Why, Yes, We Would Like A $406,000 Kitchen

Even though the entire TDM editorial staff really just wants their mothers' kitchens to be transported into their apartments, other millionaires or gazilionaires are shelling out up to $400,000 for a kitchen of molecular gastronomists' dreams.

The Guardian reports that Electrolux has launched domestic kitchen remodellings (and tools) that include an "arsenal of blast-chillers, sous vide vaccum packers, and ovens powered by computer hard drives," all for £76,000. That's $123,500.

Of course, if you want the very best ovens, that's even more (grand total £200,000, or $325,000). Fancy cupboards, drawers, finishes, etc. can add another £100,000 to the cost. We'll take it all!

No really, though, this gear is serious. The designer behind the kitchen is targeting the mega-rich obsessed with cooking and chefs like Richard Blais.

"I am sure some people will buy it only because they believe it's the pinnacle of what is on the market," Henrik Otto, the designer, told The Guardian. "But on the other hand they probably have a private chef who will use it for them. [The market] is people who holiday in the Caribbean, fly there on their private jet, and own their own island."

The market is then only some 50,000 people around the world, but the buyers are extravagant. Some orders already include two of everything, or both an induction hob and a gas hob, because if you don't need to choose, why bother? (Each hob, the Guardian says, is the price of a small car).

That's all just fine and dandy for those folks, but it's surprising and a little jarring to realize that non-chefs may be purchasing the kitchens just for fun. Ferran Adrià once said that elBulli wasn't the most profitable business ever (it was more of a "research and development department," he said) and it's well-known that high-end fine dining doesn't make the most money, so you'd think some of these multimillionaires would just invest in Adrià's next project.