Heather Shouse - Food Trucks: Dispatches and Recipes from the Best Kitchens on Wheels

Main food/location photography copyright 2011 by Leo Gong

Illustrations and maps copyright 2011 by Sarah Watts

Food/location photography:

Leo Gong: fm.1, toc.1, toc.2 (Tanguito), ack.1, itr.1, itr.2, itr.2, 1.1, 1.2, 1.3, 1.4 (Cemitas Poblanas Juniors), 1.5, 1.6 (top row: Tacos Arturos; middle row: Cemitas Poblanas Juniors; bottom row: Cemitas Poblanas Juniors, Mariscos 4 Vientos #3), 1.7 (top row: Mariscos Jalisco, Tacos El Korita; bottom row: Mariscos Jalisco, Mariscos 4 Vientos #3), 1.8, 1.9, 1.13, 1.14 (Sams Chowdermobile), 1.15, 1.16, 1.17, 1.18, 1.19, 1.20, 1.22, 1.23, 1.24, 1.25, 2.2, 2.12 (Perierra Creperie), 2.13 (Perierra Creperie, Nongs Khao Man Gai), 2.14, 2.15, 2.16, 2.19, 2.20, 2.21, 2.22, 2.22, 4.1, 4.2 (GastroPod; middle two), 4.4 (Odd Duck), 4.5, 4.6, 4.7, 4.8, 4.9, 4.10, 4.11, 4.12

(left), 4.13, 4.14, 4.15 (left), 4.16, 4.17, 4.18, 4.19, 4.20, 4.22, 4.26 (Yellow Submarine), 4.27 (GastroPod), 4.28, 4.29, 4.30, 4.31, 5.1 (Trini Paki Boys Cart), 5.2 (Magic Carpet, The Arepa Lady), 5.3 (Big Gay Ice Cream Truck), 5.4 (Jamaican Dutchy), 5.5 (The Arepa Lady), 5.7, 5.8, 5.9, 5.10, 5.11, 5.12, 5.13, 5.14, 5.15, 5.18, 5.19 (left), 5.23, 5.24, 5.25, 5.26, 5.27, 5.28

Heather Shouse: 1.21, 1.26, 1.27, 1.29, 1.30, 1.30, 1.31, 1.32, 2.1, 2.3 (Maximus/Minimus), 2.4 (Hallva Falafel), 2.6, 2.7, 2.8, 2.9, 2.11, 2.17, 2.18, 3.1 (bottom), 3.2 (top left, bottom), 3.3, 3.5 (Gaztro-Wagon), 3.6 (Hummingbird Kitchen), 3.12, 4.3 (The Best Wurst), 4.12

(right), 4.15 (right), 4.21, 5.6, 5.19 (right), 5.20, 5.21, 5.22, 5.29, 5.30 (Su; left), 5.34, 5.35, 5.36, 5.37

Sarah Watts illustrations and maps: 1.28, 2.23, 2.24, 3.10, 3.11, 5.16, 5.17

Additional photography and illustrations courtesy: Eric Shin (Kogi) pages: 1.9, 1.10, 1.11, 1.12 Sean Flanigan (Skillet) pages: 2.1, 2.5

Tracey Marshall (Marination Mobile) page: 2.10 James Meierotto (Fresher than Fresh) pages: 5.33 (center), 3.8 Steve Offutt (Fresher than Fresh) pages: 5.33 (bottom), 3.2 (top right), 3.7 Lindsay Laricks (Fresher than Fresh illustrations) page: 3.6 Taylor Castle (All Fired Up) page: 3.4 Scott Baitinger (Streetza) page: 3.9 Adam Bork (Food Shark) pages: 4.1, 4.23, 4.24 Briana Brough for Durham Magazine (Only Burger) page: 4.2 Andy Cook (Que Crawl) page: 4.25 Aung Zaw Lyn, Maret School (Fojol Bros.) pages: 5.30, 5.31, 5.32 Brian Tropiano (Food Chain) page: 5.33 Avishay Artsy (Fresh Local) pages: 5.34, 5.35, 5.36

All rights reserved. Published in the United States by Ten Speed Press, an imprint of the Crown Publishing Group, a division of Random House, Inc., New York. www.crownpublishing.com www.tenspeed.com

Ten Speed Press and the Ten Speed Press colophon are registered trademarks of Random House, Inc.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is on file with the publisher.

eISBN: 978-1-60774-065-0

First Edition

v3.1

WEST COAST & PACIFIC

Los Angeles, California

San Francisco, California

Oahu, Hawaii

PACIFIC NORTHWEST

Seattle, Washington

Portland, Oregon

MIDWEST

Chicago, Il inois

Kansas City, Missouri

Milwaukee, Wisconsin

Madison, Wisconsin

Minneapolis, Minnesota

SOUTH

Austin, Texas

Marfa, Texas

New Orleans, Louisiana

Durham, North Carolina

Miami, Florida

EAST COAST

New York, New York

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Washington, D.C.

Portsmouth, New Hampshire

Index

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Thanks to Alexandra Sheckler for being the best research assistant I could have asked for; to my agent Jane Dystel for believing in my talents; to my editor Melissa Moore for her patience and persistence; to my designer Betsy Stromberg for building a beautiful book; to Leo Gong for his amazing photos; to Sarah Watts for maps that would make Rand McNal y jealous; and to al of the truck, cart, and trailer owners for letting me into their lives for a bit. And above al , thanks to Mom and Dad, for everything.

Forget everything you think you know about food trucks. During a year of traveling the country researching the topic, I stumbled upon a few truths: gleaming mobile kitchens run by trained chefs who have mastered Twitter can turn out disastrous food. Rickety carts with questionable permits might just turn out some of the best. The roach coach moniker doesnt apply to the majority of this countrys mobile food operations any more than it does to the majority of this countrys restaurants (wel , save for the coach part, of course). And no, Kogi did not invent the food truck. But they just might have reinvented its wheels.

At least they got the world to sit up and take notice. The L.A.-based Korean taco truck was repeatedly cited as a source of inspiration by food truck owners I spoke to during my travels, and in the time since Kogi rol ed out in late 2008, the buzz around food trucks has reached fever pitch. Favoring quirk over pomp, talented cooks and critical y acclaimed chefs are ditching the brick-and-mortar standard for kitchens on wheels, churning out incredible food for a new breed of diners more interested in flavor than fuss. Just in time for the biggest recession this country has seen since the Depression, this alternative to the traditional restaurant model proved to be a pretty smart business move for many talented cooks. What with rent or mortgage, tables and chairs, dcor, front-of-the-house staff, a stocked bar, and additional labor, the average restaurant costs around $400,000 just to get the doors open. Most of the food truck owners I met across the country spent a fraction of that, more in the neighborhood of $20,000 to $50,000 to get up and running. Sure, theres the disparity in profits to consider, but for the most part these truck chefs are stil making a decent living, while reaping the benefits of being their own boss and creating the biggest buzz the industry has seen since the advent of quick-serves.