九月，尼古拉斯·吉利奥 (Nicholas Gillio) 在东亚诺纳利街 (East Yanonali Street) 的一个停车场推出了 Sando 卡车。 “我只是想保持它的传统。”
Nicholas Gillio, owner and operator of The Sando Truck, is bringing a taste of Japan to the Funk Zone with his authentic katsu sandwiches. Gillio, whose mother is from Yokohama City, was born in Japan and lived there for his first two weeks before returning to Santa Barbara. He visited Japan every four years or so, and even attended a month of kindergarten there. Those trips introduced him to the katsu sandwich, an ubiquitous snack in Japan, sold from convenience store shelves to subway station vendors for quick, on-the-go eating. Gillio has long wished for a greater variety of classic Asian cuisine in Santa Barbara — “I wish there was a yakitori spot,” he mused — and saw an opportunity to bring us a dedicated katsu service. Gillio started in hospitality as a bellman at the Hotel Palomar in San Diego in 2011, eventually becoming an assistant manager in The Rowan in Palm Springs before moving home to work at El Encanto and, briefly, the Alisal Ranch. His latest post was as opening manager of The Drift Hotel on State Street in the summer of 2022, where he also oversaw the Dawn Cafe and Dusk Craft Bar. He left Drift in May, and dove into the research, reading and watching as many YouTube videos about katsu as he could find. He determined that making the menu tight, the recipes straightforward, and the ingredients high-quality were the keys to doing it right. Gillio uses Mary’s Chickens and pork from Ideal Meats. But the main ingredients weren’t even his biggest concern. “The bread was the most important thing for me,” said Gillio, who hunted down a preferred producer of Japanese milk bread called shokupan. He cuts off the crust and then fries that to make uber-fresh panko to crust the flattened meat. He currently buys the tonkatsu sauce, but would one day like to develop his own, and is also crafting large-format to-go boxes so that companies can purchase 20 sandwiches to share with the office. The pork or chicken sandos are sold in three- or six-packs. “I think of three as a snack and six as a meal,” said Gillio, and they are quite filling despite their demure appearance. Rounding out the menu is recently added chicken karaage and an airy potato salad made by his mom, who you might find helping out inside the truck. Gillio will start selling an egg salad option as well, debuting that at the finale of the Santa Barbara Half-Marathon on November 3. There are also chips, sweets, and drinks, and he’s planning more specials too, like sushi rolls and the fried rice balls called yaki onigiri. Gillio knows that it may take time to attract a steady Santa Barbara audience. “Right now, it’s about educating the customer,” he said. But those who’ve been to Japan don’t need those lessons, like the one woman who lived there for four years and now stops by The Sando Truck frequently. “This reminds me of Japan,” she told him. “This reminds me of getting out of the train station in Nara.” That was music to his ears. Said Gillio, “That’s exactly what I want.”
The Sando Truck 的所有者兼经营者 Nicholas Gillio 正在用他正宗的炸猪排三明治将日本风味带到 Funk Zone。吉利奥的母亲来自横滨市，他出生在日本，并在日本生活了两周，然后返回圣巴巴拉。他每四年左右就会去一次日本，甚至还在那里上过一个月的幼儿园。这些旅行让他认识了炸猪排三明治，这是一种在日本随处可见的零食，从便利店的货架上出售到地铁站的小贩，可以在旅途中快速食用。 Gillio 长期以来一直希望圣巴巴拉能够提供更多种类的经典亚洲美食——“我希望有一家烤鸡肉串店，”他沉思道——并看到了为我们带来专门的炸猪排服务的机会。 Gillio 于 2011 年开始在圣地亚哥的 Hotel Palomar 酒店担任行李员，开始从事酒店业，最终成为棕榈泉 The Rowan 的助理经理，之后搬回家在 El Encanto 工作，并短暂在 Alisal Ranch 工作。他的最新职位是 2022 年夏天担任 State Street 的 The Drift Hotel 开业经理，同时负责管理 Dawn Cafe 和 Dusk Craft Bar。他于 5 月份离开了 Drift，全身心投入研究，阅读并观看了尽可能多的有关 katsu 的 YouTube 视频。他认为，菜单的紧凑性、菜谱的简单性和原料的高品质是正确实施的关键。 Gillio 使用来自 Ideal Meats 的 Mary's Chicken 和猪肉。但主要成分甚至不是他最关心的。 “面包对我来说是最重要的，”吉利奥说，他找到了一家名为“shokupan”的日本牛奶面包首选生产商。他切掉外皮，然后将其油炸，制成超级新鲜的面包粉，将压扁的肉外皮包裹起来。他目前购买炸猪排酱，但有一天想开发自己的炸猪排酱，并且还在制作大型外卖盒，以便公司可以购买 20 个三明治与办公室共享。猪肉或鸡肉沙多以三包或六包出售。吉利奥说：“我认为三个是零食，六个是正餐。”尽管外表端庄，但它们却很饱。菜单上最近还添加了炸鸡块和他妈妈做的清爽土豆沙拉，你可能会发现她在卡车里帮忙。 Gillio 还将开始销售鸡蛋沙拉选项，并在 11 月 3 日的圣巴巴拉半程马拉松决赛中首次亮相。还有薯条、糖果和饮料，他还计划推出更多特价商品，例如寿司卷和油炸食品。称为“yaki onigiri”的饭团。吉利奥知道，要吸引稳定的圣巴巴拉观众可能需要时间。 “现在，重点是教育客户，”他说。但那些去过日本的人不需要这些课程，比如一位在那里住了四年、现在经常去 The Sando Truck 的女士。 “这让我想起了日本，”她告诉他。 “这让我想起了从奈良火车站出来的情景。”这对他来说就是音乐。吉里奥说：“这正是我想要的。”
