Tennis, golf and grilling were at the top of Michael Aaron’s agenda when he retired in May as chairman of Sherry-Lehmann, the legendary New York wine store. Aaron was leaving what had started as a family business on his sixty-eighth birthday, after fifty years on the job, to finally spend a full summer at his East Hampton home.
With a friendship going back decades, I was determined to get him the right memorable present for this landmark in his life, and obviously it was not going to be a nice bottle of wine. His wife, Christine, had already gotten him golf lessons so I came up with the idea of a grilling lesson, and after some research learned that Arturo McLeod, the chef at Benjamin, the terrific steakhouse (housed in what is now the Dylan Hotel on East 41st Street, but that I knew in years past as the Chemists Club) is one of New York’s grilling experts. So, after some arranging, Chef McLeod and Benjamin Prelvukaj (both alumni of Peter Lugar’s Steakhouse) arrived at the Aarons’ historic home on a gorgeous Saturday morning in mid-July to teach Michael a thing or two about grills and heat and smoke and the arcane arts of carnivorous consumption.
They began with thick slabs of Canadian bacon on which McLeod sprinkled a touch of sugar to—who would have guessed—increase the heat and slightly caramelize the exterior. The bacon was later to accompany a Caesar salad and chunky slices of tomato over grilled onion, as a first course for lunch. A round table for fourteen was set under a wisteria covered pergola in the yard, the testing grounds for the results of the Aaron’s lesson.
You’ve got to keep two things in mind: McLeod was not going to let Aaron do anything radically wrong that would involve his reputation or a visit from the fire department, and the rest of us were not going to be exceedingly harsh critics. The standards to which we held Michael were not exactly the same as, say, one would use for a chef auditioning for the Food Network. In any case, the main course, hefty slices of porterhouse, sirloin and filet (that had been dusted with a concoction of salt and I know not what else because it is a formula known only to McLeod, who in some secret and secure place mixes it himself) was fantastically meaty and delicious—and a perfectly grilled, gloriously arrogant rebuke to low-fat diets everywhere.
It was a lovely, indulgent afternoon, another golden day of summer. Michael Aaron had his lesson, the rest of us ate and drank: Bee’s Knees, a crisp, clean New Zealand sauvignon blanc; MMM (Miguel Mendoza Malbec), a lush Argentine malbec; and with dessert, Louis Bouillot, Cremant de Bourgogne Rosé, a sparkling pink wine made in the Burgundy region of France, all of course from Sherry-Lehmann, and all priced in the $15 range.
Grilling Tips from Chef Arturo McLeod of Benjamin Steak House
Make sure the meat is at least 1/2 inch thick, and the grill temperature is above 500 degrees. If you think your grill is not hot enough, put some fat on it to bring the flames up and increase the heat.
Use New York strip or rib eye steaks because they have the most marbling. You can tenderize the meat by punching holes in the surface with a large fork. The holes will also cause the meat to cook faster.
Use at least one teaspoon of kosher salt on each side of the steak and let it rest for five minutes before grilling.
Cook with the grill entirely open so you can watch the meat.
Grill steaks for about 5 to7 minutes on each side. After a total of 12 to 15 minutes the steaks will be medium rare and ready to go.
Serve immediately because cold meat loses flavor.
When grilling Canadian bacon, marinate the pieces with sugar rather than salt: it cooks faster and the sweet, bacon flavor is increased.
