they use the word gourmet and mean it
amazingly right here
in hometown Pasadena
if you didn’t know
it’s there
you could drive right past
but once you stop
it’s a destination
you make pilgrimage to food
Huell Howser knew
he was a food soulmate of mine
I invited him to lunch
to see the partnership
between Pasadena and Cal State
my high school students
in college classes
and a sumptuous celebratory feast
we potlucked foods of the world
I brought Greek potato salad
I made to raves
Huell said he was coming
until I let it slip
said you might bring your camera
and he said
let me check my schedule
another missed opportunity
but his program on the Cobbler Factory
is available to see again
Shirley and I loved
the peach cobbler handmade fresh
she tried to decide
if it was too sweet for her
didn’t bother me
I loved every bite
and I know what’s good
we went back for more
and now years later
my Daughter and I
going for cobbler
discovered Clifton’s Barbeque
in the same modest location
we got the rib plate with sides
and took it home to discover
the joy of premium
at last! we said
remembering the days
before some people were born
Robbie’s Ribcage on Lake Ave.
the legendary sauce
and Burnett’s Texas style
the best anywhere round
the meaty falling off the bone
the sauce that satisfies the soul
the universal lament
when Burnett closed shop
I saw him once years after
he catered a Teacher luncheon
and the quality was back again
our lives made better
then the hiatus in quest
when adequate had to make do
until Clifton’s burst upon the palate
my Daughter cried my own response
“This is it! We don’t need to go
anywhere else, just come back”
and yesterday Chaz Kristina and I
the plates of ribs and brisket
the range of sides
divine peach cobbler and sweet potato pie
we tried and verified
and cornbread the real thing
not fluffy like the lesser offerings
of those who don’t know or care
this time we met more
of the family a local legend
and little children adorable pocket size
that one tiny girl with endless energy
who played the pop up game
behind the counter
projective enthusiasm to carry into a future
of careers the world is waiting for
she came around the counter
to bring us bags of food we ordered
the little space was filling up
with relatives grandmother presiding
as always the dynasty the mother and I
talking education I years in the system
she her fears of rote learning
and pejorative rigid tests to force box you in
I told her how I always fought the system
took the failing students
past the empty notion of proficiency
and they graduated into life
we bonded in common cause
I made the joke again
gesturing at the playful children
and the food
“Dinner and a show!”
we all laughed at the truth

I’m living mostly up north now
the Bay Area but we come down
to Altadena to work on the house
and revisit fifty years of my life
and always come back to Clifton’s
and Cobbler ambrosia
like coming home