I would be this excited about a Five Star range, too.
In the most recent installment of her column in The City Paper,
The Eating Life, Nicki Wood tells us the story of Brown Stove Works of Cleveland, Tenn., and their
Five Star ranges. The other day, she and I were discussing them over lunch; I didn’t realize they are a rather "boutique" brand because it seemed to me that they were taking over Viking as the stove to have. And, heck, I remember when Viking ousted Jenn-Air as the stove to have.
As recounted in the story, Brown Stove Works introduced the Five Star 22 years ago; the product filled a niche between the basic home range and the bulky commercial ranges that were becoming status symbols in yuppie kitchens.
Five Star ranges soon began winning awards, and sales are good, even though Brown doesn't advertise much. "We’re just a really small, privately owned company without the resources to put into the big-budget advertising campaigns that some of our competitors do," company spokeswoman Jenny Cooper Rumble says. "We’d rather put those resources into building a quality product than a lot of advertising."
And they're considered something of a bargain, Nicki says in the story: "The fully loaded 48-inch model sells for up to $5,000 less than a comparable Viking. A basic 30-inch all-gas Five Star is priced about $1,400 lower than other brands, or around $3,500." She continues:
