A Taste of San Joaquin Barbeque
BY IVAN MOORE
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Hundreds gathered for the two-day event, which started on the 3rd with the All-American Pub Crawl through downtown Stockton, and culminated on July 4 with the 2nd Annual Taste of San Joaquin, and the first-ever Way Out West BBQ competition.
As mouthwatering aromas wafted over Weber Point into downtown, patrons enjoyed gastronomic fireworks from a selection of locally owned and operated restaurants and caterers. From the Filipino comfort food of BBQ Marcelino to the upscale Mexican fare of Lodi’s Revolucion 1910, there was an impressive sampling of uniquely San Joaquin cuisine.
“This is one way for Stockton to celebrate the good things in life,” said event co-organizer Jennifer Krengel of Downtown Stockton Alliance. Though proceeds from the event would go toward the participating restaurants and volunteers from local charities, Krengel said fundraising was a secondary motive to that of stirring up local commerce and awareness of quality restaurateurs at work in the community.
The crown jewel of the event was the Kansas City Barbecue Society-sanctioned competition, in which over two dozen competitive teams participated in the two-day grill-off. Starting the night before, teams partook in marathon grilling of ribs, chicken, pork, and brisket dishes.
The next day, tasters enjoyed samples of the competitor’s offerings while judges scrutinized them in a blind taste-test. KCBS is the country’s largest barbecue society, and their rules and regulations are notoriously rigorous. Competitors cook four meat categories – chicken, ribs, pork and beef brisket – under strict guidelines. Judges score appearance, taste, and tenderness on a weighted scale; taste carries the most heft.
In the end, it was the two-man team of pitmaster Harry Soo and assistant Mark Tung, aka Slap Yo’ Daddy BBQ of Diamond Bar, that took first place overall. At just two years old, the team has earned honors as the best new California team of 2008, and has wowed judges at national contests like the prestigious Great American BBQ contest in Kansas City, where they took second place out of 161 teams in May. They continue their meteoric rise to barbecue fame by earning first place at the Way Out West competition in Stockton.
“You couldn’t tell just from looking at him, but that guy can barbecue,” said Chris Juencke, Stockton resident and pitmaster of The Smokin’ Yankees barbecue team, of Soo. Juencke, who’s no slouch at the grill himself, made a tentative prediction of Soo’s win even before the polls closed.
“They’re the hottest team on the whole barbecue circuit right now,” he said. o
Didn’t get your fill of barbeque at theTaste of San Joaquin?
Here’s a couple of local favorites you can bring home today:
The Original Waterloo, CA
“When my parents had the bright idea of opening the Waterloo, I was the only one in the family at the time that had restaurant experience,” says Mari Jo Milano Kolze, restaurant manager. “I told my mom and stepdad that they were crazy.”
When Mari Jo’s mother Betty and stepfather J.T. Thomas started the business 25 years ago, she didn’t see much of a future for the business. After all, the location, on the outskirts of Stockton, isn’t exactly prime real estate. And the building itself – an unassuming roadhouse-style edifice of aged wood, doesn’t look like much on the outside.
But the family-owned restaurant’s staying power proves Mari Jo wrong.
“I was sooo wrong,” she says. “Our business has three generations, and has been a very good business for our family and our employees that we consider family.”
The Waterloo’s loyal customer base is further proof of the eatery’s triumphs.
Over the years, dozens of celebrities have visited: baseball’s Tito Fuentes, former presidents, even Oprah. And the Waterloo remains a favorite of local diners.
They all come for the ribs. And the pesto. And the whopping New York steak. But it’s the Waterloo’s famous sauce that keeps people coming back.
Based on a family recipe, the sauce, bottled under the name “The Original Waterloo, CA,” is billed as “America’s first Italian barbecue sauce.”
“We never intended on bottling the sauce,” says Mari Jo. “Our customers started bringing in their own containers, and my mom would fill them up.”
Now the Waterloo can be seen lining the shelves of 350 retail stores in the area, and in countless pantries of discerning grillers. It’s also available online at www.thewaterloo.com.
Chaka’s MMM Sauce
Visit “Chaka” Santos, founder and owner of Chaka’s MMM Sauce, and chances are good you’ll be fed. If he likes you, that is.
The magnanimous entrepreneur swears he’ll only serve you some of his famous fare if he thinks you deserve it. But he clearly loves entertaining, no matter who the audience is. In between voice impressions of Spongebob and Mr. T, he soberly discusses subjects like politics and spirituality.
Chaka loves to talk. But he loves cooking even more.
“You break bread to break the ice,” Chaka announces while smothering a marinated prime rib in a coating of his wife’s homemade brown gravy.
During his popular annual Halloween cookouts at his Lathrop home, Chaka “breaks bread” with hundreds of friends and neighbors. He’s an outspoken fixture of the Lathrop community, with involvement in local charities and politics, and even a bid for mayor.
He developed the recipe for Chaka’s MMM Sauce over twenty years ago during a group of Jaycee cookouts in the Bay Area. A diabetic, Chaka formulated the sauce to provide maximum flavor with no added sugar, fat, or MSG.
Now the sauce is the number one selling marinade in Northern California, available at retail stores from the Bay to the Sierra.
The sauce comes in a variety of flavors: Orignal, Zesty, Chakayaki, and Honeysuckle Chili.
Chaka says it’s good on anything. Mix it with a little sour cream to use as a dip. Use it as spice for soups or as a dressing on salads. Mix it into burgers or meatloaf. But where it shines is as a marinade for tri-tip or ribs. Chaka recommends marinating meats overnight in a Ziploc bag for maximum flavor.
