Santa Maria Style BBQ

MAY 1, 2016

SANTA MARIA TIMES

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SUNDAY, MAY 1, 2016 |

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100 Years of History 1905-2005

SALLY CAPPON

n the 1970’s, the Chamber of Commerce began efforts to copyright the phrase “Santa Maria Style Barbecue” for the city’s classic and distinctive meal, which has been carried around the world.

Santa Marians have barbecued since time immemorial. Barbecues may have originated when an unknown 18th century vaquero tossed a hunk of meat on a fire. With an abundance of beef and red oak for the fire, the tradition was honed as ranchers got together to help neighbors at roundups and brandings, polishing off their work with a neighborly feast.

The tradition moved indoors when the Santa Maria Club opened in a former home at 800 South Broadway built in 1919 and a huge barbecue pit was built in the back yard, said R. H. Tesene in his book “ Santa Maria Style Barbecue.”

That evolved into monthly stag barbecues at the club, the main course being slabs of aged beef seasoned with salt, pepper and garlic salt, and placed on rods and barbecued over the de rigeur red oak. Slices of beef were served alongside macaroni and cheese, pinquito beans (another Santa Maria Valley specialty), green salad , salsa and buttered slices of toasted, garlic French bread.

Tesene, who moved to Santa Maria in 1949 to operate the Beacon Outpost restaurant – then in the boonies on South Broadway south of Betteravia Road – was invited by a friend to the club’s dinners. He was so impressed he started offering a similar menu at his restaurant, inviting locals to be “guest barbecuers.”

Popularity of the dinners soared. In 1968 Santa Maria Elks Lodge No. 1538 moved to the new lodge building with extensive barbecue facilities. Specializing in top block, the Elks have helped publicize Santa Maria Style Barbecue, sending teams of chefs to other places to prepare for huge chow-downs while spread-

CONTRIBUTED

Community Bank of Santa Maria ing the gospel of barbecue.

Many home chefs today use a cut of meat called tri-tip, a triangular cut of sirloin born on the Central Coast and cooked in the same manner. Today, tri-tips are usually cooked on a metal grill or screen that can be raised or lowered manually, replacing the old use of skewers.

Driving down Broadway on any weekend, it’s almost impossible to resist the fragrant clouds of smoke wafting from mobile pits on wheels in various locations. The menu remains etched in granite: beef cooked over red oak, pinquito beans, tangy salsa, green salad and French bread slathered in butter and cooked on the grill. It may be Santa Maria’s most famous export.

Editor’s Note: This is an excerpt from the book “100 Years—Santa Maria Style,” by Sally Cappon. The book was published by the Santa Maria Times in 2005.

CONTRIBUTED

Harold English, Santa Maria Police Chief 1956-1968

See History, 2

Shaw’s Steakhouse

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Santa Maria Times

FRANK COWAN PHOTOS, CONTRIBUTOR‌

Elks barbecue team leader Jimmy Phillips stands by hundreds of pounds of top sirloin ready to be cooked for the annual Elks Rodeo kickoff dinner. The meat is seasoned with granulated garlic, salt, and pepper.

Barbecue the Santa Maria way is

AN ELKS TRADITION Teams have cooked for thousands — beef, chicken, even linguica

‌I

JENNIFER BEST Contributing Writer‌

ke Simas has Santa Maria-style barbecue smoke in his blood. The third-generation Santa Maria Valley resident has worked Elks Club barbecues for 63 years, and captains one of its 12 barbecue

teams.

“I don’t think there’s a way to improve Santa Maria-style barbecue,” Simas said.

To learn about the traditional, local barbecue, look no further than the Elks barbecue teams which cook up tons of beef, chicken, even linguica over the course of any year. They cook for their 3,000-strong membership and special events, from weddings to awards ceremonies, Scouts to public servants.

“When you’re born and raised here, it’s part of what you do. People from all over love the Santa Maria-style barbecue,” said Elks Club Manager John Maretti.

Elks barbecue teams range from four to a dozen members, depending upon the type of event they’re running. The Friday-night team is largely responsible for lighting and tending the fire while Elks members cook their own meat.

Other teams take the barbecue by the horns from start to finish.

“We don’t worry about competition. No other lodge does what we do,” Maretti said.

Indeed, Santa Maria’s Elks Lodge is the fifth largest in the nation, and the only one to offer the open, oak-pit, rod barbecue.

