What's your fantasty Food Truck?

[ajcraig]

It seems that the latest foodie fad is food trucks, you know, what used to be called a "roach coach" and no one would be caught dead, yadda, yadda, but now serve the famous Korean tacos, mac n' cheese, and all sorts of treasures with Twitters. And they all have such clever names.

I keep day dreaming about doing this, not that practical in the frozen north......what would I serve that would be easy enough, fun enough and versitile enough. First I thought Mac and cheese, cuz' who doesn't love it, and there's a million variations you could use. Then I figured noodle bowls, again, so many variations and a personal favorite.

All I need is to win the lottery, quit my job and think of a clever name. What would your truck be?

[MonMauler]

Well, I guess this is a fantasy food truck, so I would lay a naked woman on a table, cover her with sushi, and let the patrons choose the options they want. Pay at the counter.

On the other hand, they don't have food trucks near where I live or work, so anything would be a step up. Even a hot dog cart or something would be nice. Unfortunately, I believe food trucks are all but outlawed near me...

[jrvedivici]

Well since it's fantasy how about Princess Leia's Hot Sticky Buns?

[hyacinthgirl]

I just moved to an area that's lacking in trucks but has a lot of dense office buildings and I have been seriously considering how to do a lunch truck. My thought is:
Grilled Cheese

Specialty breads, different types of cheese, some with extras like prosciutto or carmelized onions... Seems so straightforward to me. Sigh.

[goodhealthgourmet]

We already have a GC truck here in LA!
http://www.thegrilledcheesetruck.com/

Go find it...and please indulge in some gluteny, cheesy goodness for me while you're at it ;)

[hyacinthgirl]

I'd seen it when I lived in LA (mere months ago), but my new area doesn't have one. And what I envision is something a bit grander than the what the original GC truck offered. Maybe even gluten free bread and some vegan cheese? : )

[goodhealthgourmet]

I didn't know you moved! Where to?

Real dairy cheese works for me (actually can't have soy so no vegan stuff). Unfortunately there's no point in offering GF bread unless you use a dedicated press/griddle for those sandwiches.

This discussion is really making me want to revisit the possibility of starting one...

[hyacinthgirl]

To PA... It's cold and grey here :(
I think a dedicated press in my fantasy truck can be accomodated. And thank goodness you can do dairy, because in reality vegan cheese scares me.

I think your mobile salad truck would be AWESOME though.

[goodhealthgourmet]

Well in that case, you definitely need soups to go with the grilled cheese. I'm all too familiar with that weather - I grew up in Jersey.

If I ever do something about a salad truck you'll have to come back for a visit to check it out!

[hyacinthgirl]

I will be there on opening day!

Good call on the soups, you will get official credit should my dream ever make it to reality.

[melpy]

Persian food

[MsMaryMc]

An I the only one who saw this topic and thought "One that parks in my driveway?"

Oh, and a different cuisine every day, please. Don't want to let my palate get tired.

[shoo bee doo]

Goulashwagen.

I'd serve authentic Hungarian goulash of the highest quality. Made with beef broth, onions, pastured beef, and loads of paprika simmered through the night.

I'd also have a more watered down version, goulash soup available.

Each day I would have a different starch. Polenta, gnocchi, boiled potatoes, noodles, or buckwheat.

Homemade naturally fermented sauerkraut.

A good crusty bread from a bakery.

Some nice eastern European dessert such as strudel or potica.

The truck would have to be able to stay warm enough in the Minnesota winter. I would not be out there in the summer except for some very cool days.

It's an odd fantasy, but I've been developing this idea for the last few years since this trend started. Maybe someone will take off with it because I don't see myself able to do this in this lifetime.

[chefathome]

A naturally gluten-free food truck - no possibility of cross contamination. Those with celiac disease just cannot utilize food trucks, unfortunately. A big fantasy, but hopefully in the future a reality!

[goodhealthgourmet]

I actually started putting together a business plan to do this very thing a couple of years ago. Unfortunately family matters pulled me away and I never finished it...

