A colorful couple’s passion comes to light through countless avenues — but especially the superb food — at their inspiring Buckingham restaurant, JustEat.
 

 By Jonathan James
 

 Grilling is like the N.F.L. these days. There may be a defined season, but both have long since evolved into a year-round sport.

 That shady neighbor who used to stand in the entrance to his garage with a fur-rimmed parka hood cinched around face to shield him from the freezing rain that was blowing horizontal while he stood over a smoking charcoal grill, waiting patiently — probably a little too patiently — for his steaks to finish cooking is no longer the block’s pariah. He’s a pioneer.

 When summer weather lasts all of three, maybe four months, as it does around here, relegating the grilling to the warmth feels almost criminal. It was really only a matter of time before we started thinking with our stomachs.

 So here we stand, square in the middle of prime grilling season, a point in the year when you’re likely to be eating something grilled at two of the three big meals of the day. (Three of three if you count the leftovers at breakfast.) You’re also getting a little cocky. After standing over the old Weber night in and night out since May (a modest estimate), you have really honed your technique. Your family is singing your praises. You are singing your praises. You are starting to live for dinnertime and weekend barbeques.

 And then, one night, you walk into JustEat by BrownGold, a modest looking restaurant on the outside located in a strip mall in Buckingham, and everything changes.

 You enter as an overly confident monsignor (because grilling is as close as many of us come to a religion), so bursting with faith that you claim to be in direct communication with God, only to have God himself school you on the definition of extraordinary. You leave deeply humbled and grateful.
 

An explicit expression

You know the way a really old home with a really large fireplace seems to always carry that scent of a freshly extinguished fire? It’s as if the smoke has seeped into the pores of the wood and the stone. I’ve come to associate a certain kind of deeply satisfying, lived-in quality with that scent. I imagine the logs being lugged in from the frost-bitten outdoors, the smiles that spread across the faces with that initial flash of warmth and the smoldering embers that ever-so-slowly extinguish as a deep sleep fell over the house.

 That’s what JustEat smells like to me. It’s more intense than an artificial, charcoal-fueled musk. In fact, there’s no hint of charcoal at all, which makes sense because a far corner of the smallish dining room is occupied by a massive wood-burning grill.

 That was the first indication that this was going to be a special experience. The second arrived in the form of the menu, a well-edited and beautifully straightforward assortment. Of the nine entrees listed, seven were grilled, a fact that was emphasized by having “grilled” as the first word in the description for each. Subliminally, what’s being said is, “As if there was any question as to why you are here, this is the answer.”

 The two non-grilled entrees: a slow-roasted. Pork sirloin. Wrapped in bacon. Damn straight. And seafood paella. The grilled items cover an equally limited range of seafood and meat, all prepared rather simply. Grilled whole fish of the day, for example, dressed with lemon and olive oil. Basic is beautiful. Basic is a definite sign of a chef who trusts his ability.

 That chef is Marc BrownGold, who owns JustEat with his wife, Theresa, who mans the front-end of the restaurant. If Marc’s skill and passion are evident in the restaurant’s menu, Theresa’s are splashed on its walls. An accomplished artist who resumed painting a few years ago after a 30-year hiatus, Theresa’s moody images clot the mustard yellow walls. Food for thought, served two ways. The paintings were my third sign that something special was on the very near horizon.

 The atmosphere is cozy, made even cozier by the strong presence of Marc and Theresa. This is very much their space, filled with many of their favorite things, and you get the vibe immediately that they’re happy to invite you into it.
 

The most elusive ingredient

We started with the raw oysters, the grilled sweet Italian sausage with roasted garlic mustard and the basil fettuccine with shrimp, tomato, olives, capers and fresh herbs. The oysters were meaty and gone too quickly. You can order a plate of three or six. We, for some reason that escapes me now, opted for the smaller serving.

