Trailer Food Diaries

Navajo Fry Bread? Check out the Fat Cactus

2012-01-26T08:30:00.000-06:00

Recently engaged Courtney Jones and Chis Howell opened the Fat Cactus food trailer about a year ago on February 17, 2011. Their menu concept is unique in that it is based around traditional Navajo 'fry bread'. Courtney growing up in Colorado, and Chris from Arizona and New Mexico both have memories of fry bread growing up. But it was Chris' family who helped research the recipe by talking with tribal members. Chris explains a little further, "Every tribe had their own version of fry bread. When the tribes were removed from their land and taken to forts, they were given rations of food from the government. That is how they learned how to make dough using the simple ingredients they had available to them. The Navajo have the most popular form of fry bread, but even tribes in the Dakotas have a version."

Their menu is incredibly creative, with inspiration from cajun, southwestern, and interior Mexican cuisine. There are two, maybe three main ways they utilize the fry bread: as the base of a pizza, the base of a taco, or the foundation of a dessert. When I was there, I sampled:

1. their best selling taco: the Pecker: chile rubbed roasted chicken, pinto beans, lettuce, tomato, and cheddar cheese with your choice of red or green sauce.

2. best selling pizza: the Foghorn: cilantro, pumpkinseed pesto with chile rubbed roasted chicken, goat cheese, red onion, and toasted pepitas

I also loved the green chile hummus and washed everything down with the cilantro lemonade.

Of all the wonderful flavors, I have to give a personal two thumbs up to their salsas. Given the choice, I'll normally take a hatch green chile sauce over a red any day but this trailer had me changing my tone. First, they import dried New Mexican red chiles (from New Mexico) and then soak them. The next step involves blending them with super secret seasonings. I'm telling you, I think that is the best New Mexican red chile sauce I've ever had. Honest. Check it out for yourself - they are located on South Congress and Gibson in a yellow trailer; can't miss 'em.

Get Lucky at Lucky's Puccia's

2012-01-21T12:05:00.001-06:00

You've driven by it - the flame-kissed trailer by the Tiniest Bar across the street from Whole Foods downtown. Lucky's Puccia's opened in August of 2010, founded by Chef Lucky himself. Lucky came to the states in 2007 for love, he says, and brought with him the puccia (an Italian bread) from his childhood. "Aunt Maria was the only one who had a traditional wood burning oven in my hometown in Italy. I loved the smell, and the consistency of softness so I learned how to make it by working for them in the summers," Lucky shares.

He's been baking bread for over twenty years and with his culinary expertise has attracted loyal customers that will eat his sandwiches three or four times a week. The puccia bread is the foundation of his concept. Innovated in the Southern part of the boot, this type of dough is made fresh daily and Lucky bakes it to order in his wood burning oven (he uses Oak here, but in Italy they use Olive wood). He let me in the trailer and I literally watched it raise before my eyes. He split it in two, and made the "Lucky", which is his best seller. It contains Boars Head prosciutto di Parma (from Italy), arugula, mozzarella, tomato and a really incredible aioli.

"I miss the flavors of Italy," Lucky said when I asked him how often he visited home. "I need to go connect with the flavors. I miss the beach too. I used to go snorkeling every morning at 7am and I could recognize the schools of fishes. It's been five years since I've been back."

While I was there, he let me sample the lemon artichoke pesto (incredible), the basil aioli (delish), the nutella (whats not to love), and the olive tapenade (finely ground with simple ingredients). He knows many of his customers by name and yells "Ciao bella!" at the ladies walking up to get their 'Vegetarianas', or "Comestai?" at the guys returning for another puccia. One of his pride and joys is the pastrami, which he melts with three Italian cheeses in the oven before topping with grilled mushrooms, peppers, onions and chipotle aioli. You're going to love whatever you get, so I suggest planning on going with friends to split some items to share - or - just making several visits.

I also met Jimi, delivery-guy extroidinaire. He's been pedi-cabbing for over 6 years and can swing you a Southern Italian fresh baked puccia sandwich if you're in the downtown area. Call your order in at: 512-739-8785.

Trailer Food Tour on Rocket Electrics bikes

2012-01-16T11:25:00.000-06:00

As you might know, the initial funding for my cookbook came from creating a kickstarter account. One of my kickstarter investor angels had the idea to combine two of his favorite companies (Rocket Electrics + Trailer Food Diaries) to create a trailer food tour on electric bikes. I must say, I used the 'electric' on the hills which means I didn't burn off quite as many calories as I might have hoped. On the tour, we had a musician in from Chicago who later played at Ego's, an Opera Singer who sang a scale for us in a parking garage, a photographer, and a few entrepreneurs.

