The best chefs know how to provide for large groups, and the first image that comes to mind for them is the barbeque. That means they know how to feed parties of fifty people or more: with giant cuts of beef and pork, whole grilled salmon, a ton of chicken, and if that doesn’t suffice, more beef. The best barbeque chefs are also smart. They’ll manage to keep their house immaculate without the nasty after-odors of cooking (and barbeque, as wondrous as it may taste, is akin to a greasy-spoon diner). In order to cook like a caterer, then, a chef can custom-build a kitchen to be a social room by moving the real cooking equipment outside.
The first time you see such a set-up, jealousy will be the first emotion to come to mind. Some people even conceptualize and build their own grilling station�"sometimes even creatively incorporating aspects like exquisite landscaping. With a huge number of people to feed, your outdoor workplace needs to be fit for the task. To most people, the idea of outdoor cooking involves a large barbeque grill, preferably gas with a stainless steel finish, a picnic table, perhaps a cooler, and not much else. Instead, some choose to build an entire kitchen outdoors: tiled in slate, a free-standing island cooking oasis can hold a sink, plenty of counter space, a small refrigerator, and two enormous grills, one charcoal, one gas. After all, some prefer food cooked over an open wood-stoked flame, while others like the simplicity of simply turning a dial on the grill.
With an outdoor cooking station and grill, barbeque can be on the menu every day. Your neighbors won’t be able to stay away, and soon enough, every backyard in the neighborhood will smell sweetly of barbeque.
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