Found Treasure: Travels with Charlie in Watsonville (Part Two)

October 21, 2022 – Something was immediately apparent when I showed up to meet chef David Baron and restaurant supply consultant Oscar Lomeli for a lunch crawl across Lomeli’s native Watsonville: The delish would be in the details. 

They both wore Nike Jordan Ones, editions of the first ever Jordan basketball shoe that changed the way the world looked at footwear. Both pairs looked like they’d spent maybe a few days out of the box, tops. 

The garage where we gathered presented an armada of specific geek-grade bikes with a lot of backstory. Baron would ride astride a 2018 Big Ripper with a 2014 after-market Santa Cruz Bicycles concept kit, custom seat, and a bunch of other tricked-out elements that he can rattle off and watch sail over my head. 

Historic San Francisco 49ers pennants hung above the bikes, arranged artfully. 

The point is this: These guys mind the details with decisiveness. Their choices boded well for the food to come. 

A different detail—figuring out how to tote Charlie the springer spaniel around with us on those bicycles—took our attention next. 

I describe how we did it in the first installment, “Found Treasure: Watsonville Travels with Charlie (Part One),” which also features John Steinbeck thoughts and a love note to the full-bodied flavor of Cowboys Corner Cafe. 

Here appear nuggets from each of the next three stops, each worthy of individual Found Treasure status, from the most old school to the rather futuristic, in chronological order:

The house hot sauce • The Tamale Factory

The faded bail bonds sign soaring above the white brick building on Main Street may not be what everyone’s looking for in an eatery. For me it piques my appetite, because it communicates a focus on food over frills.

Lomeli insisted we stop, and Baron and I put up zero resistance. 

Specialties at The Tamale Factory (or as the outside reads, The Tamal Factory)  include pork, chicken in salsa verde, and raisins and pineapple (or more melodically in Spanish, piña con pasas). 

Lomeli was thinking of other signature tamales, namely 1) the sweet corn and 2) the “rajas” with jalapeño and cheese.

The tamales prove outstanding on their own, with an earthy depth and a masterful amount of moisture, cohesion and filling that helps show how they’ve thrived across more than two decades doing basically one item.

But the house hot sauce takes them over the top. Riquísima.

With traditional tamale making time typically kept around the holidays, Lomeli loves that he’s not limited to that time bracket here. 

“Tamale season is usually fall and winter, but with this place it’s like Christmas every day,” he says. “That’s how it feels. I don’t have to wait.”

More at thetamalefactorywa.com.

The counter seating • La Fondita Restaurante

Many factors make this place an instant crush for me, beyond the fact Baron depends on it as a refuge when he drops his kids nearby for karate. (More on some kid details in a minute.)

Reasons to love it start with the kind matriarch behind it, Nayarit-born chef Eva Quintero, and the family who has her back in the kitchen and on the floor. 

There are the rib-sticking Mexican classics on the big board, from pozole to bistec ranchero, with helpful half orders to lighten the load.

There are tall and well-equipped Micheladas, a go-to here for Oscar Lomeli and an indicator of authenticity. He also digs the chilaquiles and chile rellenos.

“Really homey food,” he says. “No bullshit, just straightforward Mexican comfort food.” 

Then there are the stools and countertop, which often host solo visitors while providing easy interaction with other guests and staff alike. It’s an irrational exuberance, but I just love me some old-school counter set-ups like that. 

The three of us shared a range of combinations, and the sopes, cheese enchiladas and chile relleno—combined with the familial attention from Quintero—demands a return visit.

It all makes for a place that could command the entire column—especially when paired with bonus nuggets right next door. Those are Pizza Mia, reportedly Watsonville’s original slice house (and Baron’s backup when La Fondita is closed), and Tutti Fruitti—with its boba and ice cream. 

“Cool spots,” Baron says. “They both do a lot of things well.” 

An important note: Charlie—the puppy who finds it challenging to chill when ambrosial food like this comes within, oh, 100 yards—tucked himself in the well of my counter stool like a furry croissant and snoozed peacefully. Seems he found it homey too.

When he woke, Quintero greeted him with a cup of water. Then I clipped him in the kid seat and pedaled off. 

More at (831) 761-0936.

The touchlessness • Pho Kitchen

The Halloween costume plan for Baron, his wife and their four kids speaks to an enthusiasm for details that may run family-wide. 

Next week, following last year’s tribute to “The Nightmare Before Christmas,” they’ll tackle the theme “Horror” with Maxim (10 years old) as the killer in Scream, Maverick (8) as Jason from Friday the 13th, Margaux (5) as Annabelle and Baby Marvel (2) as Chucky. 

“She can be a little like Chucky,” says Baron, who will dress as Freddy Kreuger. “She might bite or kick you.”

The key details at Pho Kitchen—which the kids call “Robot Ramen”—start with versatility.

That’s key for the Barons and their divergent preferences. Mama Maggie (who’s going as Jigsaw from Saw) can get her combo soup, Papa his rice plate, Maverick his plain noodles (wait—was it Margaux who likes that?) or, in Baby Marvel’s case, “anything you give her,” according to Baron.

Meanwhile its location sits a modest bike ride from the house, so everyone can mount up and get a boba reward in a no-spill cup. 

A final bit of intrigue for the kids, who aren’t yet caught up in the less savory sides of robot labor: You order at touch screens and watch a Daash Robotics drone cart bring the food to your table.

Our trio tried the pork-prawn dry noodles, beef pho, a bahn mi, shrimp spring rolls and some boba drinks. 

Nothing life-changing, sure, but it was all above average. Which furnishes a reminder that given things like flexibility, convenience and family-friendliness, a Found Treasure can take many forms.

As can a satisfying lunch in Watsonville, which is why Charlie and I will be back soon for fresh adventures.

More at phokitchenwatsonville.com.