SAINT-OUEN-L’AUMÔNE — Trained in boilermaking in Poland, Witold Okraska discovered France at the same time as La Cornue, in 1990, when he was 18 years old. Hired as a sheet metal folder, Okraska became head of the workshop in 2015. Today, under his leadership, nearly a dozen metal craftsmen cut, bend and weld the stainless steel plates that are used as the front of the cooking ranges.
A far cry from mass production, each range is unique. “I sometimes work to a tenth of a millimeter,” says Samuel Dias, one of the precision folders. Working nearby, the welders have the same attention to detail. With 22 years of experience in the company, André Cannevière puts the finishing touches on a joint between two panels — as thin as possible, to guarantee a flawless final look.
✉️ You can receive our Bon Vivant selection of fresh reads on international culture, food & travel directly in your inbox. Subscribe here.
The craftsmen know that it is in these workshops in Saint-Ouen-l'Aumône, north of Paris, that company's reputation is made. “Our customers buy much more than a range,” says CEO Edouard Laclavière. “They purchase unique expertise, the mark of French excellence.”
Some clients even travel to the distant Parissuburb to observe these virtuosos working on their order. That is what a customer from the West Indies did recently, after requesting a silk-screened floral pattern on one of the front panels.
“Visits to our workshops are our best marketing argument,” said Operations Director Erick Pelamourgues, who has been with the company for 32 years. The visits also help justify the stratospheric prices — up to several hundred thousand euros — that a few hundred people per year are ready to pay for the Rolls Royce of kitchen ranges.
Customers include many anonymous people — senior executives, entrepreneurs, investment bankers, etc. — but also members of royal families, emirs, Michelin-starred chefs, such as Alain Passard and Jean-François Piège (for their private kitchens), as well as many international celebrities — Brad Pitt, Céline Dion, Blake Lively, Jennifer Lopez, Sandra Bullock, George Clooney and Drake. “They are very good ambassadors,” says Marketing Director Alexandra Baujard, who used to work for Cartier.
This is all the more effective given that the luxury segment, whether kitchen appliances, leather goods or hotels, is not experiencing a crisis. Over the past five years, La Cornue’s sales have jumped 125%, reaching a record 39 million euros ($42 million) in 2023.
Metro tunnels as inspiration
Owner of the French company since 2015, the U.S. corporation Middleby probably didn't expect such success. Fortunately, this Chicago-based leader in cooking equipment understood that in order to care for the goose that lays the golden eggs, it had better avoid changing — almost — anything that has made La Cornue successful for more than 100 years.
It was in 1908 that Albert Dupuy, an herbalist by profession and a gourmet by passion, patented the first vaulted gas oven. Inspired by the tunnels of the Paris metro (the first line opened in 1900), the oven's shape allows hot air to better circulate around around dishes, searing meat without drying it out.
Despite already prohibitive prices at the time, the cooking ranges quickly found their way into bourgeois homes. But it was in the 1960s that they started to enter the world of luxury — a choice initiated by Albert's son, André Dupuy. Under the leadership of this design enthusiast, the ranges were given new colors and metal accessories.
Buying a La Cornue shows you belong to an exclusive club of wealthy gourmets who appreciate French craftsmanship.
In 1964, the company made a breakthrough with the launch of its famous Château model, recognizable by its vintage look. At that point, La Cornue left the consumer market and began to work exclusively to order.
With the arrival of the founder's grandson at the helm in 1985, the small company, which had been struggling, reached a new milestone. As a avid and well-connected traveler, Xavier Dupuy quickly realized that the unique identity of La Cornue appliances — i.e. culinary performance and made-to-measure craftsmanship — would allow the brand to make its mark on the booming international luxury market.
Whether you lived in London, New York or Sydney, buying a La Cornue shows you belong to an exclusive club of wealthy gourmets who appreciate French craftsmanship. Export sales quickly took off. Today, they represent 90% of sales, including 68% in North America.
Ultra-premium custom-made products
Of course, playing in the ultra-premium category means pampering your customers. At one of the brand's 81 distributors around the world, the clients can customize their stoves to suit their culinary habits: maxi-burner, plancha, induction cooktop, wok, etc. The same goes for ovens (the Château model includes two): gas, for meat, fish and vegetables; electric for pastries. “The more affluent customers have a chef at home, but they don’t hesitate to send him to us,” Baujard says.
