktop also means you'll never have to worry about children burning themselves on a flame or about forgetting to turn off the cooktop (when you remove the pot or pan all you're left with is a cool surface.)
Clarke, New England's Official Sub-Zero & Wolf Showroom and Test Kitchen, has just unveiled a stunning new kitchen to replace the iconic English Country kitchen that has wowed homeowners for more than a decade in their South Norwalk location. Vincent Cappello of Putnam Kitchens worked with Clarke Showroom Manager Marco Barallon to create a new magnet for all who want to explore the latest in kitchen design and technology.
In 2001, visitors often used the phrase "a feast for the eyes" as their immediate reaction to entering the SoNo space and laying eyes on the first kitchen. "Our recent visitors are even more entranced now," said Barallon, who reports dozens of designers are already escorting clients in to demonstrate elements they plan to incorporate into designs. In fact, in an unprecedented moment, Clarke CEO Tom Clarke recently saw the new kitchen for the first time and said, "This is what I want, wrap it up," referring to his intent to replicate the entire design in his own new home in Massachusetts.
"I wanted the custom cabinetry to reflect the newest thinking in design and engineering," said Cappello."It needed to complement the new technology being employed by Sub-Zero and Wolf in their iconic appliances. Together they needed to make a bold new statement."
Whether you're a chef or a home cook, I'm sure you have an arsenal of kitchen tools and gadgets you simply can't live without. Alton Brown favors multi-taskers. Some favor a broader approach of single use gadgets (my favorite being the cherry pitter). We've posted some of our favorites over in our Gadget Guru section, but we want to hear from you.
What is the one kitchen gadget you can't live without?
Post your comment below!
[This shout out was first posted in 2010. A lot has changed in 5 years...or perhaps not so much.]
“At the end of the day, people won’t remember what you said or did, they will remember how you made them feel.” said the incomparable Maya Angelou. Well, we couldn’t agree more! So this holiday season, we know that when you give some of these gifts that we have found (along with a wide smile, a big hug and happy greetings!), the lucky recipients will surely be feeling the love. Happy them, happy you. Happy holidays, everyone!
Here are 16 creative and delicious local CT gifts for the food lover in your life.
Homeowners often tell us that one of the elements in designing a new kitchen that is the trickiest for them is selecting ventilation. There are many kinds of ventilation to consider and, in this post, we'll be looking at the most popular, overhead ventilation.
Overhead Ventilation...why do we need it?
There are four by-products that are created when we cook: heat, grease, steam & smoke. The purpose of your ventilation is to remove these by-products from your kitchen so they are not deposited on your ceiling, walls, cabinets, fabrics, etc.
How do we achieve this?
There are four basic factors in selecting the right overhead ventilation for your project.
It seems that the Chinese have been cooking with steam for more than 3,000 years. And the "combi oven" (steam and convection combined) is a fixture in the finest European restaurants, bakeries and home kitchens. For the past several years in the U.S., many have been talking about steam ovens and how this is such a healthy way to cook. People bandy about the terms "Steam Oven," "Combi Oven," "Convection Steam Oven" and we're here to talk about the one option that is leading the pack in features, performance and number of models available.
With the Wolf Convection Steam Oven you enjoy exactly the right mix of heat and humidity for any dish - crispy or flaky on the outside, moist and tender on the inside. You have ten cooking modes at your command: Steam, Auto Steam Bake, Convection, Convection Humid, Convection Steam, Gourmet, Slow Roast, Reheat, Recipes and Keep Warm.
For CTBites readers, fresh ingredients are key and proper food preservation is the way to maintain them. Three generations ago, Sub-Zero introduced refrigerators and freezers that were the same depth as standard kitchen counters. And they have been improving on the concept ever since. With the exception of those homeowners who love the look of an iconic gleaming stainless steel Sub-Zero refrigerator (and there are many), most people have long wished they could make their refrigerator disappear, while still keeping food preservation close at hand.
If your online research or a visit to your kitchen designer has turned up terms like "integrated" and "overlay" refrigeration, you may be like many homeowners who find this choice confusing. In fact, that is one of the questions most often asked of the consultants at Clarke, New England's Official Sub-Zero & Wolf Showroom.
