Hasta La Gadget!

The term “California cuisine” encompasses a lot of different food styles, from the hyperlocal, seasonal cooking espoused by Alice Waters and company to genre-pushing dishes of chefs like Roy Choi and Dominique Crenn.

But there’s an older California cuisine as well, a legacy of the time when the land belonged to Mexico. One of the greatest holdovers from that era is Santa Maria barbecue, California’s signature style of cooking meat over fire. 

Santa Maria barbecue is only found in a relatively small part of Central California: the Santa Ynez and Santa Maria valleys, scenic regions of rolling hills dotted with oaks between San Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara. These are now some of the state’s most prolific wine regions (you’ve seen the Santa Ynez Valley in the movie Sideways). Before grapes were planted, these grassy hills were prime territory for grazing cattle.

In the 19th century, the land was divided into large cattle ranches, the outlines of which still define roads and town boundaries today. Santa Maria-style barbecue is thought to have evolved naturally from Spanish-style feasts thrown by the ranchers for their vaqueros, or cowboys, following big cattle roundups.

As California matured and the ranch system was broken down, the style became a necessity at special-occasion feasts thrown by organizations like the Elks Club. It’s still omnipresent at large community gatherings like the Fourth of July and Labor Day.

At its heart, Santa Maria barbecue is a simple style, just meat cooked over a large, iron grill that can be moved up and down to control the temperature. It shares that method with the barbecue of another former Spanish colony, the asado of Argentina. But there are a few characteristics that make Santa Maria style its own unique form of meat-cooking.

1. Meat must be cooked over red oak, or live oak.

Local oak wood smoke is the single distinguishing factor of Santa Maria barbecue, the thing that ties it to this corner of the world. In ranching times, the wood was piled into a pit and the meat was cooked on top of it, like some styles in the Southern United States. Eventually the iron parrilla grill was introduced, which has long, heavy skewers that can hold the meat like giant shish kebabs. Seasoned pitmasters move these grills moved up and down with a crank to control the meat’s cooking time.

2. There’s no sauce, just a dry rub of salt, pepper and garlic powder.

The result is a juicy and beefy final product with some umami richness from the seasonings. For Frank Ostini of the Hitching Post II in Buellton, one of the classic Santa Maria barbecue purveyors, that simple flavoring, plus the smoke, is what the style is all about. “I think the Santa Maria style is really a flavor profile,” he says. “I’ve expanded the definition from beef and now we infuse that flavor into everything, from soups to vegetables.”

3. Tri-tip is the beef most associated with the style, but it originated with steaks — and other proteins are also welcome these days.

If you’re lucky enough to encounter a Santa Maria barbecue cookout in the wild on a weekend day, they’ll often be serving tri-tip, often in sandwich form. That cut was only introduced in the 1950s and some Santa Maria barbecue diehards believe that steaks like top sirloins that have a beefier flavor and hold in the juices better. These are the cuts you’ll find at restaurants like the Hitching Post and Jocko’s, a local favorite Santa Maria barbecue spot in Nipomo. Other proteins like chicken and sausages (frequently chorizo or Portuguese linguica) are often thrown on the grill at neighborhood gatherings.

4. The meat is served with local pinquito beans, along with green salad, garlic bread, macaroni salad and a chunky red salsa.

Pinquitos are small, plump, exceptionally tasty white beans that only grow in this region. The garlic bread has replaced the original tortillas and the salsa is generally not very spicy (both likely the influence of the Scandinavians who also settled the valley; one assumes that the Mexican ranchos served a zingier sauce). All of it is meant to complement the barbecue itself, not outshine it, and without at least some of these elements it’s not really a Santa Maria-style cookout.

5. You can find Santa Maria barbecue at restaurants, but it’s best at community gatherings.

Consider it the Friday night fish fry or pancake breakfast of Central California. You’ll find all styles of locally made parrilla grills in town parks from Los Olivos to Arroyo Grande on weekends and holidays; at wineries and general stores on summer afternoons; on the streets during town festivals and parades. Grilled meats almost always taste better outdoors when they’re made with love and a spirit of celebration. These are the times that Santa Maria barbecue is made for.

If you want to sample the flavor without chancing upon a cookout, here are some of the best places in the region to find it:

Hitching Post I and II

Everything from steaks to artichokes gets the wood-smoke treatment at the two locations of this institution that has been serving Santa Maria-style barbecue since 1952. Hitching Post II, opened in the mid-eighties, is the one prominently featured in  the movie, Sideways. Pair a rib eye steak with the restaurant’s own red wine blend.