[chefathome]

Really? What a great project that you would be so great at. Perhaps sometime in the future? It makes me sad not to be able to enjoy food trucks. :(

[goodhealthgourmet]

I'd still like to do it, though I'm hoping to focus on the development end of it and train someone else to run the actual truck(s). We'll see.

[alliegator]

I can't believe I've never seen this thread before. Food trucks are huge in my neck of the woods. I thought of this after having a philly cheesesteak eggroll in a sports bar--you can put anything in an eggroll. From classic to cheesesteak, you could do a chicken cordon bleu variety, taco meat with cheese and jalapenos, etc. In my head, EggRollin' was born. Hehe...

[Isolda]

My fantasy food truck would serve delicious food and desserts (everything from sticky rice with mango to sfogliatelle), have a wine list, and most importantly, it would park in front of my house, but only when I called it. Sort of like a genie with lamp, only instead of rubbing the lamp, you rub, I don't know, a tire on your car? This is fantasy, right?

[HillJ]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I79Jmg...
sorta like this, Isolda?

[Bill Hunt]

OK, I will play along.

My "fantasy food truck" would be Olaf Magnusen's (from Magnusen's House of Seafood, Gulfport, MS) fried shrimp. I would travel across the globe for those fried shrimp. I have had great shrimp, in my long life, but his were the ultimate, and the ones, by which, all others shall be forever judged. May he rest in peace. He had "the secret," and took that to his grave. Still, should he come back to life, open a shrimp truck anywhere, I would fly there, in a heartbeat.

Hunt

[tdouglas9]

aj, wouldn't you also need to know how to cook or would you hire a chef?

[goodhealthgourmet]

i don't have the patience to read through all the responses to see if anyone said bacon, but..

http://www.getyourlardon.com/

[trvlcrzy]

Noodles truck ranging from Italian pasta types to Asian noodles.

[free sample addict aka Tracy L]

Dungeness Crab truck. Freshly caught live crabs that are cooked on the truck. Choice of drawn butter or cocktail sauce and of course lots of lemons. Of course it would have to be at the farmers market close to my house. An egg roll truck would be cool too, sort of build your own with a variety of dipping sauces.

[weezycom]

Pie. Whole or by the slice. All the fruit pies, chocolate pies, coconut cream/custard/chess.

And good vanilla ice cream to top them off.

[piccola]

Hand pies, too, I hope. The ultimate portable dessert!

[HillJ]

There is a pie food truck in the town of Julian. San Diego county.

[weezycom]

Good -- no competition! I'm on the other coast.

[bagelman01]

Last month, after the tragic shootings in Sandy Hook, Ct, I wasdriving through Newtown and parked in front of town hall was a food truck labelled 'Pies Across America' and they were busy serving out free pie to the townspeople as a gesture of comfort and support.

[HillJ]

http://www.google.com/#hl=en&suge...

true, the story went viral and made for an inspiring read.
TheWorldNeedsMorePie.com, and in her book, "Making Piece, a Memoir of Love, Loss and Pie."

[Peachie]

For me, I would buy several food trucks and always have them available outside my house when I don't want to cook.....

[fmed]

A truck serving Jian Bing (Chinese breakfast crepes) http://www.quirkybeijing.com/?p=12

[goodhealthgourmet]

after giving it some more thought, i may have to change my answer to Gluten-Free [Insert Food Here]...there's only one here in LA - a tamale truck, and it's all the way out in Silverlake.

[Emme]

in addition to the aforementioned sushi truck, i'd like a breakfast truck with made to order omelettes, pancakes, waffles, etc.

[achefsbest]

Gosh, I would have a truck that served different kinds of cold noodles and springrolls. Like stuff that China Moon used to make.
Now, what would be a good name?????

[mamachef]

chinois on wheels?

[achefsbest]

I like it!!

[coll]

I'd do what half the trucks do here, lobster rolls. They sell them for $10, which is half the price a restaurant charges, and make a decent profit. Let me work on the name thing.

[mariacarmen]

there was a truck here doing lobster rolls during the Oakland Eat Real festival at Jack London Square, but i don't know (don't think) it was a local truck, and the line was too long for me to try it....

