On Monday night, I saw a tweet on Twitter from Jason Oelrich, one of the Twitter friends I follow. He said, "We will miss you!--Gene Porter, the man behind the hot sauce, dies at 71: Gene Porter was the man behind (cont) " Before clicking the link to read more about the story, I responded to Jason with: "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! PORTER DIED???" I was shocked.
I will always remember Gene Porter as the friendly, yet almost intimidating, owner of Dixie's BBQ on the Bellevue-Kirkland border. I guess you could call him a gentle giant. Everyone called him "Porter," because he went by his last name. Porter created the famous incredibly hot hot-sauce he called "The Man." If you've seen this bumper sticker, you've seen someone who's "Met the Man."
Dixie's was around long before I'd heard of it. When my husband Jake and I were first dating, he worked at Kenworth Division in Yarrow Bay. He loved walking to Dixie's BBQ for lunch and ate there with his coworkers several times each month. Jake doesn't like spicy foods, so I was surprised when he told me he had met "The Man" and tried the hot sauce. It's just one of those rite of passages you must take if you visit Dixie's.
I'll always remember the first time I met Jake for lunch at the modest-but-famous Dixie's BBQ in 2000. The lunch line was out the door and as I walked down the corridor to the order area, I was told by Jake and his coworkers that I had better be prepared for what I wanted. Apparently, Porter's daughter L.J. expected you to know what you were ordering when she took your order or she'd pass you and shout, "Next!!" like the Soup Nazi from Seinfeld.
As I approached the ordering station, I quickly blurted out what I had rehearsed in my head. I probably would have ordered something different if I'd had time to see the menu in line and think about it, but the line moved swiftly and I didn't want to make L.J. mad and get skipped.
Once we were all seated in the cafeteria-style dining area with our food, we waited in anticipation for Porter to come out and offer us his hot sauce. We didn't have to wait too long before Porter emerged from the back and worked his way around the room. He was the star of his own show, and he was the real reason we all came to Dixie's. Porter could smell fear and had a knack for remembering faces and detecting knee-knocking newbies, shaking in their seats. Nobody leaves Dixie's without being offered a chance to meet "The Man," and he is disappointed if you refuse his smokin' hot sauce.
As he approached our picnic table, I was a little nervous with him standing beside me. Porter was a large man - a legend - and was intimidating to me. "Have you met The Man?" he asked me. I agreed to try some. "Do you want some on your sandwich or a little taste on a toothpick?" My theory is that spice is more potent when it's all you're tasting. I'd rather have a tiny helping on my sandwich so it would meld with the other flavors. Some would argue that the hot sauce would spread all over the sandwich and ruin it! So, Porter gave me a tiny dab of "The Man" sauce on my sandwich and Jake obediently took his helping on a toothpick.
THAT SAUCE WAS HOT. I mean REALLY HOT!! I'm half Texan and I love spicy foods, but that sauce was way too hot for me to enjoy. I was happy I tried it that one time from Porter's famous pot of Man sauce, so that I could say I tasted it... but once was enough for me, thank you very much! I'm happy that Porter himself offered it to me, like he did to so many others before his passing.
Dixie's is closed this week as the family grieves their loss. Porter left behind a wife of 50 years, Dixie, two grown children, and five grand-children. My heart goes out to his family and everyone else feeling this loss. The whole community is buzzing about this and we're all saddened over this. Later this month, my brother, sister-in-law, husband, and cousin plan to eat at Dixie's and have a sandwich in Porter's honor.
Porter, you were like no other and you'll be missed. I'm so sorry you are gone.
Readers: do you have a Gene Porter story you'd like to share?
Gene Porter: 1939 - 2010