HPI: 3325 Point Sal Rd., Casmalia; 805-937-6151

HPII: 406 E. Hwy. 246, Buellton; 805-688-0676

Jocko’s

Large steaks are the focus of this locally beloved, no-frills steakhouse in Nipomo, whose wood-paneled, dimly lit dining room and bar are decorated with cattle brands from local ranchers, both past and present.

125 N. Thompson Ave., Nipomo; 805-929-3686

The Far Western Tavern

A 2012 move and makeover didn’t dim the quality of the 50-year-old tavern’s 14-ounce steaks, though it did inspire the restaurant to focus more on local ingredients.

300 E. Clark Ave., Orcutt; 805-937-2211

Rancho Nipomo Deli and BBQ

Smoked tri-tip sandwiches are the thing to order at this roadside pit stop which also serves burgers and California-Mexican specialties like chile Colorado.

108 Cuyama Lane, Nipomo; 805-925-3500

Shaw’s Famous Steakhouse

As the name implies, this is a special-occasion steakhouse in Santa Maria proper that keeps locals happy with oak-grilled steaks, ribs, chops and more.

714 South Broadway, Santa Maria; 805-925-5862

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Bob Sykes and his wife Maxine ran a hamburger and milkshake shop for several years before they realized their true calling was barbecue, which led them to open their Bessemer, AL joint in 1957. Sykes trained with a famous Tennessee pitmaster named Buck Hampton where he mastered the art of barbecue, and his son Van holds up the craft today, cooking the meat with a “hot and high” technique over four kinds of hickory wood. The tenderness of the meat and the way the hickory wood brings out the pork’s natural flavor have kept people coming back for 60 years.

If you’re here for the first time, go for the Big Bob Special — a large plate of assorted barbecue, two sides and a drink (you’re getting sweet tea if you want the real experience). The pork sandwich is by far the most popular menu item, and understandably so, as you can taste how much time and heart goes into it. Throw in one of Bob Sykes’ silky lemon meringue pie slices for dessert, and you’ve got the makings of a classic hearty Alabama lunch.

Today, Van Sykes and his nephew Jason Jewell run the joint along with pitmaster Travis, who starts the fire as early as 4 AM on busier days. Sharon, in charge of the soft, silky red velvet cakes, has been working in the kitchen for over half the time the restaurant has been in existence. You’ll meet the whole crew if you stop by in May for the Bob Sykes’ BBQ & Blues Festival, the restaurant’s annual summer kickoff.

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Of all the potential Sean Spicer press briefing moments to come, a reporter asking him when Vice President Mike Pence will replace Donald Trump as president could definitely add some drama.

Seth Meyers imagined such an exchange in a “Late Night” comedy bit Wednesday using real video of Spicer — but definitely not as the White House press secretary intended.

Watch above for Spicer’s surprising answer. You can also hear his skillful handling of Meyers’ questions on presidential Viagra and the Trump team’s re-election strategy.

Oh, you two.

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On Sunday, June 11, Puerto Ricans voted overwhelmingly in favor of becoming the United States’ 51st state. 

Puerto Rico is known for its beautiful beaches, but it also has some perks you might not know about. Here are a few reasons to visit our friends in the Caribbean this summer:

1. You can leave your passport at home.

Puerto Rico is a U.S. territory, which means you can ditch the passport. But definitely bring a valid ID.

2. The drinking age is 18.  

Your college-aged son or daughter would love it if the next family vacation were in PR.

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The littlest members of a Taiwanese police force still have some shaping up to do. 

The New Taipei City Police Department debuted six new Labrador retriever recruits who are joining its puppy academy, Metro reported. The National Police Agency shared photos of the puppies, all offspring of police dog Yellow, in celebration of their one-month birthdays last week.

“Fushin is especially cute because he is different from all the others, and he is the naughtiest,” Captain Pan Tian-long told the Daily Mail of the only yellow-coated pup in the litter.

“Sometimes, he would fall asleep while eating, and then he would wake up suddenly and carry on eating like nothing happened. How could people not love something as cute as that?”

By the looks of it, Fushin is still trying to get used to that 9-to-5 life. 

Taipei formed a canine team under the Criminal Investigation Corps in 2014 to help sniff out contraband, according to The China Post. With a little training, police hope the little ones will grow up to be just like their mother, the agency wrote in a Facebook post.

For now, they’re a little camera-shy. 

The New Taipei City Police Department wasn’t immediately available to comment further on its sleepy new members. 

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