Grill "Em All - NYTimes.com Marcus Nilsson for The New York Times; Food stylist: Maggie Ruggiero. Prop stylist: Angharad Bailey. The days grow long now, stretching into evenings purple and warm. We bank fires in the grill set up in the yard, out in the park, down by the beach, on a fire escape perched high over New York's fragrant streets. We cook steaks. Why not salad too? I set out to talk to Alan Ashkinaze about that. Ashkinaze is the longtime chef de cuisine for Laurent Manrique, the charming Frenchman who came to Peacock Alley at the Waldorf-Astoria in the 1990s, courted fame at Aqua in San Francisco and later returned to Manhattan to open Millesime in the Carlton Hotel. Manrique is a celebrity chef of a sort, Gallic and handsome, often on the road. Ashkinaze is the one who makes his food. He has done so on and off for the better part of 20 years. When you go to Millesime and eat the grilled romaine salad with Caesar dressing and a sprinkle of lime vinaigrette, marveling at the warmth and crispiness of the greens, the pungent creaminess of the dressing spiked with acidity - that is Ashkinaze's calling card you are devouring. It is his work. He is not bad at the steak either. Steak, in Ashkinaze's view, is crucial to the enjoyment of a grilled salad. And by steak, he says, he means rib-eye, thick cut, on the bone. "I put a rub on it," he said. Cooking at home, over a charcoal fire, I want to have some spice and sugar to help make a crust. He mixes sugar and salt, paprika and ancho-chili powder, tamps it all down with cumin, celery seeds, a little faux-Southern onion and garlic powder to create a mixture that manages not to obscure the meat's beefiness but somehow to intensify it. But let's not get in front of ourselves. Home cooking, like restaurant cooking, requires preparation. Every ingredient should be in its place, ready to be deployed, before the cooking process begins. So buy your steaks. Let them sit on the counter, coming to room temperature, as you mix up your dry rub, grate your cheese and make your dressings for the greens. There are two dressings. Yes, two! The first is a luxurious, nearly mayonnaiselike concoction of raw egg yolks and olive oil, fragrant with garlic, funky with anchovy. Ashkinaze's is richer than Caesar. "I always add an extra yolk," Ashkinaze says. You really need this dressing to hold onto the leaves. You want it thick. The second is bright, acidic, summery: a mixture of lime juice, lime zest and oil to help cut the deep richness of the fats. For the first, whisk the yolks over minced anchovies, garlic and mustard, then add a stream of olive oil, slowly, while continuing to whisk. The mixture emulsifies and turns to silk. Add Worcestershire sauce and a splash of red-wine vinegar. For the vinaigrette, move beyond the usual ratio of one part acid to three parts oil, increasing the zing to something approaching 1:2 with lime juice and the sturdy sweetness of white balsamic. When your fire is hot, cover the steaks with the dry rub, pressing it into the flesh and fat; drizzle some olive oil over the trimmed heads of romaine; and take everything out to the grill: meats on one platter, greens on another, the dressings, a bowl of grated cheese. The steaks will sizzle and flare as the sugar on them seizes tight in the heat and the fat begins to drip onto the coals. Allow a good hard sear to set on the first side, letting the steaks sit unattended for five minutes, six, before you take a peek. Flip them and allow to cook for six to eight minutes more, or until a finger pressed into the center of one yields as the flesh between your thumb and forefinger does, when you press down on it with a finger from the opposite hand. Remove the meat to a platter. Now: fast work. Grill the cut heads of romaine lightly. "You want them just golden," Ashkinaze says, "not at all charred." Pull them from the fire. They should be soft but still retain their shape. Use a pastry brush or a small spoon to apply the heavier dressing, making sure to get plenty in between the leaves. Sprinkle aggressively with grated Parmesan, then return them to the edges of the grill, cheese side up, as far from the flames as possible. Cover the grill for 30 seconds to soften the Parmesan, then serve two sections per person, drizzled with vinaigrette, alongside the sliced steak. To drink? Ashkinaze knows his wines and could take you straight to the poorhouse on some pinot noirs he has squirreled away at his house in New Jersey. "This is a steak dinner, though," he said. Let's have dry Martinis with a wisp of lime. Summer in the city.