Take A Viking To Lunch

Glenn Close had to have it. So did Oprah Winfrey. Bruce Springsteen wanted his own. John McEnroe and Lee Iacocca demanded -- and got -- the same thing the Boss did. Another boss, the Commander in Chief, has one in his private quarters at the White House. In state-of-the-art kitchens everywhere, the Viking range has become the hottest stove around.

The sought-after appliance is aimed at the serious cook with serious money (list price: as much as $6,800). The most popular model is equipped with six porcelain-coated grates, a grill and two gas ovens (one with an infra-red broiler that reaches 1500 degrees F in 30 seconds). Going all out, it can simultaneously broil shrimp kabobs for an appetizer, warm the soup, roast the leg of lamb, grill swordfish, steam petits pois, simmer wild rice, saute baby tomatoes, poach pears and flambe crepes suzette.

The versatile Viking is strictly homegrown. Back in 1980, Mississippi contractor Fred Carl Jr., with some prodding from his wife, designed a range with "zero clearance." Translation: although the ovens produce a powerful 55,000 BTUs, built-in insulation allows the stove to touch kitchen cabinets on either side. Gone was the fire hazard posed by overheated professional ranges, and so too the equatorial ambient temperature well known to chefs. Viking shipped its first models in 1986; they immediately caught on.

Cooking-appliance sales dropped 15% last year, but Viking is back-ordered in every color variation. Recession worries? Not while Carl can argue that the Viking is also "a basic cooking machine." For the hottest of stove leagues, of course.