Started in the late 1970s by Charles Eisendrath, the Ann Arbor, Mich.-based Grillworks company was essentially an exercise in "recreational capitalism" for its founder, who was far more interested in his work in the journalism field. The former Time magazine foreign correspondent made it virtually impossible for potential customers to buy his Argentine-style grill.

It wasn't until 2007, when son Ben Eisendrath took a buyout from AOL, that Grillworks was finally treated as a proper, full-service enterprise. You can read the Grillworks' story here.

So how did father feel about son taking over his oft-neglected company? I asked Charles Eisendrath that question in an e-mail while he was visiting Moscow last month. His response:

I never dreamed that this would or could happen, which is one of the reasons I was so thrilled when it did.

A living legacy is the best kind, and we're having fun merging mine with his in a couple of new product ideas, one of them an in-fireplace model, the other a clockwork rotisserie mechanism still in development.

Photo by Darrow Montgomery

The open-fire grills are hand-made in Michigan

About three years ago, Ben Eisendrath left behind a career at AOL and decided to revive a moribund company founded by his father, a former foreign correspondent and current journalism professor who in 1980 patented a grill based on the Argentine method of open-fire cooking.

The Adams Morgan resident has, in no time, become the grill man to the stars. He's sold his aircraft-grade stainless steel grills to a number of celebrities, from actor Matthew McConaughey to chef Dan Barber of Blue Hill fame.

I will unpack the Grillworks story more completely in next week's Young & Hungry column, but before then, I wanted to give you a quick look at this sleek, deceptively simple grill. Yesterday, Eisendrath gave me a demonstration of his Grillery Standard unit (a pricey piece of cooking equipment that'll set you back nearly $2,500) in the backyard of one of his Georgetown customers.

Take a look:

The grill works with any sort of wood, even unseasoned twigs and branches found in your backyard, although the company sells a number of seasoned hardwoods.

Because the grate can be raised 16 inches above the burning wood, you don't have to wait around for the fire to reach the right temperature.

The fire chamber channels heat so that the back of the grill maintains the hottest temperatures while the front is cool enough to warm items.

The V-shaped stainless-steel grates channel the meat and vegetable's juices into a catch tray.

The captured juices can be mixed with butter (or olive oil), herbs, and spices to create an instant basting liquid.

This is more like campfire cooking than traditional charcoal grilling or smoking.

The finished product: two medium-rare bone-in ribeyes, both with the unusual grill markings made by the Grillery.

Anyway, where was I? Oh, yes, presidents and diet. Before we get all obsessed about Obama's eating habits, let's review what former presidents preferred at the dining-room table. Take AOL's funny and cool "Presidential Food Trivia Quiz." Let me know how you did in the comments section. My score is listed after the jump.

Did you beat me? I got 15 out of 22 correct. I have to admit; I got lucky on several guesses.