“True Santa Maria-style barbecue was ribeye, but it got too expensive. That’s why we went to top sirloin,” Simas said.

Tri-tip started after World War II, he added, as an inexpensive barbecue meat.

“To each his own as to what you like best, but basically it’s all seasoned and cooked the same way.

The top block we cook on rods, not on a screen. The rod is what the rancheros used before the 19th Century,” Simas said.

He encouraged folks to visit the Santa Maria Valley Historical Museum to check out photos of traditional barbecues taken in the late 1800s.

“This style of barbecue is what we do on the Central Coast. It’s engrained in us. If you go out of

Elks barbecue team member Andrew Mehlschaul lifts a rack of top sirloin over hot coals at the Elks Club prior to Saturday night’s annual Rodeo kickoff dinner.

Elks barbecue team leader Jimmy Phillips checks the top sirloin on tap for the Elks Club’s annual Rodeo kickoff dinner. do chicken, linguica, I don’t care.

You name it, we’ll try it,” he said.

He likes to age his beef at least town, it’s charcoal and gas, but Simas is willing to cook up just two months, turning it every day here it’s red oak with a little fresh about anything in ranchero fash- so the blood can filter through and air and seasoning and the good ion. tenderize the cut. meat,” Maretti said.

“My favorite is top block, but I’ll “People used to hang their Jimmy Phillips, left, Elks barbecue team leader, slices top sirloin and talks with team member Jim Ellis before the annual Elks Rodeo kickoff dinner.

meat, but things have changed.

People look at me like I’m crazy when I tell them how I do it,” Simas said.

The biggest challenge these Please see Tradition, Page A5

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Santa Maria Times

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Santa Maria Times

Len Wood photos, Staff‌

Figueroa Mountain Brewing’s Jaime and Jim Dietenhofer show off their beer in the taproom at Figueroa Mountain Brewing in Buellton. Across the state, and particularly in California, craft breweries are on the rise.

Santa Barbara County hops on craft beer bandwagon Rise of local breweries driven by demand

‌T

Ryah Cooley rcooley@leecentralcoastnews.com‌

he cups in Santa Barbara County foam and runneth over — with ice cold, locally brewed

craft beer.

While the region has long been known as a destination spot for wine tourism, craft brewing in the county has been growing at a rapid pace in recent years. There are 10 craft breweries in

the county today, and just that many years ago there were only two, according to the May 2015 North Santa Barbara County Economic Summit report.

According to the Brewers Association, a national

• Variable speed air system gets the grill to cooking temperature in minutes.

• Firebox available in Steel, stainless steel or aluminum • Firebrick bottom keeps the heat in.

group for professional and home brewers, a craft brewer is small and independent, producing no more than 6 million barrels per year, with the beer’s flavor derived from traditional or innovative brewing ingredients and their fermentation process.

Craft breweries are on the rise nationwide as well, with production growing by 15 percent per year for at least the past five years. Production at county breweries has also been high, with an annual growth rate between 20 to 50 percent for the past five years. The national trend is particularly prominent in California, which is the largest producer of craft beer in the nation with 381 craft breweries and nearly 3 million barrels of craft beer produced in 2013.

Bart Watson, chief economist for the Brewers Association, said that 75 percent of American adults who are 21 and over now live within 10 miles of a craft brewery.

“It’s heavily driven by demand,” Watson said of the nation’s craft beer craze.

“Beer lovers are demanding fuller flavors and more products. In recent years, there’s been consumers who want to spend money locally.”

An untapped market

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Firestone Walker Brewing Company is the uncontested giant of the Central Coast craft beer scene, but when it was first established in the Santa Ynez Valley in 1996, co-owner David Walker said that there was just one other craft brewery — Santa Maria Brewing — in the county at that time. A lot has changed since then.

“We started one of the first craft breweries in the area and now we’re the fourth largest in California,” Walker said.

While Firestone Walker’s main brewing operations moved north to Paso Robles in San Luis Obispo County in 2001, their sour beers, which are made to have an intentionally acidic, tart or sour taste, are aged at their BarrelWorks facility next to their Buellton taproom.

Their beer is distributed across the state and country. Firestone Walker’s 805 honey blonde, which makes up 45 percent of its sales, is now a top 30 craft beer brand in the country, Watson said.

