No one calls herself a gourmet anymore. They're all "foodies" (though that used to only apply to people who eat out). Just a little humor to start with. :)

Good for you for being concerned with function, but they're all good ranges that have their fans and detractors. What function? Do you want gonzo dragon's breath burners? Do you like to simmer a pot all day? Do you want different burners that do different tasks? Or all the same so you don't have to worry about which one you're using? Do you need any specialty burners/grates/griddles, etc.? Electric oven? Gas? Self clean (if so you need one with no known enamel issues)? Top temperature needed? Do you need ultra low (dough rising, plate warming, slow cooking)? Etc., etc.

We were in the same
boat last summer - trying to decide which range and hood combination would be
most suitable for the house we had just bought. We cook several times
each week and really enjoy doing so. We looked closely at Wolf, Thermador, Capital
Culinarian, GE Monogram, and Blue Star. Among those brands, we opted to purchase a
36" Blue Star RNB range and we couldn't be happier with it. For us,
the open burners and uber-basic design were the big selling points. There
are no circuit boards to burn out and no electronic controls to go bad or become obsolete. Everything is accessible and parts can be easily sourced and replaced if necessary. Our Blue Star dealer or most any commercial restaurant appliance repair shop can keep this unit performing well for many years.

Blue Star offers a variety of customization options. We ordered a stainless steel range with deep red knobs and copper bezels. We also added a high vented backsplash with an 8" deep shelf. Blue Star offers a huge number of color options for the range itself, the trim, the knobs, the bezels, etc. You can configure your range to compliment pretty much any decor you can dream up. Fit and finish on our range is impressive. This range is really solid and is built like a tank, weighing in at around 600 lbs according to the delivery guys.

We ordered our range with a 9k simmer burner, a 15k burner, and two 22k burners. The 22k
burners provide more than enough heat to boil water quickly or put a perfect sear on a steak or chop. In fact, you really have to pay attention to what you're cooking. I've had a few things get away from me or boil over on me when my back was turned building salads or doing prep work. After cooking on sealed gas
burners for years, I can honestly say that the open burner design of the Blue Star offers a big
advantage over any sealed burners I've used in the past. The control knobs for each burner can be adjusted via a set
screw behind the knobs. So getting super-low heat from the simmer burner
is simply a matter of proper adjustment. I've read reviews from people
who say that their simmer burner doesn't go as low as they thought it would but when
properly adjusted, we have found that our simmer burner cooks very gently.

Our unit
has the center griddle feature. It works quite well as long as you season
it properly and allow it to warm up for 15-20 minutes before using it.
I've used it to cook burgers, hibachi chicken/veggies, sausages, and a
few other things. It's a nice feature but it can make a bit of a mess if
you cook things that splatter. But cleaning is a snap - a little warm water and a green scrubbie will clean the burners easily and the stainless steel surfaces just wipe down like normal. We've found the open burners to be much easier to clean than the sealed burner Bosch range that we
used to have.

The 36" range has a nice, large oven that can accommodate a large turkey or multiple full sized baking sheets. The 36" oven
takes 13 minutes to come to temp and bakes very evenly if you let it preheat
for 20 minutes or more before putting your dish inside. According to our installer, allowing the heat
to permeate the oven sides and the cavity temperature to stabilize is key to using this oven
with success. The convection feature works very well - roasted meats
turn out beautifully and cook faster and more evenly than I had expected.
We haven't done much baking or tried out the infrared broiler yet so I
can't speak to that. We baked three pumpkin pies simultaneously on Thanksgiving and they all came out perfectly, and what little other baking we've done has yielded perfect results as well. In keeping with its simple design, our unit does not have a self-cleaning oven. This is actually my preference, as the high heat needed to clean the oven is hard on the unit and can contribute to a shorter life. So I'm content to use some Easy-Off and a little elbow grease periodically.

Proper ventilation is also important.
We installed a Ventahood unit and it seems to be a great match. If you have the space, I'd recommend sizing your hood so it's
3" wider all around than the range top. Ours is 3" deeper than the range but is just 36" wide due to space
limitations and while it works pretty well, we could have used the added
capture area of a 42" wide hood if we had had the space.

We had originally wanted a 48" unit but we
just didn't have the room to make it work. So we went with the 36"
range and then added a 1.1 cubic foot Wolf electric countertop oven elsewhere in the kitchen in lieu of
the little side oven on the 48" range. So far, it's been a good compromise.

One more thing - Blue Star provides a comprehensive installation checklist to their dealers. Should you settle on a Blue Star, make sure that your installer goes through and confirms each item. I've read some horror stories about Blue Star ranges and I'm fairly convinced that some of them could have been mitigated at the time of installation. Our unit arrived with a few minor defects that required some parts and a return trip by the installer. Once the installation was completed properly, the unit has functioned flawlessly.

Good luck in your search. I hope you're happy with whichever brand and model you choose.

I've added a couple of photos of our range and hood.