First, we had the good fortune to have planned it on a gorgeous weather day here in Austin. It was about 70 degrees, with a cool sunny breezes. We took a practice run up to a point that had a view of the city and town lake for some photo ops, then hit our first trailer: That's Amore. There, we chowed down on their newest addition to the menu, which is the meatball panini. Although that was my personal favorite, everyone else voted the roast beef as the crowd favorite. We polished off Angela's house salad (one of my favorite salads in Austin), and a few cannoli and peligrino to wash it all down. Next time you are there, try the cherry-pistachio. Holy OMG. Angela comes from a large Italian family and she makes you feel right at home from the get go. She'll take your order, take pride in making it for you, and get it to you real timely with a big hug for the regulars. Although she doesn't cache her menu as 'comfort food' (it's authentic Iatalian), it's one of the first places I think of when I want someone to cook for me. You know the feeling. She gave up the basil lemonade and olive tapenade recipes in the Trailer Food Diaries Cookbook.

We then hopped on our bikes and toured the hike and bike trail, stopping to soak in views at various points along our way to Luke's Inside Out. If you haven't been to Luke's yet, you're bound to be curious. He's one of the ones I talk about a lot when people ask me who my favorite trailers are. Why? He's creative and is the master of his kitchen, serving things like Korean BBQ rabbit, and frog legs. My 'Luke's' favorite? The Shrimp. He somehow made a shrimp patty to use as the base of his sandwich, and tops it with spinach, red onion, apple, blue cheese, honey and other goods to make one of the most satisfying sandwiches in trailerdom. He contributed the watermelon wedge salad in my cookbook and it has some surprise ingredients (like orange flavored pop rocks!) You'll want to try the Love sauce too. Luke will tell you they make Love twice a day in the kitchen :).

And about the bikes we were riding. Rocket Electrics is situated at 1608 E. Riverside Dr. (78741). The daily rate for an electric bike rental is $25 or $40 for overnight (24 hour rental). Straight from their site, here's a little more about what they do and some FAQ's about the bikes:

"Rocket Electrics carries only carefully selected electric bikes with the best components, batteries, and warranties, in many colors and frame styles. How fast and how far can an electric bike go? Depending on your size, the hills on your ride, and how much you pedal, the brands that we carry can travel about 20 miles at speeds up to 20mph. Plus, unlike a moped, you can ride it and park it just about anywhere. As an added bonus, Austin Energy customers can enjoy a $100-150 rebate on an electric bike purchase."

There is still time to buy a raffle ticket ($10/ea) to win a $1900 electric bike. Proceeds go to "please be kind to cyclists" and the drawing will be made on February 15th. PS - Stay tuned for the foodie tours they are putting together.

Your in Luck! Ms. P's has black eyed peas for new years!

2011-12-29T18:54:00.000-06:00

Today I had lunch at Ms P's Electric Cock on South Congress in Austin, Texas with Ms.P-regular Don Dickson, and my fun foodie cousin Brooke Heller, in from Vancouver. This beautiful shiny trailer with a flashing yellow and red neon "CHICKEN" sign sets between a China Berry tree and a Spanish Oak on the 1100 block of South Congress. You can park in a

spacious lot behind Doc's close to the music row, or bike over from the trail. Regarding Perry's (Ms. P) menu I think Don put it best: "She figured out that the art of Southern Cooking is to take something that is good for you, and make it bad for you." When you take chicken and fry it, or take blue cheese to cole slaw, or just straight up order the mac and cheese you shouldn't count calories, just friends to share it with.

Although fried chicken is her specialty, the black eyed peas were what brought us to this popular chicken trailer. For those new to southerly traditions, we here south of the mason dixon dish up black eye peas on New Years day. Matter of fact, my mother always told me it had to be the first thing in my mouth in order to get the good luck it is purported to project. We make our family's version of hot water (fried) cornbread, serve black eye peas on top and grill some sausage for the side dish. And voila: Happy New Year. Perry grew up in West Texas with the same Southern tradition of eating black eyed peas on new years day. In her words, "We spent New Years losing the worst part of the last year instead of making resolutions. That's how it should be - remember the good parts and leave the rest."

You can order your black eyed peas through Ms. P's through tomorrow, 12/30

Get your order in to avoid bad luck in 2012. Call her up: 512-912-7778. A big heaping helping will serve two folks for $5 and comes garnished with sour cream, bacon and chives. Whether you're curing a hangover, or looking for luck, it would be good to have these in the fridge ready for you when you wake up on New Years Day. Migas are for every other day of the year.

