1 of 2
2 of 2
Cliff Collins’ beef ribs were the best I’ve ever tasted. I hadn’t realized beef ribs could taste so good, really, before I tried the ones he cooked in his Barnyard Kitcjen (below left and not a typo), with his wife Earline.
I made a note to myself (“Cliff’s beef ribs = the bomb”) and put it on a list of potential food-blog idears for the future. For a long time, the idea sat there unexploited as others came to the fore, but now, I feel sick as I write this, Cliff is gone and everything's changed."
Cliff (at left) and close friend Elmo “Moe” Davis were driving with two others in Mississippi this week, when the driver started to fall asleep, overcorrected, and their SUV flipped. Cliff and Moe were both pronounced dead at the scene. The driver sustained minor injuries, and a woman in the vehicle has had surgery for her serious injuries.
I originally met Cliff and Moe at COCA, the Center of Creative Arts, some 20 years ago. My mom was working there, and I was constantly on the premises, trying to stay out of trouble. Cliff and Moe were maintenance men who were famous for their generous, mellow dispositions, and for not being women (90% of COCA’s artsy staff has always been female). For various reasons, working at COCA could be a nerve-wracking experience, and Cliff and Moe were relative oases of calm who offered perspective and humor amidst the freak-outs.
They were always joking around with my mom, and Cliff gradually became an unofficial member of my family, and vice-versa.
It wasn’t long before Cliff revealed to us his passion for cooking and especially barbecue. My parents and I visited Cliff’s BBQ operation on the lot in front of a North Side tavern once or twice, and had a ball. It may have been Cliff’s family picnics, though, where his talent really shined. My parents returned from those events stuffed, leaning toward the idea that their family of choice was both friendlier and more skilled in the kitchen than their family of birth.
About five years ago, before food trucks became le hot trend, Cliff and his wife Earline took the leap of outfitting a food trailer. Barnyard Kitcjen (the “j” is for Earline’s maiden name, Jones) specialized in ribs, brisket, pulled pork, smoked turkey legs, sides, and a wide variety of house-made cakes for dessert. (SLM mentioned them in our inaugural St. Louis Food Truck Guide).
They had some challenges parking the truck in various places around town. Any food-truck operator will tell you that in their biz, the zoning laws and the kvetching from rival brick-and-mortar restaurants (and random busybodies) can be every bit the concern that foot traffic is, when it comes to turning a profit. Barnyard Kitcjen knocked around events like the annual Gateway Classic black-college football game downtown; parked in lots next to bars and strip malls; and worked private catered events. It's just not an easy vocation, and by the time the food-truck trend finally hit St. Louis last year, Cliff and Earline had certainly paid their dues.
In recent months, they had been doing a brisk business, particularly in the parking lot of a few Westport-area corporations located in industrial parks. Cliff once told me that not a few of those cubicle jockeys became Barnyard Kitcjen regulars, which isn't hard to understand. To a worker ensconced behind a desk, emerging from the corporate cage at noon to the smell of barbecue cooking in a smoker is practically a moment of satori. And with those ribs, Cliff's jibes, and Earline's smile, what's not to love?
Last November, when thoughts turned to Thanksgiving, we turned to Cliff, a noted expert on frying whole birds for the holiday. His practical advice and description of Thanksgiving-his-way was vintage Cliff: “Me and the fellas sit around watching the football game,” he said, “and we just pull and cut pieces off the bird.”
When the accident happened, Cliff and Moe were driving home with some special shrimp and meat for Barnyard Kitcjen, where Moe occasionally helped cook as well.
The future of the Barnyard Kitcjen is unknown. What we do know is that Cliff and Moe made the world a better place and they left us too soon. Our thoughts and prayers are with Cliff’s and Moe’s families.
Photographs by Kevin A. Roberts.
