Found Treasure: KC Cruz BBQ at Zayante Creek Market & Deli

August 19, 2022 – Zayante Creek Market & Deli feels like it’s in the middle of nowhere. 

It’s not. The market sits less than a 20-minute drive from the heart of Santa Cruz.

But that doesn’t stop many from thinking it’s way out there.

In figurative terms, though, it is, a throwback store that seems lost in time, tucked just off a twisty road in the redwoods, with a vintage Hamm’s beer sign in the window and a rusty mid-’50s Chevron gas pump in front.

A closer look reveals contemporary wit. Owner Eric Kennedy left the rodent race, Google and Silicon Valley for the market counter duty, time with his kids and the Santa Cruz Mountains nine months ago. He has modernized ZCMD by paving the former dirt turnout in front and adding things like a local wine/craft beer selection and a grab-and-go food case. (Up next: a covered outdoor seating area with a big TV to watch football.)

Meanwhile the Chevron gas pump has been converted to an electric charger with a $.25 coin slot for a 15-minute juice up.

The other surprising new element Kennedy has brought in is KC Cruz BBQ, which can suddenly lay a claim to the best barbecue in the tri-county area. 

I know that’s a mouthful. But the ribs I tried were crazy juicy, crazy meaty and crazy tender, hoisted toward the heavens by a spicy, sweet, tangy vinegar-driven sauce that honors pitmaster Xander Nicolai’s Kansas City heritage.

Don’t take my word for it, though I have sampled smoked meats from Atlanta to Memphis to Dallas, and shattered my personal cholesterol record researching all the Q the area has to offer as part of a 2021 long-form feature called “In Search of Monterey Bay Barbecue.” 

Instead reference the fact he’s sold out every single night he’s done barbecue (that happens 3pm-close Wednesday-Sunday, with extended Sunday hours coming with the NFL season, and carry-out racks of ribs available Mondays and Tuesdays). 

Note that the rib experts I shared samples with returned enthusiastic responses. One home chef and second level somm—which I mention because it means he has a good palate—messaged me, “Thanks for the ribs and sauce. One of the best combinations of the two I’ve had.” 

Consider that, even though the barbecue has been happening here for a few weeks, some drive over the hill from San Jose just to get their lips on it. 

Register the excitement of newfound local die-hards like Scott Deal, a Felton-based filmmaker.

“The reason I was intrigued is there’s so little happening out here on East Zayante Road past the [newly reopened] Trout Farm Inn, and suddenly we get this wonderful barbecue in our midst,” he says. “So I had to investigate and boy, has it paid off.”

Nicolai left K.C. to pursue a career in fashion media in California, which got less plausible amid COVID, so he turned to cooking.

“As far as barbecue, I didn’t know how spoiled I was in Kansas City until I came out here,” he says. 

He would attend the city’s Great American Royal Barbecue Contest annually. He produced food nerd videos on barbecue as part of his media work. He developed a pilot for a man known as the K.C. Rib Doctor. But he wasn’t thinking of going public with the tips and tricks he digested along the way.

“I never thought I’d be in the business,” he says. “But that was a very interesting and fun moment in my career, without me knowing down the road I’d benefit from what they were teaching.”

Among the items that have been selling out on the regular are the beef short rib dinner ($16.50), beef rib sandwiches ($15.50), pork rib sandwiches ($12.75), smoked bratwurst sandwiches ($10.75) and family dinner specials ($60.75). The latter includes a full rack of pork ribs (normally $28.50), smoked sausage and his two standout sides, tequila-lime creamy corn and barbecue baked beans.

The perceived remoteness of the market has made it hard for Nicolai to find help. That’s part of the reason that, for now, KC Cruz BBQ is a solo operation. 

“People are interested in a job then, hear where it is and get intimidated,” he says. “So I’m a one man show: janitor, cashier, complaints department, while trying to stir the barbecue sauce and prep the food.”

In some ways the lean staffing might help him evolve his game. At the moment, he’s limiting what he prepares so he can perfect current items before adding others.

Meanwhile, he’s coming to more central locations. Dine-in Barbecue Mondays are in the pipeline at Woodhouse Blending & Brewing, which happens to be run by his K.C.-born-and-bred cousin and other Missouri transplants. He already uses his smoker there to supply take-out delivery orders (via Uber Eats) every Monday and Tuesday. And there are plans in the works to open a brick-and-mortar spot in Santa Cruz too. 

While that makes a barbecue play more fun for some, to me the drive up sun-dappled and serpentine Zayante Road, out of the city into the redwoods, tastes more like a Found Treasure.

More at kccruzbbq.com and Zayante Market’s Facebook page.