Out with the old, in with the new: food truck trends for 2012
More Street Eat Beat
As many of Chicago’s food trucks roll into the new year, they are faced with a few more challenges and setbacks than the year before. Another year has passed, and Chicago legislators are still no closer to allowing trucks to cook onboard. It also didn’t look good for the cause when two of the OGs in Chicago’s mobile eatery industry decided to close up shop—or at least put the brakes on their food trucks. Both Matt Maroni and Phillip Foss, two trailblazers for the cause in Chicago, have recently taken their trucks off the streets, both giving up the great mobile dream in hopes of a making a less-exhausting living with brick-and-mortar restaurants. Maroni opened Morso last summer, while Foss seems to be gaining a more advanced recognition with his tiny, BYOB concept, EL Ideas in Douglas Park. But the closure of Gaztro-Wagon and Meatyballs (even with cities like New York City also starting to feel the pain of no place to park) still hasn’t stopped new trucks from rolling out and serving meatballs before the Meatyballs mobile’s engines were cold. Here is what the food truck scene has in store for Chicago this year.
Food trucks “catering” to brides and grooms
During the 2011 holiday season, a few food trucks reinvented their wheels by opening their businesses up to private catering. And while some are just getting their feet wet, The Slide Ride has jumped right in. Enter The Slide Ride Girls, skating food truck servers who offer up their version of mobile food within mobile food. According to The Slide Ride’s owner, Nida Rodriguez, pricing for a wedding appearance or any catered event is $3.50 per slider and $150 for the truck rental with The Slide Ride Girls serving on site for up to 90 minutes of service. Check out a write-up of The Slide Ride’s recent event with Big City Bride and visit its website for more information on catering packages.
The Next food truck?
Grant Achatz and Nick Kokonas have a lot in the works. Achatz recently told Food & Wine that his empire has signed a movie deal, and they are also working on a television series about Next. With America’s diners waiting impatiently for Next’s El Bulli menu, and also for the season tickets to go on sale this month, there is clearly no shortage of demand for the rotating menu experiment, including an idea Achatz is kicking around—conceptualizing a food truck to go along with Next. Achatz recently told The Daily Meal that it could be fun to do a food truck, adding, “We’d have to think about how to reinvent that.”
Food trucks for vegans
Ste Martaen, known for its artesian nut- and soy-based vegan cheeses, has teamed up with Soul Vegetarian East to bring a new vegan concept to the world of Chicago’s mobile food. The food truck serves up 100 percent vegan cuisine with a menu that changes daily and includes dishes like fake “steak” fajita wraps, basil foccaccia sandwiches, and a soy-based buffalo “chicken” sandwich. The truck roams during lunch on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday and in the evenings Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday. The best way to catch the truck is to follow it on Twitter or on Facebook.
What’s old is new
According to the Sun-Times, a legendary South Side pie company has made a comeback in the form of a food truck. Fasano Pies began in 1927 as a pie wagon, eventually becoming a brick-and-mortar in the ’40s before its untimely demise about 25 minutes away. Peter Fasano, a third-generation pie maker, recently resurrected the business, renting out a kitchen to bake off the family recipes for cherry, apple, pumpkin, pecan, and blueberry pies ($16 each). Currently the pie truck only delivers to businesses and customers in the West Suburbs as Fasano works toward setting up his own permanent bakery. Pies can be ordered by calling 630-400-5600.
More street food
Photographer, designer, and food truck entrepreneur Amar Sigh’s food truck, the Curry Cruiser, has just hit the streets, showing off his take on regional Indian food—signature “Curryrolls,” chutneys, pickled vegetables, flat bread, and dishes like Punjab chicken, Goan pork, and Calcutta chickpeas. His cuisine is a mix of his influences, based partly on the inspiration of his mother’s cooking and his parents’ upbringing in Burma, his time spent traveling South Asia, and the cultural diversity he found living in Chicago. Track the Curry Cruiser on Twitter or Facebook.
More cupcakes
Pecan And Charlie’s is yet another installment in Chicago’s cupcake history. The owners, Colleen Gallagher and Netta Stella, roam town in their white, blue, pink, and black cupcake truck. The duo boast a well-known flavor, their Sam Adams-inspired carrot cake cupcake, which according to Gallagher, came about from a program that Sam Adams has to assist entrepreneurs and small businesses in the food and beverage industry, called Brewing The American Dream. “They approached us with some mentoring, which was amazing,” she said. “We were appearing on TV with Jim Koch (the founder of Sam Adams), and they thought it would be neat to incorporate their beer into a cupcake.” Gallagher says that, although they had mentoring, the recipe that materialized is their own. “The beer makes it a little different, and it has a brown sugar and cinnamon-sugar cream cheese frosting.” In addition to the Sam Adams-inspired cake, they have a laundry list of flavors like red velvet cupcakes, cookies and cream cupcakes, chocolate cupcakes, and biscuit cake-topped cupcakes. Follow Pecan And Charlie’s on Twitter or Facebook for route information.
The Chicago hot dog finds its place, finally
One of what is sure to be the first of many hot dog and sausage trucks is Chubby Wieners Weiner Mobile, a food truck devoted to burgers, sausages, and hot dogs. The truck serves up everything from a Chicago dog to chicken sandwiches and gyros. Follow on Facebook and Twitter to find out where to find the Wiener Mobile, and to check the daily menu.
Trucks finally on the street: Schnitzel King, Beavers Doughnuts, Caponie’s Express, and Falafelwich.
Trucks coming soon: J Alberto’s Pizza, Roost Food Truck (North Carolina cooking and fried chicken), Getta Polpetta Meatballs, and Sugarpie Cafe And Food Truck.
