Lea este artículo en español aquí.
Dave Wood has returned as pitmaster for BattleBorn BBQ, catering his wife Olivia’s Hollister Scares haunted house at the Hollister Veterans Building through Nov. 1, after a 16-month hiatus following a serious automobile accident.
“My wife told me I was doing it,” he said, “and when she wants me to do something, there’s not a whole lot of wiggle room right there. If you ask anybody that knows me, my wife and kids come before anything.”
The business name comes not from his time in the U.S. Army, but from his home state, Nevada, known as the “Battle Born State” because it achieved statehood during the Civil War.
But it could just as easily refer to the 22 years Wood spent in security and his work with specialized dogs used for criminal apprehension, bomb detection and tracking.
Beginning in 2004 with security work with the Las Vegas Sands casino and resort company, Wood was certified in 2014 as a police canine trainer at Vohne Liche Kennels in Indiana.
“The course was a four-month ordeal of me living in BFE, Indiana,” he said. “With that experience, I built and ran a canine department with 12 dual-purpose teams, which means they do criminal apprehension and explosive detection, and 12 single-purpose bomb dogs.”
This led to work conducting protective sweeps, checkpoint screening, and route planning for politicians, foreign dignitaries, and major events in Las Vegas in coordination with the U.S. Secret Service and other agencies
In 2019, he and his family relocated to California, where he took a role in private security contracting as a regional trainer and manager for major security organizations, traveling across the country to oversee handlers and dogs.
“I love running dogs,” he said. “It is maybe my greatest passion. I love watching the dog excel. I love watching the handlers excel. I like watching them progress through the motions. It’s so fun.”
Wood began barbecuing in Las Vegas 15 years ago, learning from television shows like “Barbecue Pitmasters” and offering his services as a hobby.
“Until maybe two years ago, I never turned a profit,” he said. “I did it for fun. I did it for my kids’ sports teams, cooks for their schools, fundraisers, friends getting married, friends having kids, and graduations.”
That changed a few years ago, when a farmstand owner approached him and offered him the chance to sell his barbecue to the public.
“I thought, ‘Why not? I ain’t got nothing else going on,’” Wood said. “Long story short. I made 920 bucks in a little under two hours, and I’m thinking, ‘Damn, that’s pretty cool, right?’ Everybody started tasting my food and liking it. And I got crazy busy.”
His success can be gauged by the largest cook he ever did: a two-and-a-half-day job preparing food for 962 people at an Employee Appreciation event for San Bernardino County.
One of his customers at the stand put him in touch with Vets Building manager Maria Spandri, and the two, he said, hit it off immediately.
“She’s down to help veterans,” Wood said, “and I’ve always been open to help veterans whenever I can. It just blossomed out from there, and it seemed like I was down there a couple of times a week, doing one thing or another.”
A year ago in June, as he was returning from a security job in South San Francisco, a vehicle collision caused Dave’s Jeep to roll into a field, injuring Wood and killing one of his dogs, Axel, his partner of six years.
“It was gut-wrenching,” Wood said. “Unless you’re a handler, you’re never going to understand the connection. I’m with my dogs 24/7. They go to work with me. They come home with me. I take them wherever I go. I’m with my dogs more than with my wife and kids.”
That devotion shows in a tattoo of Axel he got after the incident, infused with the dog’s ashes. The emotional impact on Wood ran deeper: he paused his barbecue business and retired from full-time K-9 work, taking only occasional jobs like the motorcycle rally.
“I’ve been going really hard since I was 15 years old,” Wood said. “I started working, and I never stopped until last year. My wife says that’s the only way God could get you to stop and take it easy.”
Olivia Wood said she first asked her husband to cook for the volunteers, but she also saw a benefit in having him get back to cooking for the public.
“It’s like going to the gym,” she said. “You are thinking that you have to go and you don’t want to. It was a lot of work for him, but once he did it, it gave him real peace of mind.”
For this event, Dave Wood has narrowed his regular menu to three items: two takes on mac and cheese, and, the star of the show, his signature pulled pork, cooked over pecan wood.
“I get pork shoulder,” he said, “and I take apple juice, pepper flakes, chili powder and some paprika. I just mix it up, inject it up full of that stuff, and then I put my secret dry rub all over it. I bring it up to room temperature before I start cooking it, and let it rest for 45 minutes afterward.”
After shredding the meat, he mixes in a small amount of Sweet Baby Ray’s barbecue sauce, an exception to his general rule of not using sauce with his meat.
“I want the meat to sing,” Wood said. “Like my briskets, I don’t do anything except trim fat and season with salt and pepper. There’s no messing around; it’s just straightforward beef. I think it’s delicious the way I prepare it. Why do you want to mess with that by adding sauce?”
The pulled pork sandwiches are topped with his signature coleslaw, made with red and green cabbage, Granny Smith apples, paprika, garlic powder, a finely diced leek, and a little honey for a sweet note.
The serving of meat on the sandwich is generous. “I don’t portion anything,” Wood said. “I put a lot on there because I want people to get plenty to eat.”
While he also prepared ribs and brisket on the side for the haunted house volunteers, Wood said he wanted his return to barbecue to be kept “stupid simple,” offering only his smoked mac and cheese as a side, with a variation he calls “Mac and Meat.”
“It’s just a bowl of mac and cheese,” he said, “and I slap some pulled pork on top of it. My wife hates it, but I just can’t think of a better meal.”
Now that he’s broken his hiatus as a pitmaster, Wook said he is open to more community events, returning to cookouts at the Veterans Hall, and doing some catering.
“I am trying to find my way after last year’s big change,” he said. “Doing sweeps with my dogs is not so easy. But the barbecue? That part is easy; I’ve done this a million times. I really love cooking, and I just love seeing people enjoy the food.”
BattleBorn BBQ will be serving on Oct. 21, 23, 24, 28, 30 and Nov. 1 from 5 p.m. – 10 p.m. during Hollister Scares at the Hollister Veteran’s Memorial Building, 649 San Benito Street, Hollister.
BattleBorn is on Facebook and can be contacted for catering by email at Battlebornbbq@hotmail.com or by phone at 702-340-7511.
Recommendations for future Eat, Drink, Savor articles can be emailed to roberteliason@benitolink.com.
BenitoLink thanks our underwriters, Hollister Super and Windmill Market, for helping expand the Eat, Drink, Savor series and for giving our readers the stories that interest them. Hollister Super (two stores in Hollister) and Windmill Market (in San Juan Bautista) support reporting on the inspired and creative people behind the many delicious food and drink products made in San Benito County. All editorial decisions are made by BenitoLink.
We need your help. Support local, nonprofit news! BenitoLink is a nonprofit news website that reports on San Benito County. Our team is committed to this community and providing essential, accurate information to our fellow residents. Producing local news is expensive, and community support keeps the news flowing. Please consider supporting BenitoLink, San Benito County’s public service nonprofit news.
You must be logged in to post a comment.