We know D.C. Get our free newsletter to stay in the know.
The open-fire grills are hand-made in Michigan
About three years ago, Ben Eisendrath left behind a career at AOL and decided to revive a moribund company founded by his father, a former foreign correspondent and current journalism professor who in 1980 patented a grill based on the Argentine method of open-fire cooking.
The Adams Morgan resident has, in no time, become the grill man to the stars. He’s sold his aircraft-grade stainless steel grills to a number of celebrities, from actor Matthew McConaughey to chef Dan Barber of Blue Hill fame.
I will unpack the Grillworks story more completely in next week’s Young & Hungry column, but before then, I wanted to give you a quick look at this sleek, deceptively simple grill. Yesterday, Eisendrath gave me a demonstration of his Grillery Standard unit (a pricey piece of cooking equipment that’ll set you back nearly $2,500) in the backyard of one of his Georgetown customers.
Take a look:
The grill works with any sort of wood, even unseasoned twigs and branches found in your backyard, although the company sells a number of seasoned hardwoods.
Because the grate can be raised 16 inches above the burning wood, you don’t have to wait around for the fire to reach the right temperature.
The fire chamber channels heat so that the back of the grill maintains the hottest temperatures while the front is cool enough to warm items.
The V-shaped stainless-steel grates channel the meat and vegetable’s juices into a catch tray.
The captured juices can be mixed with butter (or olive oil), herbs, and spices to create an instant basting liquid.
This is more like campfire cooking than traditional charcoal grilling or smoking.
The finished product: two medium-rare bone-in ribeyes, both with the unusual grill markings made by the Grillery.