I have a Lacanche. Beautiful to look at and a real working stove. Have stayed at two small French hotels (<12 rooms) over the past two years and both had a Lacanche.

See www.frenchranges.com

I stand corrected -- it is in the 17th,

Lovely little place, tho.

For a very good seafood meal, try L'Huitrier in the 16th. Not very far from the Arc, but located on a quiet street in a residential neighborhood.

The oyster shucker there just recently won a contest for Best Shucker in Paris!

Reservations are a must because the place is so small.

For a "relatively" inexpensive very good meal, try Chez Lea (aka La Voute).

Small, modestly decorated restaurant across the river from Old Lyons.

Suggestions: Vingear chicken or Chicken with 40 cloves of garlic, house salad. Dressing for the latter is a secret (Waitress told me she could tell me the recipe, but she would have to kill me. LOL.)

I have a Lacanche Cluny stove: 5 burners from 6000 BTU to 20000 BTU, one gas and one electric oven.

I also have a Thermador Professional Hood which has a setting for "put on a seat belt." :-)

The Cluny puts out a lot of heat, very quickly and looks great to boot.

For a sink, we have a Blanco 1 and 3/4 wide sink whose two bowls are 10 inches deep. Great to have the deep sink.

We really like our Silestone countertops -- black with silver and red speckles. Our cabinets are custom-made dark quartersawn oak, with white birch interiors.

One countertop is not in a prep area and we use it for display or for putting out hors d-oeuvres at parties. The guys who did the cabinets installed a piece of red mahogany and it looks fantastic.

I second the advice to try to install a different material in each area to go with its expected use.

Good luck.