We set out on our own during the late afternoon, ambling through yet another dry riverbed, and wound up at the top of a windswept peak at sunset: Lemarti and Boniface building a fire, Trzebinski embracing and whispering to her young daughter, Tacha, relaxed conversation, aperitifs on offer--and a communal sense of wonder.

FORBES: Escapes

They sampled beef aged 7, 14, 21, 28 and days and older before determining that four weeks was the magic number, when the concentrated flavor is at its peak and has not begun to decline, so all their dry aged beef is 28 days old.

FORBES: Steaks Worth Bragging About Are Dry Aged

Only a couple of inches of rain have fallen in Southern California since the start of the year, making the region as dry as it normally would be in the fall, when fire season is typically at its peak.

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