JANUARY 2 • 2020 | 35

J

ack’
s Roadside BBQ
in Clarkston catered
a much-talked-about
lunch for guests this fall
at Durfee Innovation
Society, formerly a
Detroit public school.
On Nov. 7, the first
Metro Youth Club in
Wayne County was dedicated

at Durfee. The club was
named in honor of U.S.
Sen. Carl Levin and
U.S. Rep. Sander Levin,
both retired, and Detroit
philanthropist James
Comer. They joined fel-
low Durfee alumni, stu-
dents, family members
and friends at the celebration.

Obviously, the club’
s dedica-
tion was a huge deal, but what
about that memorable lunch?
“
At the Durfee event, we
served jerk chicken, brisket,
pulled pork, pit beans, slaw and
mac and cheese,” said Trevor
Aronson, 45, of Clarkston, the
owner of Jack’
s Roadside BBQ.
He and his wife, Angela, have
four children.
Aronson’
s barbecue food
truck and catering operation is
based in Clarkston. His truck,
parked on Dixie Highway,
is open from April-October.
Otherwise, Aronson caters
out of his commercial kitchen
“for anywhere from 20 to 300
people — from football tailgate
parties to weddings.”

Describing her meal at
Durfee, a guest noted that
“his brisket had a really good
char with deep smoke lines. It
smelled great and was very ten-
der. The chicken, too, was very
smoky, tender and a bit spicy.”
This weight-watching com-
mentator added that her one
bite of Jack’
s mac and cheese
was “very good and had lots of
cheese. The meal had a smoky
smell you could sense from
outside the room.”

A FAMILY TRADITION
Aronson named Jack’
s
Roadside BBQ for Jack
Aronson, his father and men-
tor. Jack and Trevor’
s mother,
Annette, were co-founders
in 1998 of Garden Fresh
Gourmet. Best known for
its salsas, Garden Fresh in
Ferndale employed more than
400 employees at its peak.
Campbell Soup Company kept
the manufacturing facility in
place after buying the business
in 2015.
According to Trevor,
“the purchase was part of
Campbell’
s ill-fated strategy
to diversify its product lines.”
In February 2019, Campbell
announced Garden Fresh
Gourmet would be sold.
Three years before founding
their company, the Aronsons
opened Clubhouse Bar-B-Q in
Ferndale. A popular salsa recipe

Esther Allweiss

Ingber
Contributing
Writer

eats | drinks | sweets
eats | d i
ri k
nks | s
Nosh

Passion for
Barbecue
Trevor Aronson honors his dad and
serves up delicious smoked meats.

COURTESY OF JACK’
S ROADSIDE BBQ

Trevor Aronson
and his father
Jack Aronson

continued on page 36