In the heart of a Venn diagram, if you appreciate fine drinks, have a passion for gourmet cuisine, and have a discerning eye for luxury, the new Lexus GX luxury SUV with Monogram appliances is a seat you should take. The Lexus Monogram GX is not just a GX550 SUV with a beverage cooler between the back seats—though it does serve that purpose at the annual Food & Wine Classic in Aspen, Colorado. It’s a unique collaboration between Lexus and GE’s Monogram luxury appliance business, designed for those who appreciate the finer things in life.
Generously equipped with General Electric’s Monogram brand, a high-end SUV like the Lexus GX can be turned into a moving dinner party or “tailor-made culinary experience on wheels.” The appliances made by the company are carried on board for more than $10,000. The Monogram Forge Heated Ice Press costs $1,500 and is placed between the back seats. The 30-inch Smart Flush Hearth Oven costs $9,000 and is in the cargo box. The power oven was “handcrafted to capture the performance of a wood-fired brick oven to prepare pizza, soft artisanal bread, or fresh-caught roasted branzino.” On top of that, it looks really sleek.
The ice press can turn a cube-shaped block of ice frozen in a certain pan into a perfectly round ball of ice in just 60 seconds. There is “the first and only heated ice press” in the United States, so the story goes. Monogram says that the gadget can “entertain endlessly” because there is no break time between pressing the buttons back-to-back. However, the tray only has four shapes for making pre-spherical ice chunks, so if you want to start making a lot of ice balls, you should get more.
With all of this, it’s clear that Lexus did everything possible to make the GX unique. With the help of Complete Customs, the SUV’s liftgate was swapped out for a unique set of rear barn doors that have cutouts for bar tools (on the left door) and pizza oven items (like a big pizza peel on the right door). When you lift the solid panels that replaced the back quarter windows, you can see that there is more room to store drinks and glasses. The different sections are lined with quilted leather and carpets. On the cargo floor, under the pizza oven, there is a “plating station” that looks like a tabletop and is made of Dekton slate stone. Also, there is an extra cold storage space in the back called a “cold console.”
For the rest of the GX, Monogram’s black, brass, and stainless steel color scheme is used. There are gold details inside, gold emblems, and cross bars on the roof rack that look like Monogram’s appliance handles. The whole interior is made of camel-colored leather, and a unique center rear console with stone trays compliments the GX’s rugged look. It’s nice for a portable pizza oven. The new-generation GX is pretty daring, so the Monogram would be a great place to start for serious picnickers but not for people who want to live off the grid.
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