Tri-Tip Report

I do not claim to have a truly exhaustive view of Santa Barbara tri-tip. That may one day be possible. One can only hope. One can dream. One can get lost dreaming... 

But, alas, for now I can only claim to know good SB tri-tip when I taste it, and I will heartily agree with my older son and dog that Cold Springs Tavern has some of the best in town. Better, as always, with just a little bit of extra salt. The Tavern also boasts some amazing pepper horseradish sauce that more than makes up for the disgracefully substandard barbeque sauce that also comes on the side. (By the way, what is WRONG with Santa Barbara when it comes to barbeque sauce? For shame!) 

Cold Springs Tavern was very, very busy. Nevertheless, we were seated and served quickly. That was impressive. We ate delicious tri-tip. More impressive. And on our way out we befriended some nice people from Michigan who were experiencing Santa Barbara tri-tip for the first time. We congratulated them on their discovery and, at their request, offered advice about sauces: 1) Absolutely stay away from the (shamefully pathetic) barbeque sauce, 2) Pepper horseradish sauce highly recommended for those that like such things and 3) the fresh, tangy salsa on tri-tip sandwiches is a true Central Coast delicacy that cannot disappoint...and is highly recommended for purists and new tasters. Our audience all eagerly committed to the fresh salsa option.

Devoted followers of this blog may expect more tri-tip reports in the future, should some of the above-mentioned dreams come true.