Chaka says his new line of grilling rubs and pre-marinated meats will hit the market soon. He’s also developing diabetic-friendly “Chaka-chip” cookies. Until then, you can find Chaka’s MMM at a local retailer or online at www.chakasmmmproducts.com.
As mouthwatering aromas wafted over Weber Point into downtown, patrons enjoyed gastronomic fireworks from a selection of locally owned and operated restaurants and caterers. From the Filipino comfort food of BBQ Marcelino to the upscale Mexican fare of Lodi’s Revolucion 1910, there was an impressive sampling of uniquely San Joaquin cuisine.
“This is one way for Stockton to celebrate the good things in life,” said event co-organizer Jennifer Krengel of Downtown Stockton Alliance. Though proceeds from the event would go toward the participating restaurants and volunteers from local charities, Krengel said fundraising was a secondary motive to that of stirring up local commerce and awareness of quality restaurateurs at work in the community.
The crown jewel of the event was the Kansas City Barbecue Society-sanctioned competition, in which over two dozen competitive teams participated in the two-day grill-off. Starting the night before, teams partook in marathon grilling of ribs, chicken, pork, and brisket dishes.
The next day, tasters enjoyed samples of the competitor’s offerings while judges scrutinized them in a blind taste-test. KCBS is the country’s largest barbecue society, and their rules and regulations are notoriously rigorous. Competitors cook four meat categories – chicken, ribs, pork and beef brisket – under strict guidelines. Judges score appearance, taste, and tenderness on a weighted scale; taste carries the most heft.
In the end, it was the two-man team of pitmaster Harry Soo and assistant Mark Tung, aka Slap Yo’ Daddy BBQ of Diamond Bar, that took first place overall. At just two years old, the team has earned honors as the best new California team of 2008, and has wowed judges at national contests like the prestigious Great American BBQ contest in Kansas City, where they took second place out of 161 teams in May. They continue their meteoric rise to barbecue fame by earning first place at the Way Out West competition in Stockton.
“You couldn’t tell just from looking at him, but that guy can barbecue,” said Chris Juencke, Stockton resident and pitmaster of The Smokin’ Yankees barbecue team, of Soo. Juencke, who’s no slouch at the grill himself, made a tentative prediction of Soo’s win even before the polls closed.
“They’re the hottest team on the whole barbecue circuit right now,” he said. o
Didn’t get your fill of barbeque at theTaste of San Joaquin?
Here’s a couple of local favorites you can bring home today:
The Original Waterloo, CA
“When my parents had the bright idea of opening the Waterloo, I was the only one in the family at the time that had restaurant experience,” says Mari Jo Milano Kolze, restaurant manager. “I told my mom and stepdad that they were crazy.”
When Mari Jo’s mother Betty and stepfather J.T. Thomas started the business 25 years ago, she didn’t see much of a future for the business. After all, the location, on the outskirts of Stockton, isn’t exactly prime real estate. And the building itself – an unassuming roadhouse-style edifice of aged wood, doesn’t look like much on the outside.
But the family-owned restaurant’s staying power proves Mari Jo wrong.
“I was sooo wrong,” she says. “Our business has three generations, and has been a very good business for our family and our employees that we consider family.”
The Waterloo’s loyal customer base is further proof of the eatery’s triumphs.
Over the years, dozens of celebrities have visited: baseball’s Tito Fuentes, former presidents, even Oprah. And the Waterloo remains a favorite of local diners.
They all come for the ribs. And the pesto. And the whopping New York steak. But it’s the Waterloo’s famous sauce that keeps people coming back.
Based on a family recipe, the sauce, bottled under the name “The Original Waterloo, CA,” is billed as “America’s first Italian barbecue sauce.”
“We never intended on bottling the sauce,” says Mari Jo. “Our customers started bringing in their own containers, and my mom would fill them up.”
Now the Waterloo can be seen lining the shelves of 350 retail stores in the area, and in countless pantries of discerning grillers. It’s also available online at www.thewaterloo.com.
Chaka’s MMM Sauce
Visit “Chaka” Santos, founder and owner of Chaka’s MMM Sauce, and chances are good you’ll be fed. If he likes you, that is.
The magnanimous entrepreneur swears he’ll only serve you some of his famous fare if he thinks you deserve it. But he clearly loves entertaining, no matter who the audience is. In between voice impressions of Spongebob and Mr. T, he soberly discusses subjects like politics and spirituality.
Chaka loves to talk. But he loves cooking even more.
“You break bread to break the ice,” Chaka announces while smothering a marinated prime rib in a coating of his wife’s homemade brown gravy.
During his popular annual Halloween cookouts at his Lathrop home, Chaka “breaks bread” with hundreds of friends and neighbors. He’s an outspoken fixture of the Lathrop community, with involvement in local charities and politics, and even a bid for mayor.
He developed the recipe for Chaka’s MMM Sauce over twenty years ago during a group of Jaycee cookouts in the Bay Area. A diabetic, Chaka formulated the sauce to provide maximum flavor with no added sugar, fat, or MSG.
Now the sauce is the number one selling marinade in Northern California, available at retail stores from the Bay to the Sierra.
The sauce comes in a variety of flavors: Orignal, Zesty, Chakayaki, and Honeysuckle Chili.
Chaka says it’s good on anything. Mix it with a little sour cream to use as a dip. Use it as spice for soups or as a dressing on salads. Mix it into burgers or meatloaf. But where it shines is as a marinade for tri-tip or ribs. Chaka recommends marinating meats overnight in a Ziploc bag for maximum flavor.
Chaka says his new line of grilling rubs and pre-marinated meats will hit the market soon. He’s also developing diabetic-friendly “Chaka-chip” cookies. Until then, you can find Chaka’s MMM at a local retailer or online at www.chakasmmmproducts.com.