DEAR DAME EVELYN , You seem to have views on almost everything, so I was wondering what your view is on restaurant ranges (or, you know, not necessarily just restaurant ranges, but the fancy high-powered kind generally) for home use. To wit, are they worth the nickel? My spouse and I just bought a condo, and we do have some money on hand (not tons, but not just $200 or something, either) to doll up the kitchen. Spouse does most of the cooking and contends that a few thou dropped on a high-end stove would be worth it. As I don't do much more than boil water, I am not in a position to argue the merits, though I did see a piece in the New Yorker a year or so ago that discussed Viking ranges as objects to be venerated rather than used, i.e., rich people buy them as status symbols. I don't think that would be the case in our house, but I think I am opposed to a Viking on a matter of principle. Is that petty?

Boiling

Duckling, Are you being petty? Hardly. Dame Evelyn would say you are being prudent and sensible – which of course is not the same thing as being interesting, but let it go. It is also not the same thing as being right. I cannot really speak in defense of Viking ranges, which are – as you will know, if you read the New Yorker piece – not true restaurant ranges but ranges intended for home use that for some reason have been fixated upon by the rich and famous, but I will say that there is no more important piece of equipment in a working kitchen than the range, and a good range is therefore worth the nickel, or quid, as the case may be. Their burners are much more powerful, for one thing, which makes an immense difference in sautéeing and bringing kettles of water to the boil more quickly – a great pleasure you, as a boiler of water, might some day personally know.

Heatedly,

E.G.-S.