Tri Tipps...A New Find!

On Wednesday the 11th of March, I walked during lunch with my friends Dave Lyman and Kyle Eckert. They were going to get a $5 Foot-long at our local Subway and the place was packed with the normal High School Kids and Business type folk. Instead of hanging out and standing in an already crowded room, I decided to stay outside. Just a door down, there was a closed down restaurant that looked like some new tenants where sprucing it up to open something new.

"Tri Tipps" is the name of the new restaurant. "Opening Soon" a 8.5" x 11" piece of paper said on their front door taped right next to their menu. Tacos, Quesadillas, Sandwiches, Hamburgers, Curly Fries....Tons of great things I am drooling over as I read the menu. I am now peaking inside this soon to be opened establishment, fresh paint looks like it is still drying, new menus are in place with those plastic alphabet magnets you find on most refrigerators. I now see three people behind the counter and the front door is open. I poke my head inside and ask, "When you guys open?" "Come on in," they said! I walk inside and I talk to the owner, Chuck about his new endeavor. He is planning on selling delicious food for reasonable prices. Looking over his menu, everything ranged from $3-$10 for lunch usually including fries and a drink. After a few minutes of talking he offered me a taste of his Tri-Tip. HOLY COW! I was served a black plastic plate with about 8 1" square cubed pieces of Tri-Tip, cooked to perfection. It was moist, tender, perfectly pink on the inside, and just enough rub put on to make it super savory in my mouth. I honestly feel that it was better than any other restaurant served Tri-Tip I ever had. We have a few restaurants in the Santa Clarita Valley that think they have great Tri-Tip. Well they need to step aside for the new kid in town.

They said that they are planning on opening up Sunday the 15th, with a "Soft Opening." They are hoping to get some time in under their belt before they advertise an opening event. Good thinking! All I know is that I will be there Sunday to help support the cause. It looks like I will be bringing home dinners from them as well. Check out their menu online here: www.tritipps.valencia.menuclub.com

Here is the rest of their Information:

Tri Tipps

Barbecue/Mexican Restaurant

(661) 295-5536 27530 Newhall Ranch Suite 101, Valencia, CA, 91355

I hope you enjoy it!

Dave

Day Trip To Santa Barbara and Then a Detour

A few weeks ago, during Presidents Day Weekend, my wife and I decided to do a "Bonsai Run" from Santa Clarita, California (Where Six Flags Magic Mountain and Hurricane Harbor is located) to Santa Barbara County where we have many wineries that we like haunting. After a few wineries...and a few drinks, it was time for lunch! But where should we go? I remember talking to my folks about a BBQ place just north of Santa Maria (only 15-minutes away from where we were at.).

When I was a child, from preschool to 1st grade, I lived in Santa Maria where they Barbecue differently than most places. They typically barbecue over open pits with oak. How is this different than grilling? It's not. It is considered grilling, or it should, at least it is too purists. People would argue that because it is cooked over hard wood it would be considered Barbeque, and that I would also agree. How Can it be both. Well I feel that there is a Grey Area. On one hand, barbecue requires two things, Heat and Smoke. Well, those pits give off a lot of smoke. Even though the fire is directly under all the meat, they are not cooking them with super high temperatures like we do when we grill. To make things easier, lets just say that Santa Maria Style Barbecue is the "Platapus" of the Barbcuing comunity.

So I called my mom to ask what the name and location of that one restaurant.
Just North of Santa Maria in San Louis Obispo County, in a small town of Nipomo, Jocko's restaurant resides where it has been in Nipomo since the late 1800's and it's new location since 1962. Jocko's is one of the best places to get meat cooked over red oak. My mom told me that I had eaten here when I was a young lad, but after walking in...I had no memory of the joint. It's decor has not changed since the 1960's. Slatted wood separating the full bar from the narrow waiting area-hallway. When we gave the host our name to be seated, he mentioned "matter of factly" that the wait could be an hour or so. "A what?" I asked. He mentioned that he was surprised too, that it had been a slow day. "A SLOW WHAT?!?" Well it turns out that if you do not have reservations, you could be waiting up to 3 hours. If you are savvy enough to make a reservation, it could take an extra hour to seat you from your reserved time. Why is this you ask? It might have to do with the fact that everything is amazingly delicious! I am surprised that people don't slip in piles of drool as they are walked to their table. My Oh My!

So we were seated in 45 minutes, and it was around 2pm. We were starving from the all the wine drinking from the previous hours and not having the largest breakfast. It was worth the wait! I ordered me up some Beef Ribs, and my wife Emily ordered herself the daily special, BBQ Beef. Neither one of us was able to finish our meals. We did have a taste of each others meal. The meat was succulent and super tasty from the perfectly applied spices and proper doneness of the meat over the red oak fire pit.
Sitting to the long table to my right was a family of a million...well...maybe 8, there was a lot of bodies...that is for sure. One of the young girls, maybe only 3rd of 4th grade was asking her mom if this place had BBQ-Sauce. Now, some BBQ Establishments gladly display A-1 and/or BBQ Sauce on their tables because people either keep asking for it, or they feel it is not BBQ unless it has sauce. This one establishment feels that the meat should speak for itself. Neither A-1 or BBQ Sauce is available in the building. So the Mom told her to ask the server. I tensed up...what was going to happen to this young naive little girl? Doesn't she know that she does not need the sauce? DID SHE EVEN TASTE THE MEAT? DID SHE? So the server kindly responded that they do not have any kind of BBQ Sauce. And everyone lived happily ever after.

Despite the fact that the wife and I were starving going into Jocko's, we were stuffed going out. We even had half our meal left for leftovers the next evening! The other good news is that we were able to have this magnificent meal for under $40! Two meals worth of food for each of us. Super worth it! After we left the front door, we walked around to the back of the restaurant where there is a path to the BBQ pit. We waved at the Pit Master and thanked him for preparing the tasty meat!!!

So if you are ever in the area of Nipomo, or even Santa Maria, it is worth going and waiting at Jocko's to get a plate of any of their great BBQ! Heck! We went through 4 counties just to go eat there!