Side note for when you go for your next fried chicken meal: Although she won't disclose the secret ingredients that create chicken-addicts out of her fans, she did say she gets her organic chickens from Holmes Foods in Gonzales, Texas. Thanks Ms. P for keeping it local!

How Portland's Pods stack up

2011-12-26T13:33:00.000-06:00

It's true! The next city in the Trailer Food Diaries Cookbook series is (drumroll).... Portland, Oregon! More stories coming soon - but until then, check out this review I wrote on Culture Map about this very cool city and how they do 'trailer food'. I'm excited about all their contributions - from Viking Soul Food, to Pig Cone (waffles), Vegan BBQ to Banana Puddin', Aligator Jambalya to Chai Tea and home brew - we have a lot to blog about in the new year.

Battle on Burnet

2011-12-20T17:01:00.000-06:00

Allow me to introduce guest-blogger Kelly Beener, who was able to attend the Battle on Burnet while I was in Portland collecting food cartopia recipes for the Portland edition of the Trailer Food Diaries Cookbook. Thank you Kelly! I know it was a tough assignment :) ~ Tiffany Harelik

Battle on Burnet
~Guest-blogger Kelly Beener

Bacon lovers flocked to last night's Battle on Burnet, for a showdown between Peached Tortilla and Roll On Sushi. Participants were pigging out to a 3 round tasting course featuring the salty meat of bacon and casting their votes for the favorite dish of the night.

Why bacon? "It's a great anytime kind of meat, and it improves the flavor of almost any dish" was a common theme amongst tasters. Eyes lit up and mouths dropped in eagerness to get the first tasty bites.

Chef, and owner Eric Silverstein of Peached Tortilla knocked it out of the park with pork belly and shrimp stuffed wonton's. A classic dish prepared by his mother growing up, known as "Mom's Wonton's".

I'm a total bacon snob, and I was truly excited to see what else unique was going to come out of the kitchen using the traditional ingredients from both Peached Tortilla and Roll On Sushi.

And there it came… the B.L.T.G. A take on the traditional Bacon Lettuce Tomato sammie, but rolled up sushi style. The fried green tomato and avocado encased in bacon, nori, and sushi rice was a clear winner for me. Koodos to Chip and Chad Reed, owners of Roll on Sushi.

The 3rd round did a pork number on us! Roll On Sushi brought out "The Elvis"… peanut butter, bacon, banana, wrapped in a crispy egg roll wrap. Served with a duel of chocolate and ancho chili dust.

The pig product boared it's way into our culture last night. Think P.I.G.

The mobile food truck Peached Tortilla serving up Asian and Southern influenced cuisines. Check them out on Facebook or Twitter for there roaming locations:

http://twitter.com/#!/peachedtortilla

https://www.facebook.com/peachedtortilla?ref=ts

Roll On Sushi aims to provide a unique, affordable sushi fusion experience. Check them out here:

https://www.facebook.com/RollOnSushiDiner

Look for more Battle on Burnet events! Support local, community, and charities. Flatwater Foundation was a special guest of the evening. Half of ticket sales were donated to this important cancer cause.

http://flatwaterfoundation.org/Flatwater_Foundation.html

Gifting: a Cookbook with food truck recipes from Austin!

2011-12-06T11:01:00.000-06:00

ABIA airport in Austin, TX

It's that time of year, and I'd love to recommend the first cookbook in the Trailer Food Diaries Cookbook Series. This is the Austin edition, and it is full of recipes and factoids about their street food culture. In addition to the great secrets about food that are shared, there is an entrepreneurial story behind each food cart that is featured along with their recipe.

It was released at the second annual Gypsy Picnic, of which I am a co-founder. We had nearly 30,000 festival-goers come to the picnic this year, who enjoyed everything we love about Austin: live music and trailer food, on the lake in a family- and fido- friendly environment.

The Trailer Food Diaries Cookbook: Austin Edition can be purchased and shipped easily for great holiday gifts. Here is where you can find them:

Shop online (it's in a soft cover or ebook format):

Amazon

Barnes & Nobles

Shop locally:

Book People

Austin Airport (ABIA)

Waterloo Records

Crofts Original

Progress Coffee

South Congress Books

Party Cat

Tarrytown Pharmacy

Pink West (Dripping Springs)

Zinger

Wanderland (both locations)

All 10 Torchy's locations

La Boite

Way South Philly

Lucky J's (Burnet Rd. location)

Cutie Pies

La Travassa Boutique

Austin Land and Cattle

Mercedes Flowers

Lizzie's Lunchbox: Texas-Mediterranean

2011-11-29T10:59:00.000-06:00

Lizzie's BOGO Special - TODAY ONLY: Buy one entree, get one 1/2 off 11/29.

