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Architectural Digest Show Brings Out The Best In Luxury Appliances

Dealers, decorators and interior designers are descending on the Architectural Digest Design Show in New York today, in search of the finest in fabrics, home furnishings and ultra-premium appliances.

Among majap makers making a return appearance at this increasingly important venue is Sharp, which is showcasing its SuperSteam+ combination steam and convection oven. The built-in unit, which ships later this month, generates a head of super-heated steam (485 degrees F) that’s so hot it can literally grill food, keeping surfaces crisp and brown, and interiors tender and moist.

Besides providing a superior flavor profile, there’s a major health benefit to steam, explained Peter Weedfald, Sharp’s sales and marketing senior VP, as the process “melts fat, reduces sodium and keeps vitamins in.”

President Jim Sanduski said the SuperSteam+ oven will carry a suggested retail of $2,999, including trim kit, and a street price of $2,499, and is aimed at independent appliance dealers and premium-appliance showcases within big-box chains, such as Best Buy’s Pacific Kitchen & Home in-store shops and hhgregg’s Fine Lines majap boutiques.

The unit, along with its companion microwave oven drawer, represents a renewed appliance initiative for Sharp, which will market the products under the tagline “Simply Better Living.”

Sharp is part of a contingent of luxury lines presented by distributor Almo Corp., whose on-site customers also include Liebherr refrigerators, Faber ventilation, Capital ranges and new additionTecnogas Superiore, an Italian range, hood and accessories resource.

Also on hand at the Architectural Digest show is Bosch, fresh from top honors bestowed by J.D. Power within the dishwasher and new cooktop categories. Among other innovations, the BSH division is showing its new Bauhaus art-movement influenced Benchmark 36-inch induction cooktop, which is shipping this summer. Features include FlexInduction technology and enhanced features to streamline the cooking process; PowerMove, which allows users to adjust power levels by simply moving the pot or pan through pre-set heating zones; and a PreciseSelect user interface with an extra-wide 16-inch control panel for simplified operation and easy control.

Bosch’s Benchmark induction cooktops allow users to adjust power levels by moving the pot or pan through pre-set heating zones. A 36-inch iteration will ship this summer.

Also new from Bosch: a 24-inch custom panel refrigerator, available this fall, which joins its 30- and 36-inch counterparts. The panel series allows consumers to customize their kitchens with a sleek, streamlined, integrated look.

“When we say we are ‘Invented for Life,’ we truly intend to enhance the quality of life through innovations that simplify the cooking and cleaning process,” said Bosch brand marketing director Dan Kenny in a statement.

Elsewhere at the show, Turkish appliance giant Blomberg introduced a full-size kitchen suite featuring a 36-inch counter-depth French-door fridge that can produce 11 pounds of ice per day, and a 30-inch stainless steel Pro gas range with 19,000 Btu power burner and a 5.7-cubic-foot oven featuring dual interior lighting and convection fan.

“Whether the kitchen is the family’s ‘hub of the home’ or it is used to prepare for large dinner parties, these new appliances will seamlessly accommodate virtually any lifestyle,” said Salih Zeki Bugay, Blomberg’s North America marketing and product manager.

The Architectural Digest Design Show runs through Sunday at Piers 92 and 94 on Manhattan’s West Side.

Lynx sales VP Scott Grugel, left, and CEO Jim Buch display their Napoli pizza oven within distributor Eastern Marketing’s booth. The countertop/built-in unit retails for $4,000, and $6,000 with cooking cart.

Bertazzoni’s Paolo Consiglio demos the Italian cooking concern’s latest induction cooktop.

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