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How many cookbooks have lines like, “”Everything I cook tastes better than yo’ momma’s nipples.”
One, apparently.
read the rest at Eat Me Daily
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notesLA Food Trucks Tour
by Terry Wunder Photos by David Starkopf Photography
When I originally conceived of taking a self-led tour of the LA food trucks with some friends it was to see who was trying to capitalize on the success of Kogi BBQ, the crossover Mexican-Korean taco truck, and their use of Twitter to let people know their current location. Supposedly Kogi is the originator of the hip and cool LA food truck and, as some have told me, has the best food of all the taco trucks. My plan was to find trucks that had just rolled out, are newly popular, or ones that I know nothing about and see if Kogi would hold up against the rest.
My food truck team consisted of seven diverse and discerning palettes including a maitre fromager, a chef, a pastry chef, a hungry stoner and a guy who makes the biggest sandwiches I’ve ever seen, but seems to gain no weight. We started our glutton-fest at Barbie’s Q who was parked at T-Lofts in Santa Monica (11500 Tennessee) where food trucks hang out every day. The big green truck has a pin-up girl and the slogan “A Rollin’ BBQ Joint” on the side and is a clear representation of the owner. John, who insists that the pin-up on the side is not his daughter, takes everyone’s order while standing in front of his truck so he can shake hands and show off his fluffy white mustache. The St. Louis ribs were sweet, juicy, and did the fall-off-the-bone thing that grosses out my vegetarian girlfriend. It was my favorite dish of the day (out of the two dozen things I tried). We also tried three kinds of deliciously simple sliders (chicken, pork, or beef, sauce, and a bun), potato salad that was thankfully dill heavy and mayo light, and some baked beans that were best consumed when poured over a slider.
Food trucks like to travel together on the weekend in hopes of luring foot traffic from their friends. They all seem to be in some kind of mutual respect club where they share tips on the best places to park and provide each other lunch. Their open friendliness makes their gatherings feel like a block party. Parking with Barbie’s Q this weekend is a new Peruvian and Japanese inspired truck called Lomo Arigato. The owner, Eric, is a young hip Asian guy who says that watching the quality of food go out on carts in Japan inspired his truck. The Lomo Saltado, one of only three dishes offered, is tofu (although you can get tri-tip or chicken) sweet seasoned and wok’d onions, tomatoes, cilantro, French fries, red wine, and soy sauce on Peruvian rice. It was sweet without being sugary and intensely flavorful. The French fries were still crisp and added a much needed crunch to the dish.
After an hour of food trucking already stretching our belts we headed to Abbot Kinney where The Flying Pig, Little Spoon Desserts, and Kogi BBQ were catering to lines of cyclists, young window shoppers, and parents drinking Intelligentsia coffee with young kids wearing Toms. Lana, a relaxed rock and roll spokeswoman from the pepto pink truck The Flying Pig, let us know that all Flying Pig employees are Le Cordon Bleu graduates and give the truck a French flare. The Tamarind Duck taco with toasted almond and a pickled beat salad on top was a favorite among everyone and, as Lana reports, their most popular dish.
The Little Spoon Desserts truck is different from most other trucks because, as owner Melissa tells me, they don’t bake or cook anything on their truck. It’s all premade in her kitchen and then distributed on the road. This takes a few points away from the made-on-the-spot novelty, but the desserts are fresh and delicious. The tiramisu was creamy, but not heavy. The cinnamon on top adds subtle flavor. More impressive than the food is Melissa, who just graduated college, bought a food truck and started Little Spoon Desserts on her own.
At this point we were all getting full and lethargic, but trekked on to our last stop Cool Haus. This mini truck with fat five spoke chrome rims is owned by a former architecture student named Natasha. Her passion for architecture inspired the theme for Cool Haus which mixes gourmet ice cream and cookies with famous architect’s names (see: I.M. Pei-nut butter). Natasha’s favorite is the Dirty Mint Chocolate Chip and is called that because she uses real mint leaves and brown sugar. I usually hate mint ice cream, but this one actually tasted like fresh mint and not a menthol flavored popsicle like most mint snacks. The Italian style brioche and peanut butter sandwich was velvety and rich. The standout was the Guinness ice cream that actually tasted like the beer and had a little flavorful foam when you ate it. The Cool Haus truck is very cool and Natasha sitting in the mini-truck’s window serving patrons is a funny and personal touch.