I admit, I had a proud pat-yourself-on-the-back kind of smile on my face when a fellow blogger gave me props for my sweet tea brine which is part of a two-step process I have for soaking my chicken before frying. So when I heard about the Cherry Dr. Pepper marinated lamb Pita at the Texas-Mediterranean "Lizzie's Lunchbox" trailer, I knew I was going to like her style. If lamb isn't your favorite, she marinades her chicken in chile-lime for another Tex-Med Pita option.

The concept for Lizzie's was born in Marfa, Texas during a girl's weekend. "I think the best food we had on this weekend came out of a truck - we sat around saying 'this is so good: it's delicious, it's affordable. So my friends said 'Lisa, you should open a food truck!' and we mulled it over on the eight hour drive back to Austin." (Clarification: Lizzie's name is Lisa / Lizzie is the youngest of four and that is her nickname.)

Recently Lizzie's was filmed on Eat Street, a national TV series that airs on the Cooking Channel via Food Network Canada. Some of the producers mentioned to me they were most interested in Lizzie's trailer because it was the first interview they had conducted on a suburban mom trailer-owner. Something I love about this Mom-owned trailer is that she offers a kids menu! (grilled cheese or pbj with chips for $4).

Best seller: Tex-Med Pita Wrap (you'll want to add tabbouleh, hummus, and pita chips to your wrap for $2)
Other favorites: 1. Cedar Plank Salmon (wild Alaskan salmon encrusted with crushed peppercorns, herbs and spices, brushed with honey glad and smoked on a cedar plank. Served with tabbouleh and a small tex-med salad. 2. Salted Chocolate Chip Cookies. Big chunky chocolate chips with salt on the chunks.

Julia Child is another source of inspiration for Lizzie. "I grew up in the Midwest with limited exposure to worldly food, but every Sunday I would sit down and watch Julia Child on PBS. I remember making 'puff pastry' when I was 12 years old. I didn't even know what puff pastry was, but since Julia made it - I wanted to, and it was interesting to me. She opened this whole new world of cooking things I never had. I remember her cooking duck. I didn't know people ate duck. She was funny. I liked her style and the world she opened up to me."

Lizzie's trailer is unique in that she is located in a non-traditional food truck location: 10401 Jollyville Road (78759) in the parking lot of the Arbor Car Wash and next to Manuel's. As her name states, she is open for lunch Monday-Saturday from 11a-2p. They also do lunch catering to your location.

Stay tuned on their Facebook and twitter (@lizzieslunchbx) for daily specials.

A Thanksgiving Trailer Story

2011-11-23T18:56:00.000-06:00

I wrote a special piece for Culture Map Austin about a trailer that based their concept right at their Thanksgiving table. Imagine one heaping dinner roll stuffed with everything on the table, and call it a favorite menu item. That's what founders Ricardo and Jacob did when they opened the Rockin Rolls food trailer. Check out the full story on Culture Map (link pending), which includes a recipe for my own father's Thanksgiving dinner rolls that is better than anything Sister Schubert ever put out (wink).

More trailers with Thanksgiving specials:

Trey's Cuisine will be serving Prime Rib, Savory Bread Pudding , Demi Glaze , and Broccoli for a cool $11 today (11/23). And on 11/25, he's got
Roasted wild boar ( from Countryside Farms ) , Pan Gravy , & Roasted Pumpkin Hash until it's goneski. 1219 South Lamar Blvd.
Torchy's Tacos has their famous Turkey Mole taco every November. It's a Texas-fried Turkey taco which has Oaxacan mole sauce, Mexican rice, avocado, queso fresco and fresh cilantro. 1311 S. 1st St. for the trailer location.
Kate's Southern Comfort will take care of your turkey needs - she's got cajun fried turkey's priced at $55 for a bird, or $30 for a half. Find them posted up at their new location by Giddyups: 12010 Manchaca Rd.

Portland - here we come!

2011-11-17T12:05:00.000-06:00

The launch of the Trailer Food Diaries Cookbook: Austin Edition has been fun to say the least. All the TV, print, radio and social media buzz (and sales) have powered us up to continue our national-quest to provide you with the best street food recipes, and we are heading to PDX! You can look for your copy of the Trailer Food Diaries Austin Edition online or in stores now, and the Portland edition will be launched next April. Now we are on assignment to find the best of the best trailer food, in the trailer food capitol of the world. Email Tiffany (tiffany@trailerfooddiaries.com) with any suggestions, and be sure to subscribe to our newsletter. Stay tuned for posts coming up about Thanksgiving specials from the ATX trailers, as well as a special feature on which trailers have been promoted to brick and mortar.

