There's a case to be made that smoke, not salt, was the original condiment - its exotic flavors first encountered in that radical new technology called cooking. A few hundred thousand years after our first taste of smoke, we're still hooked. It started, as these things often do, with my mother. Dining out should always be an adventure with food only part of it. Promised openings, such as Mantra in downtown Boston, are delayed and then delayed and then delayed again.
Restaurants sometimes close abruptly.
And always on the horizon are more restaurants planned, places in future tense to tantalize the eager diner. The merits of grilling have often been linked to its speed and efficiency. Grilling over a big charcoal fire, most cooks maintain, allows you to put intense flavors on the table - quickly.