How Dallas Chefs Grill: The Tools, the Meat and the Techniques

Favorite Cuts
Lastly, we asked the chefs what they'd be cooking this weekend at their back yard barbecue. (Which is a little cruel considering most of them will be working. Chefs always work while others play.)

Luscher: If I were cooking for friends this weekend, it would be mostly stuff you could eat with your hands and wash down with a cold beer or glass of rosé; bbq chicken, fresh sausages, ribs, and always some beef. Maybe smoked dry-rubbed flank or bavette. If I am cooking for just me and the Luscher family-unit then it's beef, steak, ribeye, prime or better. At least 1" thick. Dry-aged, salt, pepper and olive oil. MR.

Chefs eat kibble all day. Tastes of this or that. Bits and scraps stuffed into tacos, maybe sandwiches and eaten over trash cans. Always standing up and never more than a couple of minutes. [At a barbeque] I want a well-marbled, super-flavorful, satisfying whole cut of meat that I don't have to share with anyone, a big salad and bust out some great red.

Carbery: If I had the weekend off to grill it would be anything pig, there is nothing better than pork, open fire, and smoke! Also corn, peppers, onions, chilis and anything that is aromatic.

Uygur: Nice Berkshire pork chops, a thick rib eye, butterflied leg of lamb, corn on the cob, whole onions, and eggplant. If I'm feeling frisky, some pineapple or peaches.

Provost: My favorite thing to make is charred tomatoes, onions, and jalapenos, which I then put into a food processor to make awesome salsa. I also add some cilantro, cumin and salt. I learned this from my kitchen staff at Parigi. With all of the amazing tomatoes coming into the market, this is a perfect use for the really ripe ones.

As for grilling meat, my favorite marinade is soy sauce, garlic, olive oil, and red wine. Let chicken marinate for about 30 minutes in this concoction, and then watch out! Pork tenderloin also rocks from this.

Jason Maddy, Oak: I prefer a pork rib rack, Saint Lucie style, marinated, slow cooked with the smoker. My favorite grill method is sweet corn in the husk soaked in ice water then grilled over high heat. Finished with Spanish paprika and garlic aioli.

Smith: My favorite would be simply a big bone in rib eye served with a nice salad or fresh tomatoes. Happy! Happy! Time!

Balke: Skirt steak. It has the "meatiest" taste of any cut of beef and is one of my favorites. It's so versatile.

Salum: I like a nice fatty rib eye!

Wilcox: New York strip steaks and jumbo shrimp. The steak slices out easy for large groups. And the shrimp are just tasty and easy to eat with hands. I also like the rib eye. The lip of a rib eye is super juicy, soft and delish. The eye is a bit firmer, less fat in it.