Burmese on the Barbecue

On the back patio of the Dutchess in Ojai, chef Saw Naing grills up savory skewers. Here's how to throw your own Yangon-style barbecue party.

- HUGH GARVEY

On Thursday nights when the weather's good, the back patio of the Dutchess, a restaurant in the sleepy country town of Ojai, transforms into a smoky, slightly raucous Southern California version of 19th Street in Myanmar's capital city of Yangon, formerly known as Rangoon. 19th Street is Yangon's legendary barbecue row (immortalized for American foodies in episode one of the late Anthony Bourdain's Parts Unknown), where stall after stall serves countless varieties of skewers of meat, fish, vegetables, and lots of beer. The skewers sing with ginger, garlic, turmeric, soy, and masala spices, a simple yet highly addictive flavor combination that channels the influences of Myanmar's Indian and Chinese populations and is just the kind of thing you want to eat on a hot summer night. Bringing this experience to California had long been a dream of the Dutchess's Burmese-born chef, Saw Naing, who for the past year has been sparking up his binchotan-fueled grills so local diners can partake in the simple delights of ginger chicken wings dipped in tangy tamarind sauce and washed down with an ice-cold glass of beer-albeit a Ventura-brewed Beachscape Pilsner instead of a Myanmar Lager. There's live music. People dance. Naing cooks and smiles.