Remember those ugly portable gas cookers you used to bring on hikes up the mountains, the ones where you had to cram up the canister using the metal handles? Now that you are a fully paid-up member of the cocktail set, how would you like to be reunited with that grotty device, for use on your very own patio?

Perhaps not. But how about the gorgeous, new, clean-line version, conceived by Design Partners in Bray and currently winning prizes across the world? Designed for the French company Campingaz, the Party Grill Stove is light, portable and cute. It is multi-functional - you can grill, fry or boil on it. The design includes a nod towards health-consciousness, with the way fat runs off into a tiny basin of water. It is also, allegedly, easy to clean.

Best of all, it looks so good you can just leave it sitting there without ever turning it on.

The Campingaz Party Grill Stove, around £40 (€50), will soon be available from outdoor goods suppliers.