This is such a big a year for Thermador — not to mention for the American kitchen as we know it — that we needed to create our own Ultimate Kitchen to help prove it.

The new Thermador Design and Experience Center in Irvine, Calif., provides the kind of grand stage necessary to properly showcase what it is we’re bringing to culinary enthusiasts’ kitchens in 2012 — arguably the biggest year in Thermador’s rich history.

Thermador Executive Chef Kyle Jakobi will have plenty of new tools at his disposal in our new Thermador Design and Experience Center

Aside from giving Thermador Executive Chef Kyle Jakobi a new playground — with every new toy a chef could possibly want (the Freedom Induction Cooktop, anybody?) — we’re loading up this 17,000-square-foot showplace with the most exciting new luxury  kitchen products on the market: and just about all of them are launching in 2012.

Along with our completely revamped Freedom line of refrigeration, freezer and wine columns, our showroom will feature our complete new line of wall ovens, which are set to debut this summer. Also, our brand new Built-in MicroDrawer™ Microwave is in there, as well as our new Star-Sapphire™ dishwasher — the most powerful dishwasher in our fleet.

As with anything involving Thermador, cooking is the star. So, in addition to our stunning new Freedom Induction Cooktop, which also debuts this summer, is our flagship appliance: the 48-inch Pro Grand Steam Range, the Ultimate Culinary Center™, which instantly introduces itself as the big star of our — and anyone’s — kitchen.

Like so much of Thermador’s product line, everything in our plush showroom is installed to showcase our products’ perfect flush capabilities, which shows the true potential of any custom-built, luxury kitchen.

Needless to say, we’re very excited. But that’s all we’re going to say for now — and you can believe we’re going to hit you with plenty of photos and video soon…