Ni Haowdy! "Fresh off the Truck" is fresh off the hook

2011-11-06T17:08:00.000-06:00

I spent the day with Fresh off the Truck (FOT) owners Paul and Tova while Eat Street (Food Network Canada) filmed us demonstrating how to make traditional Asian Street Food. With Tova's Chinese heritage and Paul hailing from Vietnam, FOT prides themselves on serving authentic Asian food (no fusion fare). Their tagline, Ni Haowdy is a play on the Mandarin 'Ni Hao' (meaning hello), and the Texan 'Howdy' (for hi y'all).

They currently are open for lunch Monday-Friday and are located on the University of Texas at Austin's longhorn campus just behind the Castilian dorm on 23rd. With her background in culinary school, Tova is well educated in flavor and makes all of their sauces fresh daily. My personal favorite is their Crispy Scallion Pancake in Dumpling Dipping Sauce and like a good friend would do, Tova had one ready for me before I could order. This is the kind of great customer service you can expect if you decide to become a FOT-er.

I also had a chance to try their Daikon Omelet which was equally impressive. What other brunch do you get to use chop sticks to eat? Their banh-mi's are only $4 and definitely a meal for two. In fact, while we were there, two girls came up and ordered the Pho to share ($6 total for two meals ain't bad in my book).

Busy week in trailer land

2011-10-31T20:39:00.000-05:00

This week we have a fun schedule - join us for any or all of it:

Monday: 10/31: KTBC news spot
Tuesday: 11/1: KEYE news spot
***Wednesday: 11/2: Torchy's Guac and Talk - join us for a book signing, cake ball giveaway, guacamole eating night at Torchy's trailer park location: 1311 South 1st St. at 7pm - RSVP on facebook
Thursday: 11/3: We have a booth at First Thursdays - come snag some holiday gifts ATX style
Friday 11/4: I'll be selling the cookbook at the Holiday Collectibles Show 9:30a-6p
Saturday 11/5: Again at Holiday Collectibles: 9:30a-3p and at noon filming with Eat Street

Normal trailer reviews will resume shortly thereafter.

Trick or Trailer - Happy Halloween!

2011-10-31T11:19:00.000-05:00

The Austin food trailers are doing their part to make sure you play up Halloween today. Here is an article I wrote about some of Austin's SWEETEST TRAILERS (via CultureMap.com). Additionally, here are some fun options for hallowinners at the trailer parks:

Way South Philly - CANDY for kids in costumes
Chi'Lantro - Participate in our costume contest downtown tonight and tomorrow for a chance to win a $20 ChiLantro giftcard
Blenders & Bowls - The Pumpkin Bowl: açaí topped with pumpkin granola, bananas, dried cranberries, cacao nibs, and cinnamon pumpkin spice.
Rockin Rolls - $5.00 rolls with costume.. Best female costume wins free RR t-shirt
Hill Country Pierogi Truck - Bring your kid or pet to the truck in costume for $2 off an order of sweet pierogi
Spartan Pizza - All day Fri & Sat, $3 off 14" / $2 off 10" pizzas when you're in costume! We <3 Halloween
Mambo Berry - Bring us a pumpkin for a free frozen yogurt. Carve it first to be a part of our pumpkin carving contest. The berry best pumpkin wins a MamboBerry gift certificate. Also make sure to stop by while trick or treating.
Kat's Ice Cream - Free ice cream if you bring a pumpkin
Hey Cupcake - has BooCakes!

Gypsy Picnic Cook-off Winners

2011-10-24T21:04:00.000-05:00

East Side King

The 2nd annual Gypsy Picnic held a unique trailer food cook-off prior to gates opening.

After a few hours of sampling the top trailer entries the judges' concluded the following trailers will have bragging rights, at least until the next Gypsy Picnic:

Best on a Bun: East Side King - Poor Qui's Buns
Best Veggie: Kebabalicious- Falafel Kebab
Best Taco: Torchy's Tacos - Baja Shrimp Taco
Best Ethnic: Mmmpanadas - Traditional Argentinian
Best Drink: MamboBerry - Strawberry Basil Smoothie
Best Dessert: Hey Cupcake! - Pumpkinator

Trailer food fans also had the opportunity to text their votes in for their personal favorites. The winners receive an extensive media marketing package courtesy of KGSR. This year's fan favorite?

