Bringing Family Back to the Table

“Sophia Loren”

We are delighted to announce the grand debut of the new Lacanche Sully 1800 range that has made it into Frank Prisinzano‘s restaurant Sauce in lower Manhattan.  The “Griotte” red Sully is quite the stunner in the window of Tiberio Custom Meat’s, Prisinzano’s studio adjoining restaurant Sauce.  Tiberio Custom Meats is butcher by day, private dining by night where it transforms into a single-table restaurant seating a quaint 10.

The back of Frank’s Sully 1800 facing the private dining room. Photo credit: Thrillist.com

Lacanche and Prisinzano share many of the same strong-rooted philosophies about food, creating a seamless fusion for collaborative work.  While Art Culinaire’s mission is to bring your family back to the table with meals prepared with local organic produce, Prisinzano works exclusively with 100% sustainable products sourced locally.   Additionally, all of their animals are fed a complete vegetarian diet free of growth hormones and antibiotics.

Frank has named his new beauty Sophia Loren after the renowned Italian actress. Take a look at quick video featuring Frank Prisizano and his thoughts about Lacanche:

Glad we could resolve our French vs. Italian rivalries and create a beautiful union together.

As you may know Art Culinaire is no ordinary company, so this year we decided to shake things up a bit for our annual company outing.  With a strong dedication to the ol’ adage “work hard, play hard,” the AC staff hit the streets and signed up to tackle the “Original Beer Bike” in the Seattle neighborhood of Ballard.

Cycle Saloon Seattle promises a way to “Experience Seattle like Never Before!” And never before, is right! Our staff hopped aboard the 16-passenger pedal-powered vehicle adorned with Hawaiian leis and noise-makers, which attracted everything from smiles, stares, laughs, honks and waves from everyone we passed by.  Cruising at an incredible 5 miles per hour, our team loved every minute of biking through Ballard, including historic Old Town.

The team in full force & getting our workout in for the day!

The AC team made a grand total of three stops at different local pubs/bars: the Old Town Ale House, The Market Arms, and lastly at the Ballard Loft.  Each of the bars offered different house brews or specialties and each with their own ambience, making for a great and diversified afternoon.

After some brews the AC team decided to grab some hearty grub over at Ray’s Boathouse, an internationally acclaimed seafood restaurant based in Seattle, Washington.  Aligned with Art Culinaire’s passion and love for fine cuisine, it was great to support a restaurant dedicated to serving fresh and local flavors.  I’m pretty sure that just about every single dish on the menu got ordered, from appetizers to dessert. Safe to say, we definitely didn’t hold back!

What a fantastic afternoon!  Everyone enjoyed a day outside of the office, and the beer bike was a fun way to work toward a common goal. The AC team is very greatly looking forward to our next company outing!

All smiles and sporting Hawaiian leis for a festive afternoon!

We’d love to hear from you! What does your company do for fun outings? Tell us here by commenting below!

Happy fall, from the Art Culinaire team in Seattle!

As the leaves fall, our sister company, Woodinville Wine Cellars is deep in the swing of fall harvest. 50+ tons of grapes have come through our door in the past 2 weeks, as we turn fruit to wine and celebrate the change of the season.

One of the most important decisions in the process of a kitchen remodel is deciding where the oven is going to be placed. Unless you place your Lacanche on an island, you have two options for allowing the appropriate amount of distance between the wall and your range: a smooth, flat island spacer or our complimentary wall mounted back spacer, which is elevated about 6 inches above the top of the range, extending the body in height in just the back. Both create the same dimensions in depth.

Folks who plan to have decorative tile usually go for the island spacer, since the wall mounted back spacer will obstruct part of the design. On a recent visit to the San Francisco bay area to visit some Lacanche owners, I met with a Cluny 1400 owner, whose beautiful kitchen displayed a bold design behind her stove:

As you can see, the back of the range top is entirely flat, so you have a clear view of the design behind it.

Our in-house Cluny at Lacanche headquarters, on the other hand, has the wall mounted backspacer, and our painting of the countryside accomodates the extra 6 inches that extends up.

Whichever spacer you decide on will complement the range, but this is one of the important things to contemplate as your dream kitchen comes to life.

Even though I am 21 years of age, I have lived a rather privileged culinary life and not done much cooking on my own. This can mainly be credited to the many grueling hours my mother has spent in the kitchen and “delicious” meals I’ve enjoyed during my college years at the University of Washington.

As a new addition to the Art Culinaire team, I eagerly awaited a chance to cook with Showroom Manager, Abby, for our weekly staff “Lunch Bunch” meal. On the menu? Breakfast for Lunch. Perfect on a somewhat gloomy & windy Seattle afternoon.

We indulged ourselves in fluffy french toast featuring fresh sourdough bread and authentic maple syrup from Vermont. Secret ingredients in the batter? Nutmeg and of course extra splashes of aromatic vanilla. Also in the mix was a savory twist on a breakfast favorite, muffins. Abby & I prepared egg & bacon muffins, which got doused with spoonfuls of a gooey spinach & cheese florentine sauce. Today was my first time trying Tillamook Vintage Extra Sharp White Cheddar. Honestly.. phenomenal.

All of the menu was prepared here in our Woodinville showroom on our standard matte black Cluny and I started to understand what all of the fuss over the ranges was about. The traditional French plate spread the heat evenly & allowed me to bring my florentine sauce to a nice simmer. While preparing the florentine sauce on the stovetop, the small but ever powerful Cluny baked our french toast & muffins simultaneously in dual gas and electric ovens. The entire experience with the Cluny was very efficient.. minus a few snafoos due to user error

Although I hadn’t really been able to get my hands “dirty” in the kitchen before my big “Lunch Bunch” debut, I am happy with the way everything turned out and am very grateful for the tips & tricks Abby provided me along the way. I certainly hope to cook again on the Cluny in the near future! Stay tuned!