Binova Fires Line Helps You Cook Your Ducks in a Row

There is nothing new about gas, or stoves, beautifully-designed cooktops. But put them all together, then put them in a straight line, and have them brought to you by Italian firm Binova, and all of a sudden you might have something to refute that old saw about there being nothing new under the sun.

Being able to cook in a single row on the Fires Line cooktop means you -- or your chef -- will no longer need to reach behind the champignons to get to the coq au vin. Depending on how you place it, you can reserve an area in front for preparation and your Benihana-like ministrations, with the cooktop in back and away from the little ones' hands, or reverse it and have a perfectly convenient places to slide dishes that need to get off the heat. If you're exceptionally daring can place the Fires Line in an island so that four of you can cook together. Yet some old saws, like the one about the cooks and the soup, probably bear heeding.

The Fires Line is 54 inches long and 13.75 inches deep, is fashioned in in stainless steel, works anywhere there's gas, and is available in traditional or flush fittings from Haute Living.