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About Keizertimes. (Salem, Or.) 1979-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 21, 2020)
PAGE A4, KEIZERTIMES, AUGUST 21, 2020 KeizerCommunity BBQ with a Cali fl air comes to Keizer KEIZERTIMES.COM BY MATT RAWLINGS Of the Keizertimes For the last fi ve years, Or- lando Cepeda, along with his wife, Kelly, have run a cater- ing service that specializes in Santa Maria-style BBQ. Now, Cepeda is bringing his specialty BBQ to Keizer in the form of a new restaurant. El Vaquero Santa Maria BBQ, which is located at 4907 River Road N, will be having their grand opening on Sept. 8 “We are beyond excited to bring our unique fl avor to Keizer,” Cepeda said. “We want to show folks what San- ta Maria BBQ is all about.” Cepeda admitted that the COVID-19 pandemic has been rough on the catering business, but he believes that this new restaurant will be a great addition to his company. “I ran a restaurant back in California and I swore I would never do it again. But this was too good of an opportunity to pass up,” Cepeda said. The inside of the restau- rant will feature artwork from the Santa Maria Valley. While Cepeda plans to have El Va- quero be a sit-down establish- ment, he also seeks to provide a laid-back experience for his patrons. “It’s not going to be a walk and cheese with pulled pork and tri-tip salad. Cepeda was born in Portland but moved to the Santa Maria Valley when he was a young- ster. He got into being a BBQ pit master at an early age and many of his recipes were passed down from members of his family. “I have been doing this for 35 years and I have been eating this food for my entire life,” Cepeda said. But for Cepeda, it’s not just about the high-quality food. It’s about building a re- lationship with his clients and giving them a fantastic dining experience. “We obviously want the food to be wonderful, but for us, it’s also all about making sure our customers have a wonderful experience,” Kelly said. “We want it to be like hav- ing Sunday dinner with the family,” Cepeda added. The restaurant will be open from 11-8 p.m. and will be closed on Mondays. Due to COVID-19 restric- tions, El Vaquero will only be allowing 25 people in the restaurant at a time. However they will be providing to-go service and plan to eventually start offering call-in delivery service. KEIZERTIMES/Matt Rawlings Orlando and Kelly Cepeda are planning to open El Vaquero on River Road Sept. 8. The restau- rant is an extension of the catering business they’ve owned for years. up and order kind of a place. We want our food to be ex- tremely fresh and not served in a to-go box,” Cepeda said. “But we’re going to make it less expensive too. We don’t want our meals to be over- priced.” Unlike the majority of BBQ joints, El Vaquero does not use BBQ sauce for their dishes. They instead rely on the natural fl avor that comes with cooking their meat with red oak wood. Santa Maria-style barbecue cen- ters around beef tri-tip, sea- soned with black pepper, salt and garlic before grilling over coals of red oak wood. Cepeda also plans to serve items such as smoked chile verde, chicken, brisket, fi sh ta- cos and sweet bread, which is a cowboy delicacy according to Cepeda. “There is a lot of dif- ferent kinds of Latin in- fusion with Santa Ma- ria BBQ,” Cepeda said. The menu will also fea- ture side dishes such as mac crossword In the Navy McNary High School alum Jake Wyer (2017 graduate) headed to the boot camp for the U.S. Navy in early Au- gust. Jake and went to South- western Oregon Commu- nity College (SWOCC) on a swimming scholarship and graduated with his associate’s degree last year. He will be an electronics technician for the next six years. Jake was seen off to duty by sister Chelsea, brother-in-law Byron, brother Brock and sis- ter-in-law Ivy (Brock is in the Navy as well). Watercolor submissions wanted for art show Keizer Art Association is seeking entries for its virtual September show, Watercolor. Intake for the show runs through Aug. 26. The Water- color show will be available via the associations website, keizerarts.com. The Keizer Cultural Center, home of the art association and its Enid Joy Mount Gallery is still closed to the public due to COVID-19. The show will be on the asso- ciation’s web site from Aug. 27 to Sept. 29. This show has two cate- gories: two dimensional and youth art (ages 4-14). Artists can visit keizerarts. com to download an entry form. Entires are limited to four pieces of work per art- ist, Each entry form must be signed and can be emailed to Bob Curtis at bcurtis97304@ gmail.com.There are no entry fees for the Watercolor show. We’re Here For You Shoes • Apparel • Accessories Running • Walking • Fitness @SalemRunning • Shop Safe In-Store • Social Distancing / SalemsRunningStore /ActiveSalem Phone Orders & Curbside Pick-Up Available • Frequent Sanitizing • Face Coverings Required 135 Commercial NE Downtown Salem MON – FRI: 10 TO 6 | SAT: 10 TO 5 | SHOP ONLINE 24/7 503.364.4198
