Say It Ain't So, Joe Mama's!

I just heard that Joe Mama’s, a unique little Italian eatery in Oakland, has been sold and it is going to reopen as… some other restaurant.

I am not usually sentimental about places, but this is different. Joe Mama’s is special. It may (or may not) have been the site of my first date with Mr. Rip.

Why don’t I know when our first date was, you ask?  Because we don’t know exactly when we started dating, of course! Isn’t that the way it is with every couple?

Maybe our first date was the time we went to see Chicago at the Byham. I had two free tickets to the show, and asked my friend (the future Mr. Rip) if he wanted the second one.  Just two friends going to a show together, but it was the first time we actually went somewhere together on purpose and we did have dinner at the Lemon Grass Café before the show.  Most significantly it was the night he told me that I was a nice lady (yes, yes, I fell for that old line).

Maybe it was the time he invited me to go to Hallie’s birthday party at Olive or Twist with him.  That sort of felt date-like, even though we were still clearly just friends.

Or maybe it was the time he took me to Joe Mama’s because he thought I would like the food. I was game.  He had me at “giant meatballs.”

I remember distinctly where we sat.  It was a corner booth that was kind of set apart from the rest of the tables.  Very romantic, actually, and I remember the waitress (who obviously thought we were on a date) saying “Here’s a nice cozy booth for the two of you.”  Mr. Rip also distinctly remembers that we were seated at a table in the middle of the room on some other floor.  Ah, yes, we remember it well.

The important thing is that we both remember that we had a wonderful time at dinner that night, even though we were sitting at different tables. When it came time for dessert, Mr. Rip highly recommended the tiramisu, but I ordered the bread pudding.  Mr. Rip asked me if I would at least like a taste of his tiramisu.

When that spoonful of tiramisu hit my mouth, it was a transformative culinary experience.  It was not only THE best tiramisu in all the world, it was one of the most delicious things I had ever eaten.  When Mr. Rip saw my reaction to that bite of tiramisu, he wordlessly pushed his tiramisu in front of me, and took my bread pudding.  He traded his dessert with me.

Mr. Rip says that was the moment that he knew how he actually felt about me, because he never gave away his food like that.  Yes, ladies and gentlemen, at that moment we knew that he liked me, he REALLY liked me.  A couple of weeks later we were definitely dating.

And so now in a few short weeks Joe Mama’s will be no more.  The new owners plan to change the name, the décor, and the menu.  If they have any sense, they will get the recipe for that magical tiramisu before the old owners go.

Seasons for Love

But I can weather the storm
What do I care how much it may storm?
I’ve got my love to keep me warm.
                                                                                                                - Irving Berlin

The wedding day of my son J.J. and his lovely fiancee had finally arrived.  

The ceremony and reception were being held at The Hayloft, a refurbished barn in Rockwood, PA., located in the Laurel Highlands near Seven Springs. 

The couple put a lot of love and effort into the planning and were fervently hoping that everything would go off just as they had envisioned.  Of course, we all cautioned that something or another would invariably not go off exactly as planned, that it would not matter, and that at the end of the day the only thing that really mattered was that they were married. 

The forecast for the wedding day was unseasonably cold – highs in the low 50’s, lows in the 30’s with the chance of an occasional shower.  Perhaps not the best forecast for a wedding with an outdoor ceremony and a reception in an unheated barn, but unless it was pouring down rain the ceremony would be held outside as planned.

When we woke up on Saturday it was pouring down rain.  I stepped onto the balcony of our room at Seven Springs Lodge to review the situation.  Even in the cold streaming rain, it was one of the most beautiful landscapes I had ever seen.  I grabbed the camera to get a picture. Rain or shine, they really could not have chosen a more spectacularly beautiful setting for their big day. Later, the rain cleared and it looked like it might be a sunny day for the wedding after all.

We arrived at The Hayloft about an hour before the wedding.  About a half an hour before the event the rain started and in the next 30 minutes we saw every type of precipitation that exists.  Rain, sleet, hail, and yes, (some folks on the second shuttle to the barn told me although I did not witness it myself) even big fat snowflakes.  I began to assure my son that it would be fine if they married inside The Hayloft, which was absolutely lovely.  He gave me that dubious look I remember from his childhood when I was trying to console him and he didn’t believe me.

Meanwhile, J.J. was just one of several graduates of the esteemed, nationally recognized Meteorology program at Penn State in attendance at the wedding.  These guys did not shy away from severe weather.  Come to think of it, they sometimes went out in the rain on purpose.  In fact, at least two of them had once traveled through seven states together chasing tornados (and aging at least one of their mothers in the process).  These meteorologists were excitedly monitoring the situation from the patio.

Moments, and I do mean moments, before the ceremony was to begin the rain (and sleet and hail) stopped.  We all proceeded to the field, where the couple would be married under a wooden labyrinth, with their loved ones literally encircling them.

From the second that the beautiful bride in her one-of-a-kind embroidered dress came down the aisle on the arm of her emotional mother to join her equally emotional groom, the skies started to clear.  As the bride and groom exchanged their personal and heartfelt vows (which included all the more meaningful “weathering the storm” references) the sun was peaking through the clouds.  By the end, when the couple were saying “I do,” exchanging rings, and sharing a kiss, the sun was shining brightly. It was like the sky cleared to shine down a blessing on the union of the wonderful couple we were all there to celebrate.

The wedding reception was simply a fantastic party filled to the rafters with love and family and friends and good food and fun and dancing.

And so it was a perfectly appropriate start for the marriage of my son and his wife, who are exceptional, both as individuals and as a perfectly-matched couple.  In marriage, like in life, they will face their troubles.  With their strong love and devotion and determination they will in fact weather the storms that come their way and in the end they will enjoy a perfectly blessed and happy life together.