Question

How could I use @if blocks to build the equivalent of this ? : inline code? Thx!

grid.Column("Name", "Name", format:  @<text>
 <div 
      style='color:  @(@item.Name == "Bill") ? "black" : "red") '                   
  >    
   @item.Name
  </div>
</text>),

Answer 1

How about externalizing this logic into a partial to avoid the mess:

grid.Column("Name", "Name", format:  @Html.Partial("_item", item))

and then inside your _item.cshtml partial do whatever ifs you want or even better use HTML helper:

@model ItemViewModel
<div style="@Html.StyleForItem(item)">
    @Html.DisplayFor(x => x.Name)
</div>