Visiting the GE Monogram Appliance Design Center

A few weeks ago HD and I had the pleasure of visiting the GE Monogram Appliance Design Center. Building a house can be stressful (as I’ve shared here & here), so I try and find every opportunity to make the process more enjoyable. Cooking really isn’t HD’s thing but eating sure is 😉 so when I mentioned visiting the design center, he was game! The GE Monogram Appliance Design Center is located on the 10th floor of the Architects and Designers Building in New York City. So far it’s the only one of it’s kind with a second location opening up later this year in Chicago! The showroom has a Manhattan based theme, with the entrance design starting from downtown, to an Empire State Building Refrigerator, and even a Times Square food light display. I was in kitchen and culinary heaven with my camera in hand surrounded by all the various kitchen layouts and appliances.

Upon entering the design center we were greeted with our choice of white or red wine and given a tour of the various kitchen setups and appliances. This was followed by a wonderful cooking demonstration by the center’s Executive Chef Tageré Southwell. She showed us the benefits of both The Induction Cooktop and The Advantium Oven which offers multilevel cooking: Speedcook, True European Convection, Sensor Microwave, and Warming by using foods ranging from fish, sauces, to cupcakes. Something that I am always curious to learn about is the advantages of having an Induction cooktop. With our deadline of choosing kitchen appliances soon approaching, combined with my love for cooking, it was important for me to actually see food being prepared using an Induction cooktop.

Can you believe that fish was cooked on “convection” mode in the Advantium Microwave Oven and it turned out so tender and flaky. Microwaves sure have come a long way!

Fire roasted tomatoes: these were roasted in the convection oven before being tossed with the green beans!

Perfectly blanched green beans being prepared on a GE Monogram Induction cooktop.

I was very impressed with the level of control that a cook has using the induction cooktop, the different levels of heat, and the fact that the heat is spread evenly and does not start from only the center and fade out (electric & gas stove tops do this). We ended the night with a delectable dinner of fresh Cod with a garlic & parsley tapenade, fire roasted tomatoes with crisp green beans, and wild rice. Dessert included cardamon grilled pineapple with a caramel cake, topped with vanilla ice cream. Is your mouth watering yet, because mine is just thinking about it!

My favorite part of the meal: The dessert! The caramel sauce was simmering in front of me during the cooking demo and the pineapple was grilled on the Induction cooktop!

If you appreciate the art of kitchen design, are in the market for new kitchen appliances, or just want to see the benefits of Induction and Advantium cooking, I highly recommend you check out the GE Monogram Appliance Design Center. They are open M-F 9am-5pm. Chef Tageré Southwell hosts cooking demonstrations three times a month and you can make reservations in advance on their website.

Thanks Paula, Chef Tageré Southwell + team for a wonderful experience! We left full and happy, with our kitchen design creative juices flowing!