This year marked the return of a unique gathering, formerly held at the Cuyama Buckhorn on a periodic basis before fading out more than five decades ago.
“Back in the ’50s and ’60s, it was a regular thing at the Buckhorn to do a chuckwagon meal, and over the years it just kind of went away,” said Cuyama Buckhorn’s executive chef Daniel Horn, who took part in the festive tradition’s revival at the venue. “The town and community have really enjoyed having it back as an event.”
Historically used for the storage and transportation of food and cooking equipment in the 1800s, chuckwagons not surprisingly are associated with imagery of cowboys, settlers, and prairie dwellers. After stumbling upon an old newspaper article that highlighted chuckwagon events at the Cuyama Buckhorn, the owners became interested in bringing the tradition back to the venue.
The chuckwagon barbecues began reemerging at the Cuyama Buckhorn during the spring, and they’ve been held once a month since then, on every third Sunday.Â
Horn recalled his experience preparing pulled pork and other dishes at the first of these events, held in May.
“We started everything early in the morning so it’d be ready by 11,” Horn said. “We had a great turnout. We had a really nice band from Bakersfield. There was line dancing. It was a lot of fun.”
The final event in this year’s series will be held on Sunday, Oct. 16, and is scheduled to include a variety of dishes prepared by Horn and special guest chef Moira Hill of Nolita Hall in San Diego. Live music will be provided by country folk act Rosy Nolan and Band during the barbecue, and the Ventura Spirits Company will be on-site with palomas for attendees to enjoy.
Pasta salad, house salad, green bean salad, Brussels sprouts, cornbread, and more sides will be served alongside two main entrees: smoked lamb chili by Horn, and chili honey ribs by Hill.
“I’m really excited to try chef Moira’s ribs,” Horn said. “It’s always nice to get guest chefs out here and get some new food. I’m very excited.”
For Horn, preparing a lamb dish for October’s chuckwagon barbecue unlocked a layer of fond memories beyond the event’s inherently nostalgic premise.
“I grew up with lamb. My dad loves lamb, so we’d always have it—so it’s a bit of a family memory thing for me,” Horn said. “But this is kind of my new interpretation, with a fun little cowboy twist on it.”Â
Cuyama Buckhorn is widely known for its locally sourced, farm-to-table cuisine, and Horn’s smoked lamb chili is no exception.
“We’re using lamb sourced from here in Cuyama Valley, and it’s phenomenal lamb, probably the best lamb I’ve ever had,” said Horn, who considered the Cuyama Buckhorn’s strong ties and proximity to local farms as a major draw before taking on his current role as the venue’s executive chef.
“The chance to work so closely to everything was too good to pass up. I’ve never been able to work at a place that is so closely tied to the agricultural community here,” Horn said. “I mean, there’s just farms all around us. Like I said, the lamb’s from right here, about 20 minutes away. Our eggs come from a farm about 10 minutes away.”
Horn, born and raised in the Bay Area, had just moved back to the U.S. after working abroad when he joined the Cuyama Buckhorn team about two years ago.
“My career has kind of been all over the world at this point, and not everywhere has wonderful farms,” Horn said. “We’ve got connections from Bakersfield to Los Alamos, and everywhere in between. It’s just so fantastic to work so closely with everyone and really design a proper farm-to-table menu.”
Arts Editor Caleb Wiseblood is turning tables at cwiseblood@santamariasun.com.
This article appears in Oct 6-13, 2022.
