Dear Gardenwebbers, I haven't posted in a while but have been following every single word you have all typed-I've turning into a stove stalker ROFLOL! Of all the threads I've read over the past year regarding stoves, this is the only one whose posters have actually taken the time to break down the decision-making into the critical components. Not just reviews or opinion, but usage, wear, cost, BTUs, options,even the way the stove sticks out from the walls and integrates into the space. Well done!!You have no idea how helpful you've been! I still haven't made a decision, but I'm inching closer. Like a few of you, I took a step back and asked what I really needed/had to have. One of you rightly pointed out that deciding whether one is a stove top or oven cooker could help out. My ovens are super important to me, and have been the big sticking point in my choices (more on that in a minute) but I do most of my cooking on the stovetop.I REALLY want a coup de feu.If I pick the two burner one coup combination offered by Molteni or Gullo, I'll have to really up my cooking game and plan a bit more ahead (you have to allow the plaque to come to temperature to really use it effectively. So I was concerned I wouldn't have enough "regular" burners.But then, like you all advised, I took a step back and paid attention to what I was really doing "most" days-turns out I'm usually only turning on two burners anyway. When i move to more burners, that's when I could use a million more, so the coup definitely could work out then. I'm still kind of intimidated by it-the Molteni and the others I'm considering are very powerful, but I think that's just lack of self confidence. Burner strength/BTU's were very important to me as well. I currently have an old Wolf Gourmet line-they were better made than the current offering, heavier and more powerful.The max burner is 18K, but it loses power when the other ones are turned on, and then I can't get that nice carmelized sear on the food. I love the oven though. It's gas with a broiler and a (very noisy) convection fan, and sticky racks. Don't love the noise and the stick, but the size is pretty good, and it works well. All the units I'm considering are more powerful, but some more than others.Like everyone has noted, the ovens seem to be what pose the most dilemmas. I worry about cleanability. My current stove is a PITA to clean.The Rorgue has a neat water bath under the burners to rinse out spills-cool!It's also the least expensive of my three choices (So far. Am waiting on the cost of the UL listing fee, plus I have to add in taxes and VAT) but I can have every little gadget I had lusted for(of course, I'm now really rethinking everything). But it's the least pretty/french range looking of the batch. It does come in colors though. I'm nervous that if i select a range with two ovens that I won't be able to use them for what I occasionally need-larger sheets and pans, so I'm really leaning towards one gas oven in the range, and a Miele Masterchef 30" in the wall, which is 6" bigger than my current oven (I have a few pans that I really have to grease up the sides of the oven to squeeze in). I'm going to a Gaggenau cooking demo at Purcell-Murray this weekend and check out their ovens too. Anybody have some feedback on those? I'm also considering getting a smaller range and adding in two induction burners into the counter for quickie cooking for the kids (I have five). I could have had them built into a bespoke range, but the electric components have to be kept far away from a high heat source, which screwed up the size of the unit massively Our quotes from the contractors are coming-scary! I just wanted to thank everyone for all the input-every single comment has been so helpful. Oh, on a side note, there's a ROCKIN' Morice stove for sale that I found on the internet. It's not the right color for em (it's blue and silver) but maybe it would work out for you. It's got 3/4 burners (one is a single grate but with two burners under it-is that one or two?LOL) and a coup de feu. The oven is electric. I've (hopefully!) included the link. Parts are still available for the Morices. If it had been a different color, I would have jumped on it-great price. well, I'll be continuing to follow everybody's stove progress, and hope to have a stove too. Soon... Here is a link that might be useful: Sea Sales Morice cooker

We're late to this discussion, but we have just finished a multi-state tour of kitchen showrooms looking at "professional" ranges, cute and otherwise. A deciding factor for us proved to be the oven temperature-setting. Bluestar/Big Chill and many others have very poor controls for oven temp setting. Some are coarse, upside-down, or both. It seems that the cuter the range, the worse this is. Doesn't anyone bake anymore? How did these controls get into these kinds of ranges? Why do cheap gas stoves have better oven temp setting? The answer might be that in a commercial kitchen, various ovens are set to specific temperatures at the start of the day and they stay there. Actual oven thermometers are used to verify temps. Some cute ovens like Bertazzoni have thermometer indicators on their control panels but good luck trying to get consistent settings by just using the oven temp knob when you need to bake a cake at 350F and then roast some vegetables at 400F. We eventually chose a 36" GE Cafe in bronze and white. This series has a fairly precise oven control setting with actual temperature indication. We will order matching extra oven handles and adapt them to a large but fairly standard white side-by-side fridge, Whirlpool or GE. Here is a link to sources of other kitchen hardware that will match that special GE Cafe bronze: https://www.houzz.com/discussions/5578436/hardware-to-match-ge-cafe-series-range-in-brushed-bronze

I wanted the black one and they only make the model I had decided on in stainless anymore. I’ve scoured the internet, but haven’t been able to locate one. I’m now looking at the La Cornue or Lacanche. I want the right stove for the space and I guess I’m willing to wait for the right one.

Very interesting question. I think you're right to focus on the ovens, especially the shape of the real La Cornue oven, because I'd think that's going to be the biggest difference between the two ranges at any altitude. If the La Cornue oven is truly parabolic, all the heat that bounces off the oven ceiling will reflect straight down. Whether that would help appreciably with high altitude heating, I couldn't say, but it's possible! You might also look at how the oven elements operate as well. I'd thing the burner valves would be sufficiently similar that equal BTU rates would give similar heat/cooking output. (And hoping to bump up your question for someone with better info to see.) I don't know the answer to this, but if you're using LP, are there pressure maintenance issues, and would electric/induction give you a more reliable and efficient heating? I've cooked at altitude a few times, but only on electric coil. It was daunting to someone who's used to sea level. If you're going with a French range for simplicity, good idea, but if it's for the look and something else might give you more function at altitude, keep in mind that for the cost of the least of those ranges, delivered, you could design and install an impressive looking custom cooking center to house component appliances.