Fan Favorite: East Side King

Tiffany Harelik & Bryan Beck post-judging

Thank you to our judges, who included:

Stephanie Keller – Food and Music writer at the Huffington Post
Bryan Beck – Radio personality at KGSR
Paula Forbes - Food editor and writer at eater.com
Mick Vann - Food writer, blogger, and critic, cookbook author, chef, restaurant consultant
Todd Boatwright – Morning Anchor at YNN
Courtney Bond - Food editor and writer at Texas Monthly
Cathy Cochran-Lewis - Senior Global Program Leader, Whole Foods Market/President of Austin Food & Wine Alliance
Chef Ethan Holmes, Chef de Cuisine – Second Bar + Kitchen
Chef Philip Speer - Executive Pastry Chef at Uchiko
and one uest judge/Winner/Blogger via a Culturemap contest

Follow the festival:
@gypsypicnic
@trailerfood

GYPSY PICNIC - this weekend! October 22nd

2011-10-16T18:03:00.000-05:00

Bring yourself down to the best trailer food festival in the nation taking place in Austin, Texas this weekend.

Date: October 22^nd

Time: 11a-8p

Location: Auditorium Shores, Austin

What: 2^nd annual Trailer Food Festival

Web: www.gypsypicnic.com
Benefitting the Sustainable Food Center

FREE ADMISSION! Come on down!

I met with C3 Presents in May of 2010 about an idea to turn this very blog into a festival for Austinites. By November of that year, we had attracted nearly 20,000 people and 30 trailers down to the first annual Gypsy Picnic trailer food festival. We are serving up another helping at the second annual Gypsy Picnic held this coming weekend. We have made a few changes to expand the park (but hopefully not your girlish figure), which entails more space, more trailers, more stages and more fun. Auditorium Shores is a dog park by nature, and that won't change for the festival. Bring you dogs, just please be courteous of other festival goers and have something on hand to clean up. Here are some of the details:

TRANSPORTATION:

Carless: Walk/Jog on the hike and bike trail, take your bike (Mellow Johnny's will be there), take a cab or pedi-cab, or ride the Capitol Metro.
Parking a car: C3 has put together a list of five area parking garages. They aren't free, but the festival is!

MUSIC SCHEDULE:

11:50-12:30: BOY
1:15-2:15: Alabama Shakes
3:00-4:00: Dale Watson
4:45-5:45: Hacienda
6:30-8:00: Delta Spirit

FOLLOW THE FESTIVAL on TWITTER:

LIKE US ON FACEBOOK:

LIST OF TRAILERS: Over thirty trailers will be offering both full size and sample size portions from a limited menu for festival attendees. Subject for last minute changes, but here is who made the cut:
86 This!
Bananarchy
Be More Pacific
Blenders and Bowls
Chi'Lantro BBQ
Colibrí Cuisine
Conscious Cravings
Coolhaus
East Side King
FireFly Pies
Fresh Off the Truck
Gourdough's Big. Fat. Donuts.
Hey Cupcake!
Holy Cacao
Hog Wild BBQ
Irie Bean
JuJu's Kaboose
kebabalicious
La Fantabulous
Lee's Hurricane Party
MamboBerry
Man Bites Dog
mmmpanadas
Rockin Rolls
Sabor Colombiano On Wheels
Short Bus Subs
Snarkys Moo Bawk Oink
Spartan Pizza
Tenderland
The Jalopy
the peached tortilla
The Zubikhouse
Torchy's Tacos
Trey's cuisine
VERTS

Book Signing at Book People - Wednesday 10/12: 7pm

2011-10-11T12:37:00.000-05:00

The cookbooks are here! Please join me for a fun evening at Book People in Austin, Texas:

What: Book Signing at Book People
When: Wednesday 10/12: 7pm-9pm
Food: the Peached Tortilla & Holy Cacao
Drinks: Thank you to the Onion for providing complimentary St. Arnold's brew

Come get the first copies off the press for your holiday gifts.

Bubba's BBQ in Cross Plains, TX

2011-10-10T10:15:00.000-05:00

It isn’t uncommon for me to find myself lost, even in my hometown. Even in very small towns. So it wasn’t that big of a surprise that I missed my turn to my parent’s ranch and found myself approaching Cross Plains. I usually can scoot through the country avoiding many of the main roads, so it had been awhile since I had been through ‘town’. Just as I picked up my phone to let Mom know I was going to be a little late, I noticed a trailer off the side of the highway and hung up.