[coll]

Yeah it's usually the most popular item, despite the price. Here these are sold on Sabrett trucks, not by itself: almost all trucks here are hot dogs but they are really branching out lately. The good thing is they already have plenty of buns!

[rHairing]

Can we get a Cafe du Monde truck in NoVA??? I could also use a pho truck.

[chowser]

Ooh, Cafe du Monde trucks with beignets. I love it--simple and easy.

[BuildingMyBento]

Cafe du Monde is quite big in Japan, if that's on your radar... apparently, an affinity for jazz helped that come to fruition.

[BuildingMyBento]

One that didn't actually travel too far every day, and with diplomatic (or even press) plates.

It would have a panoply of spices, herbs and seasonings, and a good variety of pickled items (hot peppers, cucumbers, a la giardiniera, but NEVER lime aachar). Small placards would briefly describe the tastes of each spice/herb, and they'd source their petrol from Venezuela...well that last one is a bit more wishful thinking, huh...

[mamaciita]

Deviled Egg

[mamachef]

Neglected to mention that here in the SF Bay Area, we have The Big Gay Ice Cream Truck.

[kattyeyes]

Priceless! That's super (thanks for asking!). ;) I hope they play that song when the truck rolls through your neighborhood.

[mamachef]

<<Kattyeyes: they play, "It's Raining Men." : )

[kattyeyes]

HA HA HA!!! That's hysterical! And perfect!

[Veggo]

I don't mind when it rains cats and dogs, but for this one I want an umbrella...

[funniduck]

We have one in NYC too. I see him around Union Square.... Are they related?

[mamachef]

<<Funni, they must be. I'll be sure to ask next time a buy a big ol' gay ice cream!

[mariacarmen]

wait, really?? i live in SF - where does that exist??? i LOVE it!!!

[mamachef]

I misnomered when I said SF/East Bay, mariacarmen. It's over here in Beezerk., and it's totally guerilla and funny as hell.

[Big Bad Voodoo Lou]

I'd love a mobile salumeria, kind of a charcuterie caravan. We'd offer the finest cured meats: different salamis, hams, sausages, various cheeses, picked vegetables. And then we'd put together the most drool-worthy Italian hoagies around, overstuffed sandwiches made to order on crusty rolls with all the fixins. Genoa salami, prosciutto, spicy soppresata, sharp provolone, roasted red peppers, thin-sliced balsamic-glazed onions, beautiful fresh tomatoes on a roll spread with spicy mustard, house Italian dressing, and possibly even a thin spread of smoky lardo. And that would just be one of the many options. If it existed, I'd follow it like a fanboy.

[mcap]

Oh man. Not only would I follow this truck, I'd eat out of your garbage.

[french5000]

The Muffeletta-mobile!

[shoo bee doo]

I love this idea.

[mamachef]

We'd do marinated fried chicken, real slaw and potatoes, vegetable sides, biscuits, cornbread, gravy. And I would call it the Fried Freakin' Chickenmobilel.

[EWSflash]

A friend swears she came within an inch of buying a hot dog cart with a college friend (also female) and calling it Two Chicks With Weiners.

[onceadaylily]

I just laughed so hard I scared my cat.

[soypower]

I laughed so hard, I scared myself!

[goodhealthgourmet]

+1. love it!

[tracylee]

Too funny!

My Uncle Butthead's goal in life was to buy a hot dog cart. Yeah, he was ambitious, but passed away last year before attaining his goal.

[chowser]

I've thought about doing a fry truck at carnivals and fairs. I wouldn't sell food, just bring whatever you buy, we'll have a batter that's slightly sweet, one that's for savory and deep fry it. "You buy it, we fry it." Pizza, sausage, ice cream cones, candy bars...refried donuts anyone?

[grayelf]

I would be the first one in line, chowser. You fry it, I'll try it :-).

[chowser]

Sounds good--since you're first, I'll give you free lifetime frying. ! I'd call it the Fry Queen. The limitation is that I have no clue how to deep fry, other than a high school stint at McD's with their fries and pies.

