An attendee of the ROTH annual conference from Orange County recommended my colleague try a Mexican eatery and bar called Bueno Bueno just a mile up the road in San Juan Capistrano from where the few of us were staying. Lo and behold we arrived at a hidden old-time Western city oasis of a mini downtown built in the Mission-style from 1894, the Los Rios historic district of San Juan Capistrano, CA. With a vintage 1950s movie theater, regionally sourced winery tasting room, rustic cabin-housed Coffee shop, more than several Mexican, Italian, Irish pub and farm-to-table New American restaurants, among others, my three colleagues and I stumbled upon a memorable 4-star restaurant called Trevor’s at the Tracks, a New American bistro serving sustainable and locally sourced comfort food staples with a twist, like baby back ribs with Poblano cornbread, (possibly) beer-battered fried chicken with garlic mashed potatoes n’ gravy, vegetarian tapas small plates and heaping salads. Named after Owner Trevor Baird’s revamped Los Rios train station track historic building that runs alongside the tiny downtown, Trevor’s quickly became among the top 5 eateries I’ve been fortunate to stop at among Southwest and West Coast establishments. There was something for everyone, light sandwich fare, vegetarian options, and melt-in-your mouth Korean marinated braised short rib, paired neatly with Wasabi-whipped mashed potatoes, honey-sesame homemade Kimchi, delivered in heaping portions mind you.
It’s worth noting that there was absolutely nothing pretentious or uppity about Trevor’s for being a moderately upscale bistro whereas back east the vibe could have been a bit more uppity or rigid in terms of the clientele or staff. For a breezy 55 degree night people sat in an open air patio with heat lamps and inside there were several dining rooms of tables with a homey fireplace situated on one side. On top of that our server was so down-to-earth, he spent easily ~5 minutes at the table with us socializing and providing craft cocktail recommendations for a colleague in need of a Tabasco or spicy Mezcal drink, or me for a light-hopped IPA from an O.C. brewery (Thousand Steps by Laguna Beach Brewery). The bartender literally made a custom drink to specs asked by my colleague, wow! You don’t get that level of attention back east. There was a singer on the patio playing acoustic renditions of Radiohead (House of Cards), Neil Young (Harvest Moon) and Lana del Rey choice tracks. Sublime. There was a singer playing on the patio at the restaurant across the road from us, making for a true “night out” or Austin, Texas aura despite it being just the Tuesday night after our two-day conference wrapped up and we were in Los Rios, SJC, equivalent of a rustic desert town oasis like Jerome, AZ or a more toned down downtown Scottsdale, AZ without pretension or Maseratis. Our server informed us that the historic Los Rios district of SJC was in fact the first or eldest train stop in the U.S. with the Southern Pacific train first entering service in 1941. Had it not been the last night in Dana Point/SJC or needing to be at the airport at 6am, I would have liked to try more of the cocktail menu or dessert item, as there was no item at Trevor’s that did not deliver.
In part two of this blog, I’ll delve deeper into the owner and proprietor of Trevor’s after further research to be able to understand the drinks and origin of entree items. [To be continued]
Michael Schoeck 