Paul Wright, owner of Carpinteria’s Island Brew-

David Walker, of Firestone Walker Brewery, shows off a beer in the Barrelworks at the Buellton Taproom. ing, specifically moved from the Bay Area and opened the doors to his brewery in the county in 2001 because he saw the area as an untapped market for craft beer.

“At the time, I felt that it would have been a little cutthroat to open a brewery in the Bay Area,” Wright said.

“The beer scene is happening in this area now, though.”

Just five years ago, local father and son duo Jim and Jaime Dietenhofer founded Figueroa Mountain Brewing with their production facility in Buellton. There are a now a total of four taprooms across the county.

They recently made the the Inc. 5000 list as the fastest-growing craft brewery in the country.

Jaime said he fell in love with the craft brewing scene in Southern California and wanted to bring that back to his home region. Many of their beers from Danish Red Lager to their Paradise Road Pilsner are a nod to various aspects of the region.

“This is our home and it’s something we’re passionate about,” Jaime said. “To eventually come back home to start a regional brewery is a big deal.”

It’s hop time

Peter Rupert, executive director of the UCSB Economic Forecast Project, said that while there are about 10 craft breweries in the county now, there could be at least 20 in just a few years.

“These breweries are growing fast,” Rupert said.

“The current facilities will produce a lot more. Certainly in the next three to five years, a doubling of the current number of breweries wouldn’t be out of the question.”

One reason craft breweries are sprouting like weeds across the state is that California allows brewers to self-distribute their product with no regulations.

Rupert said this helps craft breweries cut costs when they’re first starting out.

Distributors typically take a minimum cut of 25 percent of the sales price.

“You can start this in your garage initially, and then you get a little bigger,” Rupert said.

California is one of only 14 states in the country that allow brewers to self-distribute with no restrictions.

While some craft breweries like Firestone Walker eventually outgrow the self-distribution model, smaller operations like Island Brewing use it to their advantage.

Island Brewing sells beer directly to bars, restaurants and retailers throughout the county while avoiding steep distributor costs.

Wright said that being able to self-distribute and having a taproom on site is key for small breweries.

He also said that unlike other states, California doesn’t impose limitations on breweries such as how many glasses of beer can be served per person or limiting the hours of operation.

“Generally, the beer laws in California are a lot better than the rest of the U.S.,” Wright said.

While more breweries continue to pop up in the county, the existing breweries look to expand.

Santa Maria Brewing, which was founded in 1994, will produce beer at a production facility within its namesake city’s borders for the first time in a few weeks when things get going at Please see Beer, Page A7

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Sunday, May 1, 2016 | A5

Santa Maria Times

FRANK COWAN PHOTOS, CONTRIBUTOR‌

Matt Mehlschau, a member of the Elks barbecue team, inserts a meat thermometer into a cut of top sirloin Saturday as the team cooks for the annual Elks Rodeo kickoff dinner.

Tradition From A2

days, he said, is finding a traditionally sized top sirloin.

“A true size top block sirloin should be about 10 to 12 pounds, but these days the cattle are so big you can’t get that size hunk. They come in at 15 to 18 pounds, so you can’t come out with the real pack of meat that you want,” Simas said.

Larger cuts affect the outcome of the meat, particularly with more cuts on a single rod.

“If you run six pieces of meat, that’s 40 to 45 pounds. One man can twist that and take care of feeding a lot of people,” Simas said.

Running a single piece on the rod doesn’t allow the juices to flow in the same manner, so the out-

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“If you run six pieces of meat, that’s 40 to 45 pounds. One man can twist that and take care of feeding a lot of people.” ‌Ike Simas come is entirely different. When cooking for a crowd, the Elks team also staggers meat onto the rods so they can serve meat well-done, medium, medium-rare and rare.

“I like the big crowd. I’m a lousy backyard barbecuer. Give me 100 people or more. It’s just as easy to do 500 as 100, and it takes the same amount of time to cook for 25 as it does for 100,” Simas said.

The Elks teams have cooked for enormous crowds. The largest ever was the police chiefs’ convention sponsored by the Los Angeles Po-

lice Department.

“There were police chiefs from all over the world. We barbecued for 5,800 people there,” Simas said.

He’s also run barbecue teams outside of Elks, including one shindig at Cow Palace that served 9,500 people.

At 89, Simas isn’t ready to back down from the big events. When asked if he’d ever do such a large Elks barbecue team leader Jimmy Phillips checks the underside of racks event again, he laughed.