If the buyers still hesitate, nothing beats cooking for them. In Paris, this takes place at the brand’s main showroom, rue de Bourgogne, in the 7th arrondissement. “Chicken with sage butter, Comté and truffle soufflé and roasted pineapple... I had compelling arguments,” former Sales Director — and a very good cook — Balthazar de Dompsure says with a laugh.
These tasting lunches also help seduce architects and interior designers, who then advise potential customers. Last November, some 20 Indonesian decorators were treated to bœuf bourguignon, followed by an île flottante.
When it comes to choosing the finishing touches, clients often bring their families. “It's natural, as the kitchen has become a collective living space,” says Sales Director Mengling Gorin. A French actress recently visited the Parisian boutique with her husband and son, and with a sample of the wallpaper they had chosen for the room. Because it's not always easy to choose among the 60 colors for the front panels and the eight finishes (brass, stainless steel, copper, etc.) for the handles and towel racks.
A British client asked for enamel the color of his wife's eyes
While some people collect cars or antique watches, others can't resist buying a La Cornue for each of their properties. One in petroleum blue with matte brass handles for the house by the sea, another in black and stainless steel for the city. If no shade suits the customer, “we make it ourselves, provided we respect the standards,” says Pelamourgues, the operations director.
Pelamourgues recalls a visibly smitten British client who asked for enamel the color of his wife's eyes. A German customer wanted a chocolate brown to look like the cast-iron casserole inherited from his grandmother. And an American client asked for Veuve Clicquot orange, the color of the prestigious Champagne house’s labels.
Those who prefer a total La Cornue look can order matching drawers, cupboards, worktops and accessories. In charge of these complex projects — which can cost from 300,000 to 500,000 euros ($325,000 to $536,000) — Nathalie Texier finalizes them in collaboration with the customers’ architects. When we met her in mid-December, she was finishing a kitchen for a royal’s clubhouse. The choices are all recorded in a booklet that includes a detailed description and a drawing of the prototype with its dimensions, duly signed by the buyer.
How to attract younger customers
But the customer will have to wait a little longer before cooking on his La Cornue. “About 12 weeks,” Pelamourgues says, as he walks through the Saint-Ouen-l’Aumône factory.
It all starts in the sheet metal workshop where a colossal punching machine perforates the stainless steel plates that will form the range's framework. Further on, an operator aligns the 10 enameled pieces destined for the front panels of a Château model, checking for the uniformity of their color. The assembly can then begin. This can take about 20 hours — sometimes more, as is the case of this six-meter (19.6 ft) almond green kitchen island for a customer in Zurich. In the meantime, all cooking functions are duly tested according to the gas pressures and voltages certified in the country of destination. Once complete, these monsters weighing several hundred kilos are packaged like works of art in custom-made casing, before being shipped by boat or cargo plane.
Many of our clients also see the La Cornue range as an heirloom that they can pass on to their heirs.
Renowned for its sturdiness, a La Cornue has every chance of outliving its owner. “Many of our clients also see it as an heirloom that they can pass on to their heirs,” says CEO Laclavière. Yet this longevity is a double-edged sword for the company. “It’s up to us to attract new, younger customers by adapting our models to their lifestyles,” Laclavière says.
That is why in September 2023, the company launched the Castel 60, a fully electric model that is just 60 cm (23.6 in) wide. Despite its smaller size, all the brand's hallmarks are there: a shape recalling the old-fashioned range with a double-door vaulted oven, parts made with quality materials, colored enamel front panels — and, of course, the guarantee of custom-made craftsmanship in Saint-Ouen-l'Aumône. Expect to pay around 18,000 euros ($19,450).
Other innovations are in the pipeline. But how much new technology and modern design can this century-old brand introduce without changing its DNA? This is the equation that Edouard Laclavière has been tackling since his arrival at the helm of La Cornue last September. The former L’Oréal employee has an archetype in mind: the Porsche 911. “Its design and engine have evolved considerably over time, yet it is recognizable at first glance.”