Bubba’s BBQ was situated in a red trailer just off highway 36. I left Levi in the car (with the windows down) and got out my camera to snap a few pics. Since they were open and it wasn’t high feeding time, they welcomed the opportunity to chat. Turns out, Bubba is a 22-year old entrepreneur who started his trailer food business when he was 18. His grand-dad Sam had just gotten done plowing and was there to do most of the answering.

Bubba’s best seller at this location is his pork ribs. He has a second location in San Angelo that does pretty well by their standards. The family worked together to build the trailer in about 90 days and are fully certified through the Abilene health department. Sam mentioned they use Oak to smoke their meats instead of Mesquite, which has been a source of food allergies for some. When I asked what the difference in taste was, Bubba told me the Oak-smoked had a deeper, heavier flavor.

Their rubs have no preservatives and they are proud of the quality and freshness of their foods. While they raise Limousin cattle for auction, they do not slaughter their own beef. They are building a little brick and mortar spot next door to the trailer and hope to move in soon.

Art's BBQ in Port O'Connor

2011-10-03T13:06:00.000-05:00

Recently I took a trip to the South Texas coast with my dog not looking for anything other than waves. So when I drove into Port O'Connor and found trailer food (of all things) I was pleasantly surprised. I'll be honest. I drove past it and straight to the real estate office to get the scoop. They vouched for the brisket, which they said was hard to beat. Since I have dual citizenship in BBQ country, I know brisket. From Franklin's in Austin, to the Salt Lick in Driftwood, Perini's in Buffalo Gap to Joe Allen's in Abilene, I've had good brisket.

I raised a suspicious eyebrow and drove back down the street to give it a go. Afterall, when you're at the coast, you tend to find yourself in the mood for shrimp, crab, snapper or anything edible under the sea. But not BBQ. Anyhow, Levi stayed in the backseat with the windows rolled down as I approached the impressive BBQ trailer.

Art himself wasn't there, but his lovely wife and the daughter "they wished they'd never had" rolled down the window and handed me a slice of brisket. Like any good South Texas hostess would, they lit a cigarette, poured some coffee and came out to sit down with me for a spell. I learned the stuffed baked potato (weighing in at 2.5-3 lbs/tater) was their best seller, and that people drive from miles around for their mouth-watering chicken they cook on Sunday's only.

With over 17 years in the restaurant business, Art retired his brick and mortar only to put his culinary expertise to the test in a new version of restaurants in Port O'Connor. Getting back to the brisket, Levi and I both approve. It was tender, smoky and lean - everything a good brisket should be. I hope to put them in my next chapter of adventures in a series I'm writing called "Coastal Dives". Meanwhile, I hope to squeeze a recipe or two out of Art the next time I'm down there fishing.

Bufalo Bob's & Bananarchy

2011-09-24T15:11:00.000-05:00

I'm in Port O'Connor checking out their version of trailer food. It's good! Real good. While you're waiting for the mouth-watering write ups, check out this new article on Culture Map about my friends on the 600 Block of South Lamar:

Bufalo Bob's & Bananarchy

3 Days of ACL GIVEAWAYS

2011-09-13T19:35:00.000-05:00

We are giving away:

$300 in gift certificates to hi5 mobile marketing
2 ACL tickets
1 TFD cookbook

All you have to do for your chance to win some goodies are these little things that mean so much:

TWITTER: follow Trailer Food Diaries on twitter: www.twitter.com/trailerfood & follow Tiffany Harelik on twitter: https://twitter.com/#!/tiffanyharelik
FACEBOOK: message Trailer Food Diaries on facebook with a picture of you at your favorite trailer (anywhere in the world) hint: you've got to like Trailer Food Diaries on facebook first
MOBILE: scan our QR code and download our mobile app to your phone (any phone with internet abilities) - then save it on your phone by bookmarking it

We will announce the winners on Thursday 9/15 via facebook and twitter.

Municipal Taste: Don't Mind if I Do

2011-08-31T13:42:00.000-05:00

Location: 1817 S. Lamar Austin, TX 78704
Phone: 512-788-1517

Hours: Tuesday - Saturday 11a-7p
Web: http://municipaltaste.com/

I'm going to go out on a limb here and coin their genre of food as "South Austin Bistro". Their menu equals the quirkiness of 78704 plus industrial trailer with tight cuisine. Although their pulled pork sandwich and lamb burgers came highly recommended, I went for the "Velvet Elvis": sliced bananas served on grilled sourdough with bacon, peanut butter, and habanero jelly.  Every bite was amazing.  It came out exactly as I would have made it if I were to have prepared it at home. Crispy bacon. Crispy toasted sourdough. Fresh nanners. The right amount of pb and j. The habanero jelly makes it just Texas enough without wearing out it's welcome.