[kattyeyes]

Oh, man...trashy confession: I miss those fried pies!!!

[RealMenJulienne]

The French Fry Truck! I mean think about it, the profit margins are sky high, and who doesn't like fries. When you have a plate in front of you with fries and a bunch of other stuff, what do you reach for first? Chances are, it's the fries. No need for complicated or multi-step cooking equipment, just a big vat o' peanut oil. We'd serve up 3/8" thick russets, double fried (once at the commisary, once on the truck) to a dark golden brown. Then the customer gets a choice of the world's greatest fry sauces and seasonings: ketchup, mustard, malt vinegar, hot sauce, aioli, seasonings and spices of all descriptions! Or just coarse salt, whatever you like!

Set up next to a fry-less hot dog, burger, or street meat stand for a mutually beneficial relationship. Perfect!

[grayelf]

RMJ, you need to head to Ottawa or Montreal.

[RealMenJulienne]

How so? Because of an absence of fry trucks, or to sample the abundance of fry trucks?

[grayelf]

The latter, +/- poutine . And you could always set up your truck, following the cluster marketing principle :-).

[souschef]

Montreal does not have food trucks. Ottawa does.

[grayelf]

Oops, my bad, the first place I ever had poutine was in Montreal but that was more than 20 years ago. I was sure I had it from a fry truck somewhere near a little market. The joys of getting decrepit...

[pdxgastro]

Soup and sandwich. But everyone would have to bring their own 'tiffin' containers. No throw-away containers at my truck. (It is fantasy, right?)

[ajcraig]

Food great and GREEN! I can picture a line of folks anxiously waiting for their soup and sammies, banging on their containers like tamborines!

[souschef]

How about an ince cream truck? You go one further and eat the container.

[funniduck]

My fantasy has always been a bio-diesel ran food truck. It drives me crazy that no one ever thinks of the gas these things run on. Wouldn't it be awesome if they use their fry-oil to then drive the truck? This has been my fantasy for awhile.

[souschef]

So everywhere they went you would smell frying ?

[funniduck]

uh no. they don't smell at all. It's quite common to use fast food fry oil to run their biodiesel-converted-from-diesel engine cars.
But it would help sales, no? :)

[souschef]

"But it would help sales, no? :)"

But think about all those poor people on diets craving fries ! Ah what the hell, I never think about them anyway.

[sweetTooth]

The Green Truck in LA does this.

As for my fantasy food truck - aloo tikki, bhelpuri, samosa, dahi vada, pani puri, sev puri, dahi puri and of course fresh matar (peas) chaat in the spring. It has to be run by someone who's owned a successful chat business in Uttar Pradesh, India. I would certainly tie myself to this truck. Drool.

[onceadaylily]

I would call my sushi truck One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish.

[grayelf]

There's a Red Fish Blue Fish in Victoria BC that is sort of a truck. It sells sustainable fish and chips on the wharf from a converted container: http://www.redfish-bluefish.com/05jan...

They don't make you bring your own dishes but everything they serve in/with is compostable, which is pretty cool. And their tempura pickles are evil good.

[onceadaylily]

And you linked to a recipe . . . fantastic (as is their compostable dinnerware).

[EWSflash]

Yes!

[Florida Hound]

Nostalgia rules my fantasies on this topic- the "Food Trucks" of my youth- to bring them back!!! (NY area) The mouth watering goodies within a Dugans Bakery truck. Ditto the Krugs Bakery truck. The smell of apparently fresh-baked pastries, with sweet icing in the air! And the sounds of Spring and Summer were the bells of the ice cream trucks roaming the neighborhood- real Good Humor and Bungalow Bar. Those were the days.
Florida Hound

[mcel215]

There are probably taco trucks in the Southwest, but not up here in Boston.

Would love a Baja style fish taco.. El Pelon is too far for me to drive.

[bagelman01]

The BIG GREEN PIZZA TRUCK
http://www.biggreentruckpizza.com/

[HillJ]

http://www.nomadpizzaco.com/truck.html
Nomad Pizza truck rocks!

[souschef]

There is a restaurant called SoBo, in Tofino on Vancouver Island that got started by selling fish tacos from a truck. They were very well-known for their quality.

