Latest / San Diego Magazine's Happy Half Hour
This BBQ Sauce Made Troy Johnson Break His No-Sauce Rule
#384 This week's Happy Half Hour is equal parts hot sauce origin story and full-blown love fest for San Diego's indie food scene. Troy Johnson confesses he's a BBQ purist—until one burger from Rosemary's shatters his sauce snobbery with a tangy, tamarind-laced revelation. Enter Larz Watts, the founder of Oak Steak BBQ, who built his now-beloved sauce business during the pandemic with nothing but backyard smokers, a Co-Packer crash course, and a spider his son named "Oak Steak." From humble PB roots (yes, Lars once lived on a boat) to hot chicken collabs at Shore Club, mustard deals at…
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