Kogi BBQ, the truck that inspired both this tour and many of the trucks out there, declined to be interviewed. The manager sited “corporate policy” saying, “All interviews have to go through our main office first.” Regardless of that disappointment we tried a kim chi quesadilla that was strangely sour and a couple of spicy beef tacos that were tasty, but didn’t stand out amongst the field.
What my friends and I found out is that Kogi BBQ has a good taco, but every other food truck we visited had better food, a more interesting concept, and a friendly local owner with great personality and ambition. The LA food truck tour was a fun way to meet the proprietors of five trucks who were more than happy to talk about their food and how much fun they are all having meeting people and feeding hungry crowds. Although I thought these trucks were trying to capitalize on a novel idea they are also driven by passionate owners who love their businesses and the people who come to visit them every day. We only touched the surface of the ever expanding and possibly over-saturated food truck industry, but I am thrilled by the quality of food and service these businesses are providing their communities.
UPDATES:
David of Artisan Cheese Gallery of Studio City is the food truck photographer
CoolHaus likes the vid and thinks we’re kids!
Little Spoon Desserts tweets and our visit and puts us on their Facebook page
Digg This Article HERE
View it on Current
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It’s LA Food Truck Day! (The Plan)
This morning I tried to explain to Carlos (the guy who came to fix some glass in my house) what I was doing today…
Carlos: “You gonna watch the fight?”
“No, we’re going to go eat at six LA food trucks today.”
(laughter) “Why?”
“I don’t know. It sounds delicious.”
Well, he didn’t quite get it (nor did I explain it well), but he’ll just be missing out on the deliciousness.
THE FINAL PLAN:
In a crazy twist of fate Lomoarigato, Barbies Q, CoolHaus, and Marked 5 will all be at the same place this afternoon in West LA (11500 Tennessee from noon-5pm). Although none of these places were on my original list it seems silly not to take advantage of their close proximity to each other. I’m adding them to my list and knocking off the Buttermilk Truck (off til Tuesday), Grilled Cheese truck (private party), Sweets Truck (no finite destination today), and possibly Green Truck (may or may not be at a private event tonight).
After getting our tacos, st. louis ribs, chai ice cream sandwich, and a tangy burger we’re going towards the beach to the Flying Pig. They’ll be on Abbot Kinney near California all day today according to Lana from the Flying Pig.
And lastly, we may or may not (depending on the size of our guts) get to Gastrobus at Hillhurst and Price in Los Feliz. They’ll also be at the Los Feliz Farmer’s Market tomorrow so I may have to venture over in between football games.
I can’t wait for our adventure and I’ll post my article and video soon!
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Who knew simi valley had a delicious Vietnamese Pho restaurant? It’s called Pho So…. Suspiciously close to “F’sho!”
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Duran’s Pharmacy Mexican restaurant gives us The Torpedo: fat flour tortilla, potatoes, cheddar, green chile.
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Fast Food: An Ode to Greatness and Greasiness
I rarely eat fast-food. I could count the number of times I have eaten fast food this year on 3 fingers. Regardless, I’m American and from one of the girthiest states in the union: New Mexico. Hell, the State is even the fifth biggest by geographical statistics let alone the people. Also, I’ve been to most of the states (at least 85%) in the nation and have consistently eaten fast food in all of them during my travels as a teenager. Therefore, I’ve eaten my unfair share of fast food in my lifetime and now feel confident that I can ultimately determine the 10 Best Fast Food Restaurants.
(Side Note: Are places like Starbucks that have pre-prepared sandwiches and ready-to-heat breakfast sandwich items (which must be microwaved before serving) really Fast Food? Well, damn you Starbucks, you’re screwing up the formula. Let’s just say that if you serve more beverages than food and don’t actually cook anything in the restaurant/establishment than NO, you’re not fast-food (that means all smoothie joints and Tim Hortons-like places).
What could be better than a pizza buffet for 5 bucks? Apparently nine other places, but still this is pretty damn good. The pizza is good enough for 5 dollars, plus it has those fightin’ words “all-you-can-eat” attached to it. Here’s my Cici’s story for you: When I was 19 I was hungry. Myself, my friend Chris, and his then girlfriend decided to go to the pizza buffet kingdom. I paid, as did his girlfriend, but Chris wasn’t hungry so he didn’t. Mid-meal Chris decided he wanted a slice of pizza and took one of mine and ate it. Then the manager of Cici’s came over, told Chris not to leave because he had called the police because Chris had stole pizza! After a couple, “Are you serious?” comments the police arrived. I told the manager, “How is this different than me buying chicken nuggets and giving him one.” The Manager replied, “It’s not. That’s stealing.” The cops made Chris pay 5 dollars.
