THE FUEGO BLOG

My job takes me a lot of places. All across the U.S., China, Singapore, Taiwan, England, Germany, Italy, etc. Lots of places you'd expect design and manufacturing to happen. But over the last year, I've developed a design relationship with a company in a place I'd never expected: Dubai.

First of all, let me tell you about Dubai. You've all seen the images and the news specials. It is a place of open possibilities. The tallest buildings. Communities rising out of the sea. Disneyland-like malls, hotels and entertainment centers. Development on a scale never seen before. It really is mind boggling. For example, you probably have seen the Burj al Arab. The famous hotel that looks like a sail, built on a man made island just off Jumeirah beach, in which the rooms start at US$1,700 a night. Well, when Sheikh Mohammed decided to build it, it was a $2 billion project. In a $10 billion economy! He spent 20 percent of their GNP on a hotel. Well he was right. It has come to symbolize Dubai and catalyzed the region as a destination. If you Google Dubai, half of the images will be of the Burj al Arab.

In honor of Memorial Day weekend, one of the biggest grilling weekends of the year, Fuego is hosting its first "Create a Caption" contest. So put on your thinking caps, whip out the wit and write a caption for this photo. Winners will be highlighted on the blog next week. Happy grilling!

In honor of National BBQ Month and in support of the Hearth, Patio, and Barbecue Association, I thought I would share my favorite rib recipe. There is nothing better than family, friends, cold beer, and my Cherry Cola Ribs! I discovered this recipe in Bon Appetit magazine back in July of '02 and have been cooking it ever since.

We always want people to get the most out of their Fuego grills, and keeping your cast iron seasoned is one way to ensure top notch grilling... so here's a how-to on seasoning cast iron grates. A well-seasoned cast iron grate will resist rust and create a virtually non-stick surface for cooking. We found these instructions on ehow.com (http://www.ehow.com/how_114309_remove-rust-cast.html), and they are exactly what we recommend at Fuego. Grill on!

We celebrated Fuego birthdays this month at a new restaurant in San Francisco, Waterbar.  This place is the latest 'hot spot' hangout on the Embarcadero.  We were all amazed by the view of the Bay Bridge, the Boulevard restaurant-esque brick cobble ceiling, and the two huge fish tanks in the main dining room.

Kim and I recently took a one-month road trip through Greece. We visited
some of the most important sites from antiquity: Athens, Corinth, Epidauros, Sparta, Pylos, Mycenae, Delphi and a flight out to the island of Santorini.

We drank cold wine and dined on fresh fish overlooking beaches mentioned in the Iliad, witnessed an incredibly viol...