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" WHEN IT&amp;#039;S 98 IN THE SHADE and everyone&amp;#039;s sweating around a pit of scorching coals waiting for their sizzling meat, a brew can seem like holy water. Which is fine, except for the water part. Sometimes you want something with more flavor, not to mention that some backyard parties call for wine--which looks better in your arms as you pass through the side fence than a case of Schlitz. Your dilemma: Smoky meat usually begs for something red, but in this heat, just the thought of a room-temp tipple makes the sweat come faster. But there are plenty of whites around that hold their own in the realm of red meat. Herewith, a better bottle to bring to the backyard barbecue.  [1] GRILLED TUNA Beringer Johannisberg Riesling, California, $7. Almost like white sangria (without the hassle)--fruit-juicy, and great with a citrus-marinated tuna steak. [2] DOG Robert Mondavi Winery fume blanc, Napa Valley, $18. This smoky, tangy white, one of my favorites, goes perfectly with summer&amp;#039;s manna: a grill-blackened hot dog with mustard and onions. [3] SHRIMP Trinity Oaks pinot grigio, California, $10. California wineries do pinot grigio with gorgeous citrus-peach flavors that make spicy shrimp dance off the barbie. [4] BURGER Edna Valley Vineyard chardonnay, California, $14. Yes, wine with a burger. This rich, full-bodied, tropical-fruit-flavored wonder makes your secret-recipe beef creation taste even better. John Mariani on Restaurants: The Surreal World LET&amp;#039;S START WITH THE BATHROOMS. There are 12 of them, each in the shape of a giant L&amp;#039;eggs panty-hose container, and they look like alien space pods ready to blast back to their home world. Wherever that might be, it&amp;#039;s probably no stranger than the one they currently inhabit--a place where the staircases drip wet with faux chocolate syrup and women too gorgeous to be human sip &amp;quot;White Noise&amp;quot; cocktails while being hypnotized by a looping montage of video art playing on a 360 degree screen. This is London&amp;#039;s Sketch, the most surreal (and surreally expensive) restaurant to open on this planet in quite some time. Bankrolled to the tune of $16 million by a French-Algerian named Mourad Mazouz (who also runs the trendy London eatery Momo), the restaurant includes both a casual, retro-futuristic lounge called the Gallery and a 40-seat upstairs dining room known as the Lecture Room &amp;amp;amp; Library. Reservationists pretend that there are never any last-minute openings, but you show up and--voil\u00E0--there are tables for the taking. A beautiful Ugandan hostess leads you down a long, eerie hallway with plastic lips growing out of the walls. You make your way up to the Library, with its tufted red chairs, totemlike vases, and lighting too dim to read much of anything--including the menu or the so-so wine list scribbled in pencil.  The night I visit, the place is roasting hot, cigar smoke wafts about, and butter knives are absent from my table; the sommelier--pardon!--pours mineral water into my red wine. As in many posh London restaurants, the waiters here are French guys who speak with indecipherable Monty Python accents: &amp;quot;Zees eez a glah-zuv peenk grapp-fweet weez toh-mah-toh wah-tair jelleee.&amp;quot; (This is a glass of pink grapefruit with tomato-water jelly.) Chef Pierre Gagnaire&amp;#039;s food, like everything at Sketch, is concocted to dazzle: sea urchin with seaweed juice, saddle of rabbit, and squid stuffed with lemon, nuts, and a St. Andr\u00E9 onion; potted crab with pig&amp;#039;s ear and breast of albacore tuna with a velout\u00E9 of root chervil and sorrel cream. (You should hear the Franglais on that one.) It&amp;#039;s all madly inventive, and some of it is truly delicious. But many of the dishes are cloyingly sweet, which blows a good wine right off the table.  The damage? Heavy. For $175 per person, you&amp;#039;ll get three courses, an array of nibbles, and some predesserts--no wine. You will, however, have the opportunity to pee in a space pod and get bragging rights that you&amp;#039;ve been to the oddest restaurant in England. 9 Conduit Street, London; 011-44-870-777-4488. THE EXTRAVAGANT MAN: THE $8,000 GRILL How childish it is that we men spend our whole lives masking our insecurities in suits and cars. A truer measure of virility is our grill. Weber&amp;#039;s 56-inch Vieluxe grill has all the power (75,000 BTUs of searing power) and gadgetry (four rotisserie spit forks, two side burners, and a built-in smoker) of a Hummer. And its hand-assembled stainless-steel body is as smooth as the sleekest Armani suit. www.vieluxe.com. "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
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