“Try me! I love a challenge,” he of top sirloin cooking over oak wood Saturday night before the annual Elks Rodeo kickoff dinner. said.

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Santa Maria Times

“The Santa Maria-style grill is better than a kettle because you can raise and lower the grate so you have a range of temperatures you can cook on. The open pit also allows you to throw on a full oak log like we do here in Santa Maria. Oak wood has a completely different taste.”

JD Sinor

Len Wood photo, Staff‌

JD Sinor and his fiance Lauren Frias pose with a stainless steel barbecue pit Sinor is building. Their JD Fabrication shop specializes in building Santa Maria-style barbecue pits for sale across the country and now internationally.

For JD Sinor, building custom grill barbecues is

more play, than work

Hobby has become a passion that reaches international markets

‌D Jennifer Best Contributing Writer‌

on’t let it be said a young guy can’t make it anymore.

Santa Maria’s own JD Sinor is thriving while spreading Santa Maria-style barbecue love around the globe.

His custom-made, adjustable grill barbecue pits can be found as far away as the Kingdom of Bahrain.

Now the owner, designer and chief fabricator of JD Fabrications, Sinor began his welding career with a class at Allan Hancock College after graduating from Righetti High School in 2007.

“I started working on this truck I had that I thought I’d make an off-road truck. I never completed it, but I started making barbecues. Friends and family started asking for them, then I started selling them on Craigslist, then more online sales,” Sinor said.

When he began attending California State University-Northridge where he studied kinesiology with an eye toward a career in physical therapy, he commuted back to his parents’ home on weekends to build more barbecues to help cover tuition, fees, books and living expenses.

“When he graduated, he contemplated physical therapy. It was going to take more school and a lot of money in loans,” said Lauren Frias, a lifelong friend, business partner and now Sinor’s fiancé.

Frias, who also graduated from Righetti before she studied sales and marketing at Cal Poly, suggested Sinor follow his heart and give the fabrication business all he had. She offered to provide the sales and marketing while he focused on fabrication.

“Physical therapy was something he thought he should do, but this was something he actu-

ally wanted to do. I think if you like what you’re doing, you’re more likely to make money and make it in the long term and enjoy what you do,” Frias said.

For two more years, Sinor worked out of his parents’ garage before moving, in 2013, to his own commercial shop at Blosser and Betteravia roads. In 2014, Frias was able to join the company full-time.

Today, JD Fabrications is home to a complete fabrication shop with shearing, bending, rolling and CNC plasma cutting capabilities. They specialize in fabricating traditional, wood-burning, Santa Maria-style, stand-up, rectangular, portable pits with adjustable grates lifted by pulleys as well as full-size, table grills.

They offer magazine-cover worthy, backyard, built-in grills and multi-rack, reverse-flow smokers large enough for a quarter steer. The shop has completed frame-up builds of portable, wood-burning pizza ovens, commercial restaurant grills, as well as Uruguayan grills, Argentine grills, portable trailer grills, ovens and outdoor kitchens.

“The Santa Maria-style grill is better than a kettle because you can raise and lower the grate so you have a range of temperatures you can cook on. The open pit also allows you to throw on a full oak log like we do here in Santa Maria.

Oak wood has a completely different taste,” Sinor said.

Eastern barbecues may use hickory, walnut or any hard wood while southern desert barbecues depend upon mesquite.

“People use the wood that’s available in their area, but nothing compares with the oak we have here,” Sinor said.

A popular item is the All-American Grill, the grill Sinor and Frias use at home.

“It’s an adjustable-height, Santa Maria-style grill with a lid so you can smoke with it, too,” Frias said.

JD Sinor and his fiance Lauren Frias pose with a stainless steel barbecue pit Sinor is building.

While grills and smokers are still the staple of the business, other items such as custom gates, signs, and miscellaneous fabrications are available upon request.

“We’ve done so much better than I even thought,” Frias said.

And Sinor is reveling in it.

“I like the trailer pits we do with smokers. It mixes East and West Coast styles together,” he said.

End products are sold throughout the Central Coast, and delivered primarily to Texas, Arizona, New York and Florida.

“It seems like there are little niches all over the country that know about Santa Maria-style barbecue, but a lot of people don’t know how they function. When they visit the Central Coast, they see it in action at a restaurant or a friend’s house, and they want to take that home with them,” Frias said.

One customer is taking the grill to a whole new level with plans to open an American-style steak house in Bahrain.

