Ok, I have had a LaCanche Citeaux for 14 years. I think it cost $15,000. I am a pretty serious cook. For example, I belong to a monthly cooking club. For a number of years we had a personal chef who also used the Citeaux. Neither of us had an issue with it.

These commenters sound very believable, but my experience has been fine. The small electric oven was the one I used the most. I always had to adjust the temp 25 below what the recipe had. Loved the warming drawer. The center oven was gas and did not have a broiler, that was annoying. I could only broil in the smaller one. I am not sure what they are saying about the burners running hot? The BTUs varied. I had one that was very low, it was great for sauces. Also had a planche.

I recall two repairs. We were in the NYC metro area. One repair was a an oven door that did not close properly, I don't recall the other. I think someone came from NYC to repair it. My only gripe was that I found it hard to turn on the center, gas oven, It was like safe cracking. My DH had to do it for me.

Oh and if you left the broiler on too long, it would trip the circuit breaker on the stove.

In our beach house, I opted for the CornueFe. I don't see much difference. In another home i had a Viking - that had a lot of service calls!

Good luck.

:-) Thank you for your input, mtnrdredux_gw

I am a little late seeing this, but there is a fair bit of misinformation in that video that should be corrected for future viewers. It seems to be mostly a "Lacanche bashing" video by 2 appliance "advisors" who do not sell it and have very limited experience with it besides a quick Google search to find posts that support their biased views.

"Designers are commissioned to sell that line" - that's not accurate. Both private and trade customers, including designers, receive a small rebate for repeat orders. No designer is a "dealer" for Lacanche. We make no secret of that.

"Service - there is no service" - that's simply not true. Both Art Culinaire in the US and us (The French Barn) in Canada have service technicians across our respective countries. Videos have been created because there is demand for it, it doesn't mean that YOU have to fix your own range just because the information is available. And yes, if necessary, one of us will fly across the country to address an issue.

"Cooktop space" - in reality, Lacanche has one of the largest spacing between burners, which allow you to actually use more than one large pot at once.

"Burners are too hot" - as the previous poster mentioned, most ranges have 3 or 4 different burner sizes. Using the appropriate burner for the right size pot / pan provides plenty of heat and a suitable simmer. A simmer plate accessory is also included with all ranges that do not have the larger Tradition plate.

"Oven temperature" - Ovens may need to be calibrated initially. After that, the temperature is uniform and consistent as long as you allow enough preheat time.

There are some negative reviews of Lacanche online, absolutely. Most of the complaints can usually be addressed by making simple adjustments to the burners / ovens. Houzz (and GardenWeb before that) is also full of positive reviews from real Lacanche owners who have enjoyed their ranges for many years, if not decades.

It's unfortunate that some appliance dealers feel the need to make this kind of videos just to prop up the products they sell.

Patrick

I would say the video is pretty accurate. I couldn’t remark about the designer portion, but the rest is true. I live near Dallas,and have not been able to find service to fix the gas oven lighting. It’s a bear, you REALLY have to want to use it to spend the time to get it to light. Nor has it ever been calibrated.
But, the main problem is customer service. I’ve had mine now for over 10 years and I do still use it. Three years after delivery, I was giving it a good cleaning and opened the drawers to just wipe them. The right drawer is used only to house the broiler pan. Left drawer is empty. I was shocked to find the bottom of my drawer was rusted. No moisture had ever come into contact with it. The electric oven above it is barely used, as I have a separate large wall oven. I called Art Culinare and they had me email them pictures. They told me they had a drawer I could buy for $600.00 plus shipping. I told him that seemed pretty steep for a defective product. I don’t know why it’s not baked enamel on the drawer and just painted. My husband looked at it and showed me how it was put together, and if they would just sell me the bottom plate, he could replace it. That would have been a better solution because the guy I talked to at AC said the color of the drawer might not match. So, I emailed him back, no response, called them, they said they would give him the message, still, nothing.
I’m still waiting.
I know people love them, and I fell in love with them from people raving about them, and bought sight unseen. It hurts me to have to say these things, but it is a big investment for most people. If anyone really wants to see a picture, I’ll send it to you.

Susie, I’m very curious about your drawer issue. Have they fixed this issue?