The original Sub-Zero Built-in Refrigerator requires a countertop depth of no less than 26-3/16". With a Built-In Sub-Zero, you can help to disguise your refrigerator or freezer by putting a cabinetry panel (overlay) on the face of the refrigerator, freezer or combination. The face of the appliance will blend with your kitchen, but you will still know it is an appliance.
Every day when customers come into Clarke - New England's Official Sub-Zero & Wolf Showroom and Test Kitchen - in South Norwalk, we get questions like these about Wolf's Convection Ovens:
"Why is convection cooking better?"
"How does convection cooking work?"
"Is convection cooking faster?"
"Why is convection baking energy efficient?"
So here are five reasons why using a Wolf Convection Oven will change your kitchen in a dramatic way and save you time and energy.
A lesson in spice, a lesson in life - a cooking class with Prasad Chirnomula is both. Purely charming and ridiculously modest, Chef Prasad (of the Indian restaurants THALI and THALI TOO and of the former Oaxaca in Westport) recently taught a group of eager foodies some very important secrets regarding the art of cooking Indian at Norwalk's prestigious Clarke Culinary Center. Clarke offers the best in high end kitchens and top quality appliances as well as wonderful cooking classes where top notch chef Gods let a small groups of mortals watch and learn. So we came, we saw, we watched and we ate. But it wasn't just food that Chef Prasad cooked up- it was more like the creation of a warm, breezy sunset. Chef Prasad created a palate of color.
Cooks have long appreciated the way steam cooking preserves nutrients and keeps foods moist. Restaurant owners have relied on commercial convection steam ovens for years. Now Wolf makes convection and steam accomplish delicious feats that are impossible for other ovens.
At Clarke, New England's official Sub-Zero showroom and test kitchen in South Norwalk, CT, you can see this incredible appliance in action. Witness a pound of dry pasta, a cup of water, chopped vegetables and stewed tomatoes placed on a shallow tray turn into the most delicious meal you've ever eaten...in a matter of minutes...without pots, colanders or any mess. Imagine putting a carton of a dozen eggs in the oven (with the carton!) and within ten minutes having perfect hard-boiled eggs.
Forget to defrost your dinner steaks? Go from freezer to table creating a succulent, juicy filet mignon in little more than a half-hour. The Wolf Gourmet modes allow this oven to actually sense the size and type of food you place inside and cook it to perfection; many times without timers and recipes.
For this article, CTBites spoke with many of Fairfield County’s top chefs, butchers, and professional knife sharpeners. These pros were very blunt about the knives used in most home kitchens: they are dull. Especial fancy “trophy-ware.”
“A cook with a dull knife,” suggests Fairway’s top butcher Ray Venezia, “is like a sharpshooter with a water pistol.”
Much like a gun slinger out of the Old West, this modern-day Paladin has Knives and Will Travel. He carries his complete cutting arsenal in a sleek case … but all that's inside are just two gleaming Victorinox Forshner rosewood knives -- a 6" boning blade and a 12" cemeter – a steel and whetstone.
At last Fall’s sale, I fell for the Culinar line of stainless steel handled knives – basically forged from a single piece of steel – as beautiful as they are high-quality.
Be careful while checking things out. Despite a dozen signs warning customers to be careful amongst the hundreds of sharp knives, I, of course, speared myself and had to deftly pay with a single hand while keeping a sliced finger in my pocket, rather than bringing embarrassment upon myself, in the store.
Selection was great in the Fall (if you’ve never been to the outlet, it’s worth a stop under any circumstance). Regular discounts on the store models, overstocks, and discontinued models are 40% to 70% - with an extra 20% for the sale.
The Cook’s Nook in Norwalk couldn’t be more aptly named. Twisting through its adjoining rooms, filled to capacity, brings you from one alcove and surprising find to another. As you step into the door, you are faced with a navigation decision: the room straight ahead or to the right? It’s not the last time you’re made to choose, but take heart, there are no bad choices here. Like being lost in the streets of Paris, winding your way from one enchanting street to the next, your shopping experience is more adventure than errand.
