We love fire. Indoors, there’s nothing better than sitting by the fireplace; outdoors, it’s great to have one roaring away on a cool spring night.

Fireplate. Manufactured by Brühl.

When we lived in Oregon, regulations prohibited “any open flame not used for cooking purposes”. So we always wrapped a few potatoes in foil and threw them in our fire pit. The couple of times we had cops come by to hassle us, we just pointed to the taters, and they nodded and moved on.

I wish we’d had this sleek Fireplate by Radius of Brühl, Germany. Made of black varnished steel, it combines form and function in an admirable Prussian sort of way. If all you want is fire, you’ve got a fine base – in either 75 cm or 100 cm diameters (you’d think it would be the radius that they promote, but no…).

And if you want food, you’ve got a removable 50 cm grill that rotates your barbecue on and off the flame. What a great concept! Glide the grill off the fire when you’re ready to load off the smoking-hot meat and veggies – so much easier on the hands (and eyes and hair).

“At first glance it seems that on the global furniture market there is everything and much more than what we need to live comfortably,” says Radius designer Michael Rösing. “On closer inspection, demanding customers quickly notice that there could be much fewer, but better goods.”

That is certainly true, but I think I’ll take a pair of Fireplates, even so.