(Kansas City, Missouri) While in the Midwest this week, writer and actress Vanna Bonta was added to a fellowship of connoisseurs of Arthur Bryant's, a barbeque joint in Kansas City. Famous for a secret sauce made by the legendary King of Ribs, it has been there since 1920, and attracted the likes of former US Presidents Harry Truman and Jimmy Carter, earning Bryant the title of most renowned barbequer in history.

New Yorker columnist Calvin Trillin considers it to be the best restaurant in the world. Celebrities such as Steven
Spielberg, Robert Redford, Jack Nicholson, Michael Landon have made the pilgrimage to Arthur Bryant's to enjoy barbeque that's slow-smoked with a combination of hickory and oak woods.

The original Bryant's, just around the corner from the home of the Kansas City Blues, otherwise doesn't have frills or fancy, just an honest wood oven, a sauce that bridges gaps between people, and a great staff that gets straight to business.

Recent initiate Bonta was at a rare loss for words, but reportedly, "it was real obvious she loved it" because she was too busy enjoying it to speak beyond amazed short outburts of appreciation.

Bonta, whose popular novel "Flight" has become an anthem for dreamers, was wearing a "Soul" dog tag, with a heart around her neck.

The Arthur Bryant secret recipe is carefully guarded and has become a part of American history; it enjoys a reputation based on the power of its own goodness. A famous cartoon depicts Arthur Bryant, who died in 1982, at the pearly gates of heaven with St. Peter asking him, "Did you bring the sauce?"