So who are the guys behind the trailer? Meet Keegan Archer and Philip Evans (thats one L, get it straight). Formerly both in real estate, they found themselves 'gainfully unemployed', as Keegan tells the story. They were cooking lunch socially one day when they decided to go into business for themselves with the Municipal Taste Trailer. "We created low paying jobs for ourselves in comparison to what we were doing before, and we've never been happier. Working in the trailer really helps you see the lack of value of money."  Well said, K-Arch.

They grow their own herbs, which you can see in an aluminum container in front of their trailer and are excited about the anticipated "Crossroads" bar opening up across the parking lot from them. They give a nod to Odd Duck and East Side Kings as successful trailers that have proven models and eventually hope to open a brick and mortar version of their trailer.

Trailer Food Under 500 Calories

2011-08-26T19:22:00.000-05:00

Yes, it's possible to eat trailer food and stay slim - check out this article I wrote for Culture Map Austin and find some healthy choices at:

Sun Farm Kitchens
Mmmpanadas
Counter Culture
Holy Cacao
La Boite Cafe
Blenders and Bowls
Conscious Cravings
Mambo Berry
Fresh off the Truck

Back to school! Find the best trailer food on campus

2011-08-19T14:00:00.000-05:00

Here is an article I recently wrote for CultureMap.com on where to find trailer food if you're on campus in Austin, Texas.

Kate's Southern Comfort Gumbo - photo by Bill Lanier

Torchy's 5th bday / Scavenger Hunt Party TODAY

2011-08-13T10:31:00.000-05:00

...Well, technically the birthday was Saturday, the 6th, but we can all pretend. Happy 5th Birthday, Torchy!

The first Torchy’s Birthday Crawl began at 8am on Saturday, the 13th. Thus far, we have 87 teams (of 2) registered and Crawlin'! The 'Crawl' is a scavenger-hunt style competition across all of the 8 Torchy’s Tacos locations.

******The winning team is awarded 1-year of free tacos, a Torchy’s tee, bottle of Diablo Hot Sauce and official bragging rights. (Estimated Retail Value: $876.95/ea). I'll report back with who you can congratulate (and hit up for tacos!)

JuiceOver

2011-08-06T00:04:00.000-05:00

Luis & Rachael are the only juicers in town using a special Cactus in their creations at the JuiceOver trailer. Their original intent was to market this special variety of cactus (juice) as an all-natural hangover cure, but they soon transitioned out of the night life market and into the health market. Their best seller is their original formula (and trailer's namesake). It contains cactus with green apple, lemon, ginger and orange. It is a wonderful detox drink and has a light, tart, citrus flavor. Cactus, Luis tells me, is a powerful anti-inflammatory and the only plant that has all twenty-four anti-oxidants in it. Their original formula has helped alleviate joint and arthritis issues for Luis, who is able to work in the trailer for 12-14 hours/day. The JuiceOver trailer is in a newly developing park on West 5th, close to Black Swan Yoga. So after you get your Om on, head over to the JuiceOver for some added detox.

Get Excited about the Gypsy Picnic!

2011-07-29T17:33:00.000-05:00

Woohoo! The *Gyspy Picnic is coming back to Auditorium Shores in Austin, Texas this coming October 22nd. This 2nd annual trailer food festival will attract about 40 vendors all in one spot for you to come sample their best-selling food selections that won't hurt the pocket book at $3/item or less. We are taking over an even bigger footprint in the park, so there will be plenty of room to romp and chew this year. We are also better prepared to move the lines more quickly for the masses, so you won't have to spend your time at the park in line. Mark your calendar to come to this free, foodie, dog-friendly event with live music on a beautiful Saturday in October (that doesn't conflict with a UT game!). There is still time for vendors to apply online through August 11th; we can't wait to reveal who is coming!

VENDORS APPLY HERE NOW! don't miss the biggest trailer food festival of the year in your own backyard! We want to see you there!

*The Gypsy Picnic is produced by C3 Presents (bringing you such festivals as ACL and Lollapalooza) along with Trailer Food Diaries (bringing you all things trailer-food: cookbook, magazine, TV, exclusive Gypsy Picnic coverage).

Soco To Go

2011-07-22T15:59:00.000-05:00

Sam Rhodes started the SoCo To Go concept as a lunch catering business in July of 2010 and grew into their beautiful blue trailer a few months ago last May. With a background in the Finance, Sam's heart was always to have her own business. Now she is providing home cooked meals to those sitting behind the desks that used to be her world when she worked in real estate accounting. Her personal favorite item on the menu is