Here's a link, including a picture of the truck.

http://www.gotofino.com/tofinophotopg...

[souschef]

How about a soup truck manned by The Soup Nazi ? :)

[coll]

If he got mad, he could just drive away from you!

[pikiliz]

Living hear in South Florida we are inundated with food trucks unfortunately most of them shop at 2 or 3 places where they buy food. Very few of them here make there own stuff every now and then something different shows up on the truck usually homemade and that is the first thing to go because it's different from the regular stuff we see day after day. Now how about a coal-fired pizza food truck with crispy personal pizza's that would be great or a Pho truck( my dreams)

[dmckean]

You could call it "Phở King Truck"

[Tripeler]

Japanese light grilled food, centering on Yakitori, meets tacos and other hand-held Mexican delights. A yakitori taco is not hard to imagine, but go from there, and FURTHER...

[AdamD]

With takoyaki and okonomiyaki too!

[goodhealthgourmet]

a mobile version of the create-your-own salad places that are all over Manhattan where you choose all the elements and they toss it for you. all the dressings would be my own recipes, made from scratch...and i'd have a juicer as well, for made-to-order fresh fruit & veggie juices.

[piccola]

I would totally go for that.

[onceadaylily]

Me too. I've been to many places with fantastic salads, but none seem to hit my sweet spot, unless I want to look like a pain with no-this-or-this and can-you-add-that-and-that, which I don't. I can see something like this going over big in this suburb.

[goodhealthgourmet]

nice to know i have approval from a fellow Hound :) but seriously, doesn't it just make sense?

[hyacinthgirl]

I know this is old, but why doesn't this exist?! Do it, GHG!!

[lexpatti]

a dim sum truck!!!

[EWSflash]

Oh hells yes!

[KaimukiMan]

drive it and they will come

[Veggo]

From what I read on NAF, the food wouldn't really matter as long as the truck takes debit and credit cards.
And kattyeyes is not telling the whole truth here. Her fantasy truck would also have every dessert in the world...:)

[ajcraig]

OOoooo! Desserts of the World, featuring a different continant each day of the week! I'd Tweet that!

[kattyeyes]

Don't encourage me. ;) Please!!! >>^..^<<

[cheeseisheaven]

....from the land of food truck heaven, Portland, OR...I think Desserts of the World is an awesome idea...

[Kelli2006]

That sounds like a fun gig for a baker. I'm game if anyone else is?

[kattyeyes]

If only any of us lived near one another. :)

[KaimukiMan]

misplaced, sorry.... wish we could delete as well as edit.

[tracylee]

Yep, I've been to potluck work dinners in PDX with pretty much the entire menu bought from food trucks of various ethnicities. Such a great adventure!

[souschef]

Foie gras. This IS fantasy, right.

Personally, I don`t care for mac n`cheese. I find it hard to swallow.

[soypower]

I've always dreamed of an International Dumpling Truck maybe call it the Every Dumpling Gang?

I would have on the menu:
-Gyoza
-XLB
-Siu Mai
-Pierogi
-Kreplach
-Empanada

Of course I'm sure doing all of these quickly and doing them well is a completely impossibility, but that's why it's a fantasy food truck, right?

[kattyeyes]

That's a nice fantasy...I'd be a proud member of the Every Dumpling Gang!!! :)

[soypower]

We're accepting applications! What is your dumpling specialty? :o)

[kattyeyes]

HA HA, my dumpling specialty is EATING them, but I'm willing to learn! ;)

[soypower]

Ding ding ding! You passed! :o)

[corneygirl]

I would tie myself to the truck so I wouldn't have to track it down.

[mariacarmen]

Spanish tortillas. I think the mac-n-cheese truck already exists....

[howchow]

tuk tuk truck - THAI

[Kelli2006]

Definitely Thai, or Vietnamese.

[Cameraman]

BBQ

[bluemoon4515]

Cannoli.

[Cherylptw]

1. Chocolate...cakes, candies, sorbets, etc. Anything chocolate

2. Cheesecakes