BBQS FOR GRILLIONAIRES
A £2,199 grill that tells when your burger’s cooked and a £1,250 oven just to keep your buns warm. How the other half barbecue!
There’s a new breed of barbecue fan, and they’re not afraid to watch their money go up in smoke.
The latest way to show off your riches is by buying extremely high-end barbecue kit. And so-called ‘grillionaires’ don’t mind splashing out on premium grills, burgers — and even bun warmers.
Vicky Angell of John Lewis, where barbecue sales are up 33 per cent this year, says: ‘We’re increasingly finding that people are looking for a luxury experience. More and more, customers want to go beyond simply grilling sausages and invest their time and money in cooking on a premium barbecue.’
here, ALICE SMELLIE joins the world of the grillionaires — and, buying multiple packs of foods where necessary, holds a barbecue party for ten worth nearly £7,000. so was it worth it?
GAS BARBECUE THAT LINKS TO YOUR IPHONE
USUAL PRICE: Gas barbecues can cost around £100. GRILLIONAIRE PRICE: Genesis II LX e-640, £2,199, weber.com MADE from porcelain enamel and shiny stainless steel, this is more like a spaceship or sports car than a barbecue.
The vast gas machine lights up via an ignition system, which gives instant flames. It also has a separate iPhone-linked digital thermometer connected to probes that can tell you when your meat is cooked. Lay your food on the castiron grate and it cooks swiftly and evenly, with minimal smoke because of the lack of coals.
It’s large enough to cook for any party, until your arms ache from lifting the meat to the table.
PUT YOUR BUNS IN A ROSE GOLD OVEN
USUAL PRICE: Lakeland have one for £200. GRILLIONAIRE PRICE: delvita rose Gold Limited edition Outdoor Oven, £1,250, at the house&Garden Festival (delivita.co.uk). WANT to serve burgers in crusty warm buns? A proper grillionaire has a special oven to keep them really toasty. This pretty little thing has a rose gold front and is incredibly compact — perfect for a smaller garden. Light a fire with wood at the back and the flames can also cook meat, fish and vegetables.
A pizza can take just 90 seconds — faster than a microwave!
TOP TOOLBAG FOR THE GARDEN CHEF
USUAL PRICE: A supermarket set of utensils costs around £10. GRILLIONAIRE PRICE: Urbanology BBQ Tool Wr a p , £57, urbanology london.com YOU’d think that tongs were tongs, but this neat little wrap (made from showerproof denim and with a leather strap) unfolds to reveal a perfect trio of stainless steel tools. They are both compact and marvellously functional, including tongs for turning and a spatula for scooping off the grill.
THE LITTLE BLACK DRESS OF APRONS
USUAL PRICE: You can find a good apron for as little as £7. GRILLIONAIRE PRICE: Aabelard apron, £125, aabelard.com The founder of Aabelard, Philippa hayward, spends a great deal of time in an apron. reasoning that it ought to look good as well as be practical, she created what she calls the Little Black dress of aprons.
Made from waxed cotton and with Italian leather trim, it comes in different sizes and fits like a glove — as well as keeping you protected from barbecue grease.
BURGERS FROM MASSAGED COWS
USUAL PRICE: £3 for four burgers at Tesco. GRILLIONAIRE PRICE: C. Lidgate of London Wagyu Beef Burgers, £ 14.95 for four, lidgates.com LIDGATE is a byword for high quality ( and high price) meat, with celebrity fans including richard Branson and nigella Lawson.
While some low-end burgers from mainstream stores may be padded out with gristle, these smooth and succulent patties are packed with meat from earl stonham Farm, england’s only producer of purebred Wagyu.
The cattle spend most of their lives feeding on lush suffolk pasture and locally grown maize. Japanese Wagyu cows are said to be the most pampered in existence — some say they are even massaged and fed beer.
The burgers cook quickly and taste delicious.
KING OF KETCHUPS — WITH ADDED CHOCCY
USUAL PRICE: heinz, £2 at sainsbury’s. GRILLIONAIRE PRICE: hotel Chocolat Cocoa Ketchup, £4.50, hotelchocolat.com, plus A Little Bit Tomato and rosemary Ketchup, £4.40, alittlebit.co.uk IT’s pricier than even branded sauces, but this reddish brown ketchup has such a strong smell of tomatoes that it makes your eyes water.
