While the indoor kitchen has long been the heart of the home, the luxury outdoor kitchen is quickly becoming the heart of the backyard. This trend has turned grilling into a year-round event with families increasingly enjoying the warmth of summer grilling from fall to spring.

Today’s homeowners are transforming their backyard patios into outdoor spaces fit for everything from a harvest fall feast to a joyful holiday gathering.

The outdoor kitchen offers many options for holiday cooking and entertaining. As summer turns to fall, transition your menu from ribs to roasts and expand with delicious grilled desserts and a variety of rotisserie items. Outdoor kitchens also offer more flexibility when hosting big family gatherings, so you can grill and cook while in the midst of the party, instead of away from everyone in the indoor kitchen.

Today’s grill is a commercial-style cooking machine with sleek styling and refined features. The sophisticated Lynx Professional Grill for instance, lets you grill and cook your meats, fish, and vegetables just like a professional restaurant chef. But in a luxury outdoor kitchen, the grill is just the beginning.

These kitchens are fully equipped to perform as well as their indoor counterpart with all the appliances needed to make storing, preparing, cooking, and warming food—and cleaning up—easy and convenient. The most popular appliances include cocktail stations, outdoor refrigerators, outdoor ice machines, side burners, warming drawers, access doors (for storage and to reach gas lines and plumbing), utility drawers, and trash centers.

These custom-built luxury outdoor kitchens are constructed using the finest, weather-resistant materials. An island made of steel, wood, bricks, or stone—which includes solid surfaces or tile countertops and cabinet doors—houses the grill and appliances. Patio covers, fireplaces or fire pits, high-end fabrics, lighting, and seating add to the luxurious look of the outdoor kitchen, as do flooring choices like concrete, tiles, slate, and cobblestones. Popular outdoor kitchen layouts also include protection from inclement weather, so the wind can howl while your family dines by the warmth of the grill.

The look and feel of today’s luxury outdoor kitchen is also changing as advances—including weather resistance—are made in everything from textiles to cabinet doors and countertops. Design and color styles are changing too, with the rustic country and contemporary modern looks becoming popular.

Grill Tips for the Fall/Holiday Season: Take the chill out of cool temperatures and enjoy your outdoor kitchen year-round. According to the HPBA report, the majority of grill owners use their grills year-round. Lynx has just introduced an infrared outdoor patio heater for just that reason. The rotisserie allows you to slow-cook meals for as many as 20 people. Create a portable outdoor kitchen by rolling up a second grill to the back door and extend your indoor kitchen with a range of grilled menu options.

Healthy living and better eating habits continually top the list of New Year’s resolutions. If you want to incorporate a luxury outdoor kitchen in the new year, you should start planning now.

For more information on outdoor kitchens and holiday grilling tips and menus, you can visit or call your local Lynx dealer listed on page 13. You can also visit their website at www.LynxGrills.com