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O J A I M AG A Z I N E | SPRING 2026
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n the early morning, when most of Ojai still lies in quiet slumber, the smokers at Joplin’s restaurant are already in full swing. The scent of burning oak and slow-cooked meat drifts through the cool air long before the doors open. Inside, chef-owner Saw Naing moves with practiced focus, checking temperatures, turning cuts of brisket, and tending to sausages. “It’s low and slow,” he explains. “That’s the art of cooking to me.” One of Ojai’s newest dining spots, Joplin’s is a barbecue restaurant owned and operated by husband-and-wife team Saw and Brittany Naing. The couple, who met in Los Angeles and later worked together at The Dutchess, have poured their shared love of barbecue, hospitality, and rock ’n’ roll into their first solo venture. It is not just a restaurant; it is an extension of their lives, layered with memory and soul. Born and raised in Burma, Saw received his earliest lessons in food from his grandmother’s kitchen. “If it wasn’t her, it was my aunt or someone from my mom’s Indian side of the family,” he recalls. “Everything was always made fresh; even milk was skimmed by hand. That’s how I learned flavor: through memory.”
He moved to the United States in 2007 at age 21 to study music. “I was auditioning, trying to get into bands, but it was hard,” he notes. “I couldn’t even afford a guitar.” To make ends meet, he worked wherever he could, from burger joints to sandwich shops. “I literally went door to door asking for a job.” Cooking began as survival but quickly became a calling. He gave up on music, enrolled at Le Cordon Bleu College of Culinary Arts, and landed his first real kitchen job at Café Pinot, then one of Los Angeles’ top fine-dining restaurants. “My first mentor there was chef Sydney Hunter, who taught me all about French cuisine,” Saw explains. “From there, things just took off.”
JOPLIN’S Ojai’s Newest Smokehouse with a Rock ’n’ Roll Twist story by KERSTIN KÜHN Photos by ELIZABETH HAFFNER & ANDREW PURCELL