Fav Meal: the fact that you can ask them to make any kind of pizza you want and they’ll do it.
New Mexico has great food. Also, it has fantastic fast-food. Blake’s is a New Mexico staple with 76 locations in the state. That’s a lot of locations for a state that only has 1.5 million people. That’s one Blake’s Lotaburger for every 19,737 New Mexico residents. Blake’s is pretty standard fast food burger and fries fare, but they will put green chile on anything. Plus, it’s cheap and local.
Fav Meal: Lota Combo, LotaBurger with green chile, Curly Fries (as a substitute), diet coke
8. Rubio’s
When I think “Salsa Bar” I think sweaty Spanish guys in polyester shirts. Thankfully there is another Salsa Bar at Rubio’s. I typically hate condiments that don’t end in “arbeque sauce”, but damn I love Salsa. I love it so much I capitalize it in articles.
Fav Meal: every Salsa they have with a bean and cheese burrito
7. Wendy’s
Wendy’s reminds me of my childhood. My two best friends and I would ride our bikes to Wendy’s by our neighborhood, pay in small silver change, and eat until we got sick. Then we’d have a frosty. Also, I’m a huge fan of Wendy’s smug slogan: “That’s Right.”
Fav Meal: Jr. Bacon Cheeseburger, Chili
I’ve personally never seen an Asian person working at Panda Express. I’ve seen whites, blacks, Persians, Mexicans, and in-betweens, but no Asians. That doesn’t bother me though. At least the food is consistently the same delicious-everything-tastes-like-salt-and-canola-oil food. Also, it’s nice to leave a fast-food restaurant with an omen of good futures in hand.
Fav Meal: Steamed vegetables, orange chicken, 6 fortune cookies
In high school people would park their trucks at Sonic and meet up. When I went on a trip with a former girlfriend we stopped at Sonic 6 times with her 8 siblings because there is a Sonic every 15 minutes in West Texas. 5 LA friends and I took a Tuesday night to drive to Anaheim because there isn’t a Sonic anywhere in LA County. Sonic creates good times.
Fav Meal: Five Burgers for Five Bucks on Tuesdays (no mayo, mustard, or ketchup), Strawberry Limeade with extra Strawberries
4. Taco Cabana
Taco C as we called it was the place to see people’s badly enhanced rice rocket Hondas while in high school. More importantly, it’s damn good and damner cheap. They have, hands down, the best fast food Huevos Rancheros this side of Montgomery and Wyoming Blvd.
Fav Meal: Huevos (Over Medium, Green, Flour Tortillas), Pepcid-AC (for afterwards)
3. In-N-Out
I’m a simple guy. I like simple things. In-N-Out Burger is so simple it has 3 basic menu items: Burger, Beverage (soda or shake), and Fries. Granted there are other crazy combinations like Protein style (no bun, lettuce instead), animal style (thousand island, cheese, and grilled chopped onions), Alex Ourieff style (hard toasted bun, extra crisp fries animal style, grilled onions), or whatever. I don’t even care that it’s all freshly made and crap. It’s the ultimate California road trip stop.
Fav Meal: Burger, Soda, Fries.
There need to be more places like Rudy’s. First of all they don’t use plates. You just get a parchment sheet with slabs of meat. Plus, you can get side dishes (baked beans, cole slaw) and you can only order bread by the loaf. Rudy’s BBQ sauce (the regular sauce and non spicy they-call-it “sissy” sauce) is top-notch. Once my dad paid my friends and I to tear up a concrete walkway in our backyard by buying us a huge Rudy’s lunch. Sledgehammers and Ribs, that’s heaven. Added bonus: They sell beer in 32 ouncers.
Fav Meal: pound of brisket, loaf of wheat bread, bbq sauce, Coors Light
1. Frontier Restaurant/Golden Pride
Anyone who knows me from home could’ve guessed that this would top my list. The Frontier is a block-long restaurant across from the University of New Mexico in Albuqueruqe. The menu is everything college kids need: Burgers and steaks, full breakfast menu, and everything New Mexican possible. The breakfast burritos are legendary (a friend coming to visit me here in LA brought two on the plane with him for me, but ate one because they smelled so good). It doesn’t hurt that it’s open 24 hours a day 362 days a year (minus New Year’s Day, Christmas Day, and Thanksgiving Day). I probably spent as much money in my lifetime at Frontier as I have on cars and college tuition.
Fav Meal: Breakfast Burrito (green, no eggs, extra hash browns, bacon), coffee, Chile Cheese Fries, Sweet Roll
