Looking for a surefire way to impress your friends and maybe gain some new ones this summer? Forget the indoor slideshow about your last adventure trip to Antarctica – a pictorial blow-by-blow of your brush with hypothermia just might take the heat out of the party. Instead, consider taking your guests outdoors and lighting up a grill. Outdoor grills and kitchens are the hottest items in today’s luxury home design market, and are fast becoming the entertainment hubs of many homes.

“People want to socialize more these days,” explains Dorthe Skov Thomsen, sales manager of OutStanding Grills, a maker of high-end grills, based in Denmark. “Combine that with the back-to-nature movement where you have the big kitchens with the big windows that look out into the garden and the next step naturally is that you start to ring the kitchen out into the backyard.” When it comes to outdoor grilling, the old rules no longer apply – appearance now ranks as high as functionality.

Gone are the rusty and sooty contraptions wheeled out of the garage or storage room, loaded with charcoal briquettes and then stoked with lighter fluid from an arm’s length away, if not further. Many of today’s top grills are sleek steel beauties (and beasts!) that can be powered by gas and light up at the turn of a knob.

“Our grills appeal to people who are looking not only for function but also for design and quality, and thus are willing to pay top money for them,” says Thomsen. All thirteen grills that make up the OutStanding line are made from high grade stainless steel and have two-layer brushed steel surfaces that allow for economical yet optimal heating. The lack of screws – all the parts are welded together – gives the grills a clean and elegant line, and also lessens the risk of injury from movable parts. But if the thought of steel leaves you, well … cold, there are other options to consider.

With its variegated ceramic tiles and urn-shaped body mounted on four splayed legs, the Kamado grill could easily be mistaken for a piece of decorative art. But don’t be fooled by the grill’s museum-worthy looks. Based on a 2000-year-old Japanese method for cooking meals in a humidity-controlled environment, the Kamado packs heating power that can match that of many contemporary grills. According to Robert Howard, who sells Kamados to clients in Europe and in the United States, the vase-like grill, which is available in four sizes, can reach temperatures as high as 450 degrees Celsius and can be used to barbeque, grill, smoke, and bake. “The Kamado is a niche market,” says Howard. “We specialize in clients who not only want a grill that looks good and is unique but that cooks well. But it’s a very different type of cooking because the heat comes from the top, the bottom and the sides, and with the controlled humidity the food tastes much softer than what you’d get from a straight grill. You can’t burn food in our grills.”

But why stop at a solitary unit? For those with the backyard real estate and money to burn, the grill is the launching pad for a new approach to outdoor living. People want to cook outside and spend as much time there as possible. To satisfy both needs, many are bringing the kitchen outdoors by commissioning custom built grilling stations and islands that offer a wide range of cooking functionality and accessories. Randy Beard, the owner of Purewater Pools, a Californiabased custom pool design firm, has been building luxury outdoor kitchens for over two decades. His clients are local as well as international – some from as far away as Dubai and China. He calls the trend in customized full-service outdoor kitchens a phenomenal one.

“People don’t want to be stuck indoors, but they still want the conveniences of indoor living outside of the house. We can fit outdoor kitchens with wine chillers, refrigerators, ovens, snow cone machines, popcorn makers, warming drawers, plasma screen televisions, sound system, and specialty furniture.” Anything is possible, he says. Symbolically, the sliding door that separates the indoors from the outdoors is being dismantled, and the outdoor kitchen is becoming not just an elaborate and natural extension of indoor life but completely replacing its interior counterpart as well. Some homeowners now spend the majority of their time in garden kitchens all year round. Clients who are outdoor grilling enthusiasts, Beard says, are not easily dissuaded by factors such as weather, and purchase accessories such as water misters and infrared heating devices that give them some control over the climate in their kitchen area. Customization is not only for those with deep wallets, however, as stand-alone grills today can also be outfitted with plenty of extras. Florian Münkel, owner of Muenkel, a chimney supply business in Germany that also sells midrange and top-end grills such as Grandhall and Everdure, says that most come with a modular framework that makes them easy to accessorize. “You can have components for sinks, extra corner burners for pots, rotisserie pipes, roasting racks, storage baskets, or cupboards.”

Outdoor grilling is still largely an American pursuit. The United States with its long-standing barbeque tradition (and maybe bigger backyards) commands a healthy market for topquality outdoor grills and kitchens, and dictates the trends as well. Europeans are only beginning to adopt the method, and the market here is still young. One reason for this, Howard contends, is a difference in approach. “Grilling is an integral part of the American lifestyle. It’s an every-day cooking method, with people firing up the grill three to four times a week, if not more during warmer months. In Europe, grilling is still largely centered around social events, which makes it more of an occasional practice.” Similarly, Thomsen thinks the European market is further splintered along regional lines. For example, Northern Europeans, because of their cooler climate, tend to grill less than their Mediterranean counterparts. But Thomsen is optimistic that the influence of a strong American market will eventually cross over to this side of the world, adding that when it comes to lifestyle trends, Europe is usually looking across the Atlantic for inspiration. If the sizzle in the American market for luxury grills and garden kitchens is any indication, outdoor living and entertainment is sure to soon blossom as the newest lifestyle trend in Europe, says Beard. “People are always attracted to food, fire, and drinks. Put these three elements in any outdoor environment and it becomes a place where people want to be.”