Thanks for sharing your experience.
Sounded like a great meal especially the
Cecina.
Crazy 180 days aged??!!!
I've heard mixed things about Capricho, it claims to have 'lo mejor chuleton del mundo' , which sets the bar pretty high, but no one has ever challenged that claim either which is kind of funny.
Although on Steak Revolution (Netflix) , they said it was one of the best they tried.

You definitely have some serious steak cred having eaten at Luger, Extebarri , etc..

Some of the better steaks I've had over the years were from 5-dot ranch in Northern California.
They supply local high end restaurants as well as sell to the public at their store in Napa.
I definitely want to try Extebarri, Luger, and possibly Las Lilas.

Finally did deep pit a while back with my family in Tulare area.
We did 50lbs of beef, 1 cows head, and 1 leg of lamb.
We purchased the meat from J&R Meat Market in Porterville and they prepared the meat with their own seasoning.
I was impressed with the freshness and quality of their beef.
The beef 'chuck rolls' were then put into their own foil bags .
It was a lot of fun and the meat came out excellent.
My favorite was the beef head, just a great subtle smokey flavor and very juicy and tender.
Here is a short video of what we did.
https://youtu.be/D-NPt5J5oW0

Also while in Porterville we had some excellent tacos at a place called 'Chaguitos'

I recommend Masullo as well.
Of course their pizzas are great but the baked foccacia is addicting.
Also like their appetizers and specials.

Amaro is another new casual Pizza/Italian centric place in downtown Sac.
Really enjoyed the mushroom pizza and meatball appetizers.

The Kitchen is awesome and definitely a unique experience but pricey and expect dinner to last 3 hours.
I heard the 'intermission' meal there is Spanish influenced this time.

Taylor's Market, Corti Bros, and Natural Foods Co-op are my standard grocery stops.

Check out Temple Coffee as well.

Cool story thanks for sharing.
I grew up eating this food in the Paso and Pismo/Slo areas.
It's a bummer to hear the crackdown on the bbq stands. Those really added a great local cultural food element to the area.
Has anyone been to the SLO Thursday farmers market?
Have not been in 15 years but they used to have several bbq vendors selling ribs, chicken, tri-tip over red oak.
I cook tri-tip on a regular basis over a mix of charcoal, red oak, and hickory over moderate heat about 15-20 min per side depending on the thickness

Had good results with the 'Basque Marinade' overnight, but the meat also marinates well in a Temporanillo, Rioja, or Malbec wine.

Santa Barbara is one of my favorite places but the restaurants are mostly underwheling and overrated there.

I liked:
- French Press for coffee/pastries,
- Santa Barbara Shelfish for seafood
Its a touristy place, but they do have some good local catches like spot prawns and crab. But not worth long wait.
- Lucky Penny for simple wood fired pizza.
- Toma Italian looked good but did not get to try.

On the way to SB, Jocko's in Nipomo is worth a try for dinner only since they fire up the wood grill at night.

Beware Agaves, some of the worst Mexican food ever, despite what Yelp etc. say, food is just ghastly and slapped together.

Hope you make it despite the detour due to the bridge in Big Sur down.

Was in Bologna two weeks ago, what a fabulous city! Would definitely go back there some day.
Simoni was excellent, their salumi was the best I ever had. The culatella, coppa di testa, spicy salame, and mortadella are a must.
Also ask for some of the Mozarella di buffala.

A local recommended Sfoglia Rina for lunch. It was excellent.

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Restauran...

For dinner ended up Trattoria Battibecco, had an excellent veal cutlet and the requisite tortellini en brodo.
Struck up an conversation with a local eating there. He had the roast sucking pig chops and I was envious.

Hope you have a great trip.
Try a Spritz either Aperol or Cynar.

Going to Granada, and walking the narrow streets of the 1000 year old Albycin neighborhood and looking out across at the majestic Alhambra.
Tapeando 'Tapa bar hopping' in Granada/Andalucia, enjoying a caña of cerveza, jamon Iberico, and fried anchovies.

And of course the Alhambra!!!

Walking inside the Reyes Catolicos cathedral and the final resting place of Ferdinand and Isabel that bankrolled Christopher Columbus and defeated the Moors..

Barcelona is a fabulous city as well, the Park Guell was my personal favorite as well as the 'Born' district.

Looking forward to returning to Spain and exploring the Basque regions and Cordoba (Mezquita), and back to Granada.

Btw, just got back from Italy (Florence/Lucca/Bologna), had an awesome time, both Italy and Spain offer amazing and unique experiences whether it is food or historical sites.