It tastes equally piquant, though we couldn’t quite catch the taste of the cocoa. Assuming that a true grillionaire would have at least two ketchups, I’ve also selected a tomato and rosemary one that is redolent with herbs.
THE PLUMPEST, JUICIEST SAUSAGES
USUAL PRICE: Morrisons The Best, £2.48 for six. GRILLIONAIRE PRICE: daylesford Organic sausages, £4.49 for six, ocado.com BY LAW, sausages have to be 42 per cent meat, but not all meat is equal.
daylesford Organic sausages are plump, pink, juicy and packed with pork from free range, organic, outdoor-bred animals. With visions of happy pigs prancing around green fields, I can
cheerfully state that these are worth every penny. They taste absolutely delicious.
HOW ABOUT SOME BUTTERY BRIOCHE?
USUAL PRICE: Brioche burger buns, 80p for four at Asda.
GRILLIONAIRE PRICE: St Pierre brioche burger buns, £1.95 for six, ocado.com To ACCOMPANY the sausages, I used rich brioche buns that are deep yellow in colour and made with butter. They have a moister texture than the dry and crumbling bright white of some cheaper versions (although the Asda ones listed above are tasty).
maybe the grillionaire palette is more refined — I actually prefer ordinary white bread buns.
THE RARE TREAT OF A £20 STEAK
USUAL PRICE: Around £4 each for a good-sized steak at Tesco.
GRILLIONAIRE PRICE: Brookfield Platinum Wagyu Beef Sirloin, £19.99 for 227g steak, ocado.com HOW much do you love your friends? These beautiful Wagyu steaks come from the Japanese beef cattle prized for the marbled fat, which runs through the meat.
But, even at this price, our steak appears to be at the budget end of things, relatively speaking: an entire sirloin from finefoodspecialist.co.uk will set you back almost £1,000.
We agree that it’s a cut above our normal supermarket meat, but I couldn’t afford Wagyu steak regularly and still feed my three children. Unfortunately.
HEAVYWEIGHT ITALIAN CROCKERY
USUAL PRICE: Asda do a 12-piece dinner set for £10.
GRILLIONAIRE PRICE: orlo Dish Set by natuzzi Italia (ten pieces, £1,200), 01322 771 442 A TRIO of heavy, expensive-feeling white china with golden bronze trim. It’s absolutely stunning, as long as you overlook the fact it costs as much as a full- blown dinner service.
These are — price aside — perfect for a barbecue. But perhaps grillionaires are stronger from all that Wagyu beef, as they’re quite heavy to lift, and stressful to wash — I daren’t use my dishwasher!
THE GOLD STANDARD IN KNIVES AND FORKS
USUAL PRICE: A marks & Spencer cutlery set costs £12.
GRILLIONAIRE PRICE: TVIS Titanium rose Gold cutlery, £196 for four place settings, brostecopenhagen.com NOTHING screams wealth like a gold knife and fork. These are actually goldcoloured titanium; real gold is very soft and I suspect it might swiftly scratch. The only downside to glittering cutlery is that you need to wear sunglasses to stop the sun reflecting off it and dazzling you.
WHEN ONLY A CLASSY GLASS WILL DO
USUAL PRICE: Six tumblers, £1 at Asda. GRILLIONAIRE PRICE: Airtwist Goblet, £48, robertwelch.com THESE are heavy wine glasses, with beautiful twisted stems and made from hand blown lead crystal glass. Almost £50 a pop is a lot for glassware, but these are a cut above the rest. And they hold lots.
NAPKINS YOU’LL NEED A MAID TO WASH
USUAL PRICE: A pack of 50 paper napkins costs £1.25 from Asda. GRILLIONAIRE PRICE: Weiss Belvedere linen napkins, £ 54.95 each, harrods.com CRISP cream linen napkins with an embroidered gold motif in the corner — and each one costs £ 54.95! ‘Ideal for hosting that special dinner party,’ they say. We say that unless you have a maid who is specifically employed to do handwashing, these are too stressful to use with all that tomato ketchup flying around.