California Best New Restaurant Zef BBQ Smokes Meat Simi Valley Garage | Eater LA

"Inside a stucco garage on a Simi Valley cul-de-sac I found a small brigade of cooks and runners turning out what feels like some of the best, most interesting food in Southern California right now. Tables lifted by paint cans double as prep, packing lines, and an expo station while a singular voice—Anna Lindsey—calls each dish and the crew replies “heard,” checking off a list taped to the fridge. Her husband and chef partner, Logan Sandoval, a tattooed former mixed-martial-arts fighter and longtime corporate cook for the Hyatt, smokes much of the food on a black offset Texas-style smoker in the driveway and executes wildly varied weekly menus: smoked meats remain the centerpiece with brisket and pit-smoked char siu ribs, alongside things like Portuguese sweet breads, homemade kimchi, homemade Spam musubi, Peking duck, smoked wings, chicken mole, galbi, rice bowls with sliced beef ribs, and ramen with glazed pork belly char siu (even a roasted-tomato ramen with local eggs). They operate as an underground weekly pop-up—new menus drop Wednesdays on Instagram, followed by preorders and weekend pick-ups—and the tight-knit Simi Valley community has shown up for them, lining the street for pickup (masks required); running Zef BBQ out of the garage is their only source of income and they’re already talking about brewery pop-ups or fine-dining nights under the stars." - Farley Elliott