 The sausage was not the most visually appealing plate that arrived at our table, unless a thick link with flame-kissed skin positioned next to a puddle of mustard is your thing — because it’s definitely mine. The sausage was my first bite of the night from the grill. The skin was crispy without being burnt, the meat, juicy. But the taste that permeated every piece, that lingered in my mouth long after the sausage was gone was a wonderful hint of smoke from the grill. It never masked the taste of the sausage. Rather, it was the most natural complement. I could smell it as I brought a piece to my mouth and then again in the aftertaste. We’d become BFFs before the night was over.

 The fettuccine provided a greater glimpse into Marc’s mastery than I anticipated. It was beautifully seasoned, which I’d realize in a brief matter of time was the hallmark of every dish on the menu, or, at least the ones we consumed. Just the right doses of herbs and seasonings to boast the fresh ingredients’ own, natural flavors.

Patience is rewarded

Theresa maintains a blog on the JustEat Web site, www.justeatbybrowngold.com, which she updates weekly. As with the restaurant, it serves as an uninhibited portal into their lives at the restaurant and away from it.

 An excerpt from a recent entry:

 “Occasionally, a customer will brave the question, ‘Don’t you think my steak is ready?’ Fair question if you just put in a 16-hour day and you’ve been salivating for dinner since breakfast. Marc, the grill-meister, has been stoking fires since his days at City Bites in Phila. in the early eighties, so he has a rule. You ask, ‘Is my steak done?’ Marc replies, “I’ll be happy to take it off for you, but it’s not done enough for you. The rule is I will not put it back on the grill for any reason.’ He smiles. As of today, no one has ever taken him up on his offer.”

 Low and slow is Marc’s philosophy regarding the temperature of the grill and the timing. It’s why his filet mignon — served with a lovely brandy cream sauce — could be sliced with a butter knife and yours cannot. It’s why his lobster tail — a lobster tail the size of a grown man’s forearm — is impossibly moist. Every bite. It’s how that beautiful wood-smoke seeps in, but never overpowers. Or, at least, I imagine that as the reason because I haven’t quite figured it for myself.

 The paella arrived in a large bowl, piled a couple of inches above its brim, stuffed with plump shrimp, little neck clams, mussels and chunks of homemade seafood sausage. I’m a big fan of paella, and I’ve come to learn that, inevitably, with a dish this size, quality is going to take a backseat to quantity, that at least some of the mussels will remain closed, the clams and shrimp will be smaller than they should be. That, however, was not an issue here. The shrimp — all of them, and there were many — were no shorter than my index finger. And the mussel and clam meat verged on huge, to the point that I insisted on holding each up before eating it to exclaim to my dinner companions, “Look at this!”

 A three-course tasting menu is offered daily, as is a separate bistro menu, which is comprised of slightly more casual, but no less hearty, fare, like a crab cake sandwich with frites and a vegetarian burger. Though the atmosphere is decidedly casual, whether you’re eating from the restaurant’s menu or the bistro’s, sitting at the counter overlooking the grill or at a table for two tucked into a corner.

 Even without a meal like that, the dessert tray is laughable. The sight alone — more than 10 kinds ranging from thick, creamy cheesecake to a light, airy-looking sponge cake — was enough to send a diabetic spiraling toward a coma. We settled on the mousse, but I sampled a spoonful and left it at that. I was full and fulfilled.

 There’s a certain comfort that comes from being in an environment where everything is the way that it is for very carefully pondered reasons, especially when that place is a restaurant. It’s almost as if you can let go of the need to labor over any thought or decision and simply sit back and enjoy the experience as it presents itself. JustEat is JustThisPlace. Owners Theresa and Marc BrownGold have done all of the heavy weighing so that we may savor the fruits of their efforts.

JustEat by BrownGold, 4950 York Road, Buckingham. Dinner served Tuesday through Saturday, 5:30 p.m. to 10 p.m., and Sunday, 5 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. BYOB. Reservations recommended. Visa and MasterCard accepted. 215-794-1818; www.justeatbybrowngold.com.