12 years ago I went to the Cannes Film Festival for the first time. It lasts two weeks...way too long when your "job" is basically to attend every party thrown. Somewhere in the middle of it I met a gorgeous German journalist. We ended up in London afterwards for a few more sodden days. When she came to visit me in L.A., she brought this Alessi 6-cup Stainless Steel Espresso maker as a gift. The relationship didn't last but ever since then, from L.A. to New York and back to L.A.; on open fires while camping; on snowboarding trips and aboard sailboats, I have made two pots of coffee a day and can't imagine life without it. Somewhere around 4 or 5 thousand pots and 7 years later, the lower half developed hairline cracks that allowed the water to leak out. Alessi replaced it for free.

The coffee is great but if you are looking for thick, strong espresso with the foam on top, this isn't it. It's more like strong coffee, which is perfect because the "6 cups" of espresso fills up one large mug and that's what I drink. It tastes delicious but is very much its own thing. Guests love it.

I like well-made machines and this is a coffee machine. The handle snaps down with an incredibly satisfying feel. The metal is thick and lustrous. Here's something great: because the whole pot heats up on the stove, the coffee inside will stay hot for an hour. Make sure you use a pot holder to grab the handle, though.

Here's one thing I can guarantee: from time to time you will forget the pot cooking on the stove until the smell of scorched coffee grounds reminds you. You will rush back to find the lower half blue with heat and bone dry, with the coffee burnt and boiling in the top half. At this point, don't do anything. Leave the whole thing on the stove to cool and take it apart only then. Pouring out the coffee and running cold water on it will cause the metal to weaken and leave you with the cracks mentioned above. Metal doesn't mind heat and would rather cool gradually.

Over time, the lower half will lose its brand new look but that's true of all of us I suppose. It you don't use abrasives on the top half it will remain new-looking forever. After a few years you may want to replace the rubber ring that seals the two halves.

Buy this espresso maker. You will not be sorry. Or buy it for a friend whom you want to remember you every time he makes coffee...for years.

I don't even drink coffee, but I got a similar-looking one for my wife a couple of years ago - looks the same except it doesn't have the black stripes around it. It's high-priced and I don't know why - but it's stainless steel, not aluminum, takes a high polish, nice looking. But the main thing is, my wife loves it - she has espresso twice a day, and for awhile she kept trying to use her Saeco machine, but it always needed expensive repairs and was kind of a hassle to use. For the last few months she's been using just this little pot, twice daily, it's fast and simple and works perfectly. There's no big production number required to get espresso into her system (that's good for me, too!). She can do without the crema, and she finds it makes as good or better espresso than she can buy anywhere. I could have gotten her a cheaper one that works just as well, probably, but this was a special gift so I didn't mind the extra cost. She loved that it's in MoMA. It's that kind of thing that makes a gift out of the ordinary.