June 2, 2023 – The Showoff must go on. For one simple reason: It’s a rocket ship of a local foodie favorite that makes people happy wherever it touches down.
That happiness can be found most consistently every Friday evening on Dayton Street in the industrial section of Salinas.
That’s where Showoff makes a good thing great in dishing best-selling brisket sandwiches, tri-tip-hot link-jalapeño hoagies, clever sides and high-grade smoked meats to pair with the festive vibe and craft session beers, hazy IPAs and tasty sours at Alvarado Street Brewery Production and Tasting Room, 4pm until he’s sold out. (And he will sell out.)
The last time I stopped by ASB on a Friday, ’80s music was in the air, the NBA was on the flatscreen and Showoff chef Hondo Hernandez and his wife Jocelyne wow’d with a selection of meats and sides I asked them to curate themselves.
The roast chicken with Alabama white sauce proved tasty. Seductively marbled brisket melted on the tongue. The signature corn pudding wasn’t too sweet and was outright awesome. The bacon mac-n’-cheese tasted as good as it sounds, though it could be a little creamier. (The primary barbecue sauce—“Kansas City meets the Carolinas: sweet heat with a slight vinegar bite,” Hernandez says—helped.)
And the ribs, well, they demonstrate why they are the headline item, lean, balanced between tender and firm, and easy to pull off the bone.
As my ’que connoisseur colleague—who I picked to accompany me because of his extensive time scouring the South’s most bangin’ barbecue spots—summed it up: “I’ll tell you what: He’s got great flavors.”
We shouldn’t have been surprised. Far more sophisticated barbecue souls than me or my Southern buddy have gold-starred his skills for years.
After getting his start on the grill by way of informal backyard competitions, he developed a friendship with renowned pitmaster and “Chopped” judge Ernest Servantes, learned a bevy of pro tips and quickly made a name for his craft on the competitive circuit.
He took top honors at Gilroy Garlic Festival BBQ Contest in 2016. In ensuing years, he was knighted grand champion at Ceres Smoke on the River BBQ Festival, Ceres Battle of Champions overall champion and back-to-back top dog at the Las Vegas Steak Cookoff.
Just last year he traveled to the 2022 World Food Championships in Dallas, Texas, where a slate of national barbecue legends—Famous Dave Anderson, Chris Lilly, LeeAnn Whippen, Harry Soo and Tuffy Stone—crowned him Overall Reserve Grand Champion.
You could say he caught fire early and has stayed hot indefinitely.
The next headlining place Hernandez and Showoff BBQ will appear will be the Artichoke Festival next weekend, June 10-11, at Monterey County Fairgrounds.
There he will take the demo stage to share one of his atypical techniques.
Plenty of other things will be happening as part of the festival’s 63rd annual installment, beyond the fried artichoke, steamed artichoke, grilled artichoke, artichoke lumpia, artichoke burritos, artichoke sausage, artichoke cupcakes and artichoke ice cream.
A worthy wine tasting will feature upwards of 20 wineries from across California—Grass Valley to Lodi, Santa Barbara to Santa Cruz—on both days.
A bunch of acts will perform live, including Wild at Heart, Chicano All-Stars, Banda La Prohibida and Shane Dwight.
But I’ll be focused on the chef demo stage. There notable names like Brandon Miller (Paella special events), Kevin Fisher (Sea Root), Ivan Guadarrama (Tarpy’s Roadhouse), Luis Osorio (Rio Grill), Jason Giles (Salinas Valley Health), David Pasculli (Sammich’d) and Sarah Cook (Café Carmel) will all illuminate and inspire audiences.
Hernandez will present a surprising undertaking: a reverse-seared tri-tip on an artichoke-and-spinach dip crostini.
If readers are like me, they are wondering what a “reverse sear” means. Hernandez describes a low-temp smoke on the tri-tip for about 90 minutes before a super-hot sear over scorching coals while spraying with his proprietary “competition spritz.”
“Unlike a steak, where you would sear first then bring to temperature,” he says, “we reversed the process, resulting in a beautiful smoke ring like you would get on a brisket, and more wood-fired taste since the smoke doesn’t have to fight the bark to penetrate the meat.”
That demo serves as a tasty teaser for barbecue classes Hernandez starts later this month at Alvarado’s production space. He’ll dip into meat selection, trimming, seasoning, cooking and presentation. (More info will be available on the website listed below.)
He teaches by way of demo and class partly because Servantes was so gracious in helping him fall in love with the art form.
“I get asked for tips a lot, and I try to message people back if they have a question on grill setup, temps, or wrapping techniques,” he says. “Neighbors will come up and say, ‘Hey I’m doing this, do you have any ideas?’ I’ll say, ‘Try this rub, this sauce, this charcoal’ and send them away with some of each.”
And he teaches because he simply likes to do it.
“It’s satisfying for me, knowing I helped somebody,” he adds. “To be able to teach people hands-on—whether they’re doing a competition or just want to be king of the cul de sac—I want to make sure I’m spreading the gospel of barbecue.”
His desire to share the love seems to come as naturally as his laugh and overall approachability. He’s the kind of guy I like to root for, in part because he clearly digs what he’s doing.
“I love feeding people, and seeing the reactions when people try Showoff for the first time,” he says. “It never fails: They come back and bring a friend, then that friend brings a friend.”
Therein lies a delicious irony: The barbecue outfit with the shiny awards and braggy name is, at its core, a really humble and friendly operation.
More at showoffbbq.com
About the author
Mark C. Anderson, EMB's managing editor and "Found Treasures" columnist, welcomes responsible and irresponsible feedback. Correspond via mark@ediblemontereybay.com.