“We just shipped him a really nice, stainless-steel drop-in,” Sinor said.

Stainless steel is Sinor’s favorite material to work with.

“It takes a little longer to do, and it’s a different kind of welding so it’s really, really, slow, but the end product turns out really nice,” Sinor said.

Working on commercial products has turned out to be the most challenging.

“They are the biggest pain. They want the grills to look great, even if the design they ask for might not function the best. So, you’re trying to make their non-functional design work functionally, then they call part way through and want you to change something,” Sinor said.

Still, JD Fabrications is making a step toward providing more commercial grills with their current quest for approval by Underwriters Laboratories. UL-listed equipment passes commercial food-safety inspections.

Once approved, Sinor won’t have as much flexibility in customizing the UL-listed grills. It’s a mixed blessing that will allow Sinor to continue to focus on functionality while perhaps not meeting the whims of potential

customers.

For now, Sinor spends most days working in the shop until well past dark.

“He’s a driven, workaholic-type person,” Frias said.

One might say he’s “working” with his new shear/press brake, but for Sinor, it’s more like playing with a new toy.

“I pick up one big tool each year. First it was the CNC plasma cutter I had in my parents’ garage for five years. Every machine I’ve picked up so far has involved learning through trial and error,” Sinor said.

Eventually, Sinor and Frias hope to see the commercial grill business grow large enough to support retailers across the country, perhaps even internationally.

“I would like to build to having enough employees so it’s not so much all on us,” Frias said.

As the business grows, Sinor also hopes it expands well past the grills.

“I’d like to get more into contracting stuff and buildings, gates, working with contractors and more metal work in general,” 00 1 Sinor said.

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Santa Maria Times

Beer From A4

their Fairway Drive brewery. A tasting room also will open on site within the next few months.

Santa Maria Brewing beer is currently contract-brewed by a company in Irvine. Watson said that isn’t necessarily the norm for breweries to start off having their product made by another company but that it’s something some brewers initially do to build up a client base for their beer while they secure the necessary funds for their own production facility.

“We’re really excited,” Assistant Brewer Bryan Fortin said. “It’s been a couple of years of struggles getting the brewery in here.”

Island Brewing is currently in the process of expanding its existing brewery and tasting room to make it 40-percent bigger.

Meanwhile, the Solvang Brewing Company, which prides itself on its ale varieties, is looking to expand its business with a new location in Lompoc, capable of brewing 50,000 barrels annually.

The project hopes to serve as an anchor to Old Town Lompoc and will include a restaurant called Hoptions, along with retail space, in addition to its new brewery. The business will retain its existing DANIEL DREIFUSS, STAFF‌ location in Solvang on Mission Santa Maria Brewery assistant brewer Bryan Fortin at the company’s new production facility on Fairway Drive. The craft brewery is set to start making Drive.

Figueroa Mountain recently beer there within the next few weeks and a tasting room will open there in a few months. opened a taproom and restaurant in Arroyo Grande, in San Luis Obispo County. An expansion of its Santa Maria restaurant to include a stage for live music is also in the works, and the father-son team will roll out a new label, Liquamentum, in 2016 that will focus on small volumes of mixing the finest local ingredients with quality craft beer. Possible beers for the label could include hybrids such as beer and wine blends, barrel-aged ales and more.

Similarly, Firestone Walker will open Propagator, a beer test kitchen of sorts in Venice Beach at the end of this year.

Taking IPAs out of the USA While various breweries start in their home town and then look to LEN WOOD PHOTOS, STAFF‌ expand their grasp across Califor- Above: Mike Hastings, director of brewing operations, checks on a nia, some local brewers have set Hurricane Double IPA that beer makers are fermenting at Figueroa their sights a little farther.

Mountain Brewing in Buellton. Right: A Firestone Walker Hammersmith Double IPA beer rests on the counter at the Buellton Taproom.

Please see Beer, Page A11

Betteravia Road at the 101 Freeway

922-3553

Open 7 Days Breakfast · Lunch · Dinner

Serving our Award Winning Homecooked Meals since 1959

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Biscuits and Gravy • Fresh Hashbrowns Famous Tri-Tip Sandwiches Full Variety of Mexican & Italian Dishes Giant Fluffy Omelettes Mouthwatering Pancakes & Waffles

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Santa Maria Times

Len Wood, Staff‌

Stephanie Grogan, left, and Kathleen Sullivan, of the Marian Regional Medical Center, talk to Clifford Labastida of Cruzin’ for Life, after his group presented a $130,000 check in support of Marian Cancer Care at the Mission Hope Cancer Center.

Cruzin’ for Life makes barbecue benefit a cause

‌T Jennifer Best Contributing Writer‌

he Santa Maria-style barbecue that began simply as a way to put dinner on the table has come to serve a variety of needs for an entire community, from cash for causes to cars for cancer patients.

“I love the smell of an oak-pit barbecue,” said Clifford Labastida.

The Santa Maria native is the founding president of Cruzin’ for Life, a Santa Maria-based nonprofit benefitting programs for cancer patients and survivors. Today, the volunteers run two events each year, including the car show, dinner and auction each September and a Valentine’s Day crab feed each winter.

In 2015, the combined events donated $130,000 to Mission Hope Cancer Center alone.

It all started as a joke, Labastida said, when a friend asked him to take part in the Relay for Life.

“I told him, ‘I don’t want to walk, but I have friends with hot cars, so let’s have a car show,’” he said.

From that flippant remark was born a 13-year tradition.

In 2004, dozens of cars showed up for the first Cruzin’ for Life Car Show, Dinner and Auction.

Admission to the car show is always free to the general public.

The dinner featured the full Santa Maria-style barbecue, complete with chicken, beef, beans, bread and salad.

While tri-tip has become synonymous with Santa Maria-style barbecue, Labastida notes that the cut wasn’t invented until the 1960s, long after barbecuing over Central Coast red oak on open pits became the norm.

“I’ve been around a lot of guys who make great barbecue. Everyone has their own idea about how it’s done. They’re different in design, but equal in effect,” Labastida said.

He prefers to offer top sirloin and chicken breast at his barbecue events.

Others, he said, aim for ribeye or other prime cuts.

“Last Saturday, we were at the St. Mary’s (School) Chicken Barbecue. We had 1,800 chicken halves on the grills, then we steamed them in pots once they got really close. Sometimes you pour beer or Italian dressing over the chicken and make sure it gets hot. It keeps it really moist,” Labastida said.

Aficionados say the local tradition is really based on the wood, the smoke and the adjustable grill

Daniel Dreifuss, Staff‌

Len Myers speaks with Shirley Brown about his ‘57 Ford Fairlane during the Cruzin’ for Life meet and greet at the Santa Maria Fairpark.

Daniel Dreifuss, Staff‌

Christopher Salce looks inside a Chevy Nova during the Cruzin’ for Life meet and greet at the Santa Maria Fairpark. that allows pit bosses to control the temperature while cooking.

By 2008, the Cruzin’ for Life Car Show, Dinner & Auction had outgrown its St. Joseph High School home and moved to Santa Maria Fairpark.

Today, the annual two-day event held each fall includes a car show, dinner and auction, all benefiting Mission Hope Cancer Center’s patient outreach fund,

American Cancer Society’s Road to Recovery Program, Tops for Tots and Teens, and Make-A-Wish Foundation.

“My ex-father-in-law had cancer. He couldn’t get around because he was gurney bound.

There were times he couldn’t go to treatment because no one could get him there, and Marian didn’t have any way to pick him up,” Labastida explained.

He contacted Mission Hope Cancer Services Regional Director Katherine M. Guthrie.

“I asked, ‘If I buy a van or something like that, would you make use of it?’ She said, ‘Well, yeah,’” Labastida recalled.

That became the driving goal of the event.

Tricia McCall and Gini Bauer took the auction by the horns while Bob Labastida, Irene Foster and Art Foster focused on the car show and cruise. Terri Hayworth volunteered for office duties that included accounting, contract information, vendor, insurance and general information while Marti Borjas, Robert Bonilla and Clifford Labastida focused on the barbecue.

In 2012, after Mission Hope Cancer Center opened its doors, Cruzin’ for Life combined with Santa Maria Energy to purchase a transport van complete with wheelchair lift. In its first year on the road, the van logged more than 34,000 miles and transported 2,600 cancer patients from Guadalupe, Lompoc, Los Alamos, New Cuyama, Nipomo, Orcutt and Santa Maria.

Many of those patients, however, didn’t require all the ame-

nities the van had to offer, so in December 2014, Cruzin’ for Life donated a more fuel-efficient Toyota Prius and $100,000 to help support the cost of maintaining, fueling, insuring and staffing both vehicles.

With so many programs to support, Cruzin’ for Life, an all-volunteer organization, expanded its offerings to include the annual AllYou-Can Eat Crab Feed.

“Everyone wants to help in their own way, and some people don’t got money to donate, but this is a way they can help. They might not be able to write a $250 check like the rich people, but everyone’s labor is worth something,” Clifford said.

Teams directed by Bonilla serve up thousands of plates between the two events. The crab feed has grown from serving 650 pounds of crab, along with chicken and beef offerings, to more than 1,200 pounds in 2016. Last year, the crab feed alone brought in $32,000.

“From humble beginnings, we now sell out at 600 plates every year,” Clifford said.

The 13th Annual Santa Maria Cruzin’ for Life Car Show & Cruise is slated for Sept. 16-17. For details, 00 1 visit www.cruzinforlife.net.

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Santa Maria Times

OAK COALS

Barbecue enthusiasts circa 1904 tend to hot coals.

CONTRIBUTED‌

Santa Maria Style Pinquito Beans‌

1 pound dried pinquito beans 2 strips diced bacon ½ cup diced ham 2 cloves of minced garlic 3/4 cup tomato puree ¾ cup chili sauce 1 tbsp. sugar Pinch of salt 1 teaspoon dry mustard

Rinse dried pinquito beans removing small stones; Add beans to a large pot, cover with cold water and soak overnight. Drain off the soaking water, cover beans with fresh water and simmer 2 hours on low heat until tender. Remove beans from the heat, drain and set aside. Sauté bacon with ham until lightly browned; add minced garlic a sauté till soft.

Remove from heat; add tomato puree, chili sauce, sugar mustard and salt. Mix liquid with beans and keep warm until serving time.

Grilled or Oven-Roasted Santa Maria Tri-Tip You might need to ask your butcher (assuming you have one) or even a store meat manager to order in a tri-tip roast. Two pounds is a good size, but if you come across a larger one, by all means grab it as the extra meat makes amazing sandwiches. The trick is to carve the tri-tip against the grain, which can change directions in this cut. So before you rub it and roast it, take a look at the raw meat and see which direction the long strands of muscle fiber are running on each part of the roast. After the roast has been cooked, and it has rested for 15 minutes or so, slice the roast in two at the place where the fibers change direction. Carve each piece separately.

1 whole tri-tip, about 2 pounds 3 tablespoons beef rub of your

choice (see recipe)

Trim silver skin. The meat may have a thick layer of fat, some of which can be sliced off, but keep a good amount to help baste meat.

Sprinkle meat with rub and massage lightly all over. Cover and refrigerate at least an hour or as long as overnight. Remove from refrigerator an hour before cooking.

Prepare charcoal grill or heat a gas grill to high. Place roast on grill and sear one side well, 6 to 8 minutes, checking for flare-ups.

Turn the roast and sear other side for about the same time. Then lower gas to medium-high or move the meat to a cooler part of the charcoal grill.

Tip To oven-roast a tri-tip, prepare meat with rub and refrigerate as instructed. Heat oven to 350 degrees. Add 2 tablespoons of olive oil or other cooking oil to a large,

heavy ovenproof pan. On stovetop, heat on high until pan is very hot, then add tri-tip, fat side down.

Turn heat to medium-high and sear roast for about 4 minutes. Turn the roast and put it in the oven. Cook it for about 10 minutes a pound, checking with an instant-read thermometer until it reaches 130 degrees for medium-rare.

Turn meat again and cook another 8 to 10 minutes. Flip and cook again. A 2-pound roast will require about 20 to 25 minutes total cooking time. The roast is ready when an instant-read thermometer reaches 130 degrees when inserted into the thickest part of the meat.

Rest roast on a cutting board

Serving Oak pit steaks, ribs, ch hops, fresh seafood, and featuring ing nightly nightl dinner specials.

Fantastic antastic daily lunch specials, fresh summer salads, wraps, burgers gers and much more.

Early Bird Specials Served ed Nightly 5-6:30PM Don’t forget get the ta tavern’s tainment. weekend entertainment.

Since 1953

925-5862 714 S.Broadway

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10 to 20 minutes. Slice against the grain. The roast is shaped like a boomerang, so either cut it in half at the center of the angle, or slice against the grain on one side, turn the roast and slice against the grain on the other side.

Nutritional analysis per serving (8 servings) 201 calories; 10 grams fat; 4 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 5 grams monounsaturated fat; 0 grams polyunsaturated fat; 0 grams carbohydrates; 24 grams protein; 79 milligrams cholesterol; 60 milligrams sodium Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.

Time: 40 minutes. Yield: 8 to 10 servings Courtesy of the New York Times

A10 | Sunday, May 1, 2016

Santa Maria Times

Contributed photos

For the love of

BBQ

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Sunday, May 1, 2016 | A11

Santa Maria Times

LEN WOOD, STAFF‌

Figueroa Mountain Brewing brewer Nic Bortolin samples his results at the taproom in Buellton.

Beer From A7

Figueroa Mountain is looking to open a brewery in the Munich area of Germany. Jaime said the craft beer scene across the pond is similar to what was happening in America 10 to 15 years ago, which makes it an ideal time to get in. Jim said that it’s also just better to make craft beer where you plan to sell it.

“Craft beer is delicate,” Jim said. “You can’t leave it around for a long time. You simply have to brew over there to be successful.”

“We’re German, so we’re going

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back to the homeland,” Jaime said.

Their Lizard’s Mouth IPA took gold this year at the Meininger International Craft Beer Awards in Germany, which is a good indication that Europeans just might be thirsty for some American-style IPAs. IPAs, or India Pale Ales, are the darling of the craft beer industry and are characterized by an abundance of hops and a higher alcohol content. San Diego-based Stone Brewery, an IPA powerhouse, will also break into the German craft beer market with a brewery opening in Berlin in 2016.

“The Americans are coming,” Jaime said.

The next California craft beer hot spot With more than 100 craft breweries, the San Diego area claims the title of California beer king. But where will the next spot for beer connoisseurs be?

With tourists already flocking to Santa Barbara County for the beaches, hiking and wine, Jim and Jaime said that the area is ripe for an expansion of craft breweries.

“There’s an attention to craft that has led with wine,” said Figueroa Mountain’s Jaime Dietenhofer. “That has definitely helped pave the way to have that affinity for craft beer. This county is very

conducive to craft, in general, from craft beer to food to wine.”

Watson said there has been a noticeable increase in beer tourism and Santa Barbara County is already a tourist destination.

“I’m guessing you’ll start to see some breweries trying to draw tourists in as part of their business model,” Watson said. “People are now attracted to certain spots because of the breweries in the area.”

The Dietenhofers and Watson also pointed to the state’s Central Valley as a spot where craft beer could take off, pointing out lower rental costs and a lack of breweries in that area.

“I think the Central Valley is

still a huge opportunity,” Jim said.

“Other than the Central Coast, I think the Central Valley is the next spot for craft beer.”

Wherever breweries may boom, Walker said there’s something about that California golden touch that makes beer made here simply sell itself.

“California is a great brand,” Walker said. “It’s an exportable brand. Whether it’s wine, beer or clothes, the world has been sort of calibrated to all things California. And I’m English, so I’m not biased.”

Staff writer Kenny Lindberg contributed to this report.

Templeton

Grover Beach

Buellton

508 South Main St.

1760 El Camino Real

350 E. Hwy 246

(805) 434-2700

(805) 489-7770

(805) 686-1655

A12 | Sunday, May 1, 2016

STYLE A

n Emerit rs Chairma to ec ir D of oard Chairman Bill Hares, B of Directors rd oa B , es n Jim Gli

Feast

Santa Maria Times

us

Around here, barbecue is not just a way to cook, it’s a 200 year old tradition. The origins of the Santa Maria Style Barbecue date back to the 1800’s when local rancheros would treat their vaqueros to an occasional feast.

And simplicity is the key. Thick cuts of beef seasoned only with salt, pepper and a hint of garlic, were skewered and cooked over hot coals of red oak. It was then served with fresh salsa, pinquito beans and French bread.

Community Bank of Santa Maria 2739 Santa Maria Way, Santa Maria 1421 S. Broadway, Santa Maria 4869 S. Bradley Rd., Orcutt (805) 922-2900

Janet Silveria, President & CEO

“Experience our special brand of banking — We call it “Santa Maria Style” Banking®.

Lompoc Community Bank

HOME OF “Santa Maria Style” BANKING®

A DIVISION OF COMMUNITY BANK OF SANTA MARIA

705 West Central Avenue, Lompoc (805) 737-4064

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