About Us

Grillworks Inc was founded by Charles Eisendrath, my father. He was a foreign correspondent for Time Magazine in the '60s and early '70s and consequently was exposed to some of the best outdoor cuisine the world had to offer. France, Turkey, Chile and Argentina were major stops along his career route before settling the family in Michigan, where he is still a professor.

Upon his return to the US my father immediately missed the open fire cooking styles he'd fallen for overseas. Not to be deprived he set about designing his "dream grill" during the academic summers, focusing on making grilling over live wood fires easy. Fourteen prototypes and countless material combinations later he presented to perplexed family and friends a stainless steel machine that satisfied his requirements and even had a unique beauty about it. He dubbed it "The Grillery". Many dinner parties followed.

Shortly his friends wanted their own. Then their friends called. Stories appeared in the paper. Horrified Mom was pressed into service as Treasurer. Letters sent on a lark were answered by calls from food great James Beard, among others, who famously invited my father to his New York office with grill in tow then didn't allow the grill to leave. The design was soon granted a US Patent.

As of 2011 The Grillery® has been a wood-burning institution for over 30 years, and Grillworks Inc is still in the family. Most importantly, Dad's original Grillery is still at the core of every grill we build.

Have a question? Don't hesitate to call. If you'd also like to talk to a highly qualified Grillworks customer, we've begun tapping Ambassadors around the country who are happy to talk or show you how they use their grills. They are uncompensated friends of ours who will speak frankly of their experience with our products. I've listed them below - more to come.

Ambassador San Francisco: Ryan Farr, 4505 Meats (meats@4505meats.com) - http://www.4505meats.com

Ambassador New York: Adam Kaye, VP Culinary Affairs Blue Hill at Stone Barns - 914 366 9600

Regards,