Cowboy Hibachi

I've been impressed with the Pacific Coast Railroad Company, located on the privately owned Rancho Santa Margarita, since I learned of the operation two years ago. The railroad, like the ranch, is the private domain of entrepreneur Rob Rossi.

So, when the "when the newer bovine residents of Rancho Santa Margarita are vaccinated, branded and ear-tagged, and 'converted' (that's a more stomach-pleasing, railroady way of saying it, eh?) into steers," railroad chief mechanical officer Phil Reader puts his "Cowboy Hibachi" to work.

By all reports, he cooks meals that make even the toughest ranch hand and railroad man smile. Phil's Hibachi, equally "doing what it does best" next to the coral or along the tracks, was fabricated from a discarded plow share. It looks like a nifty barbecue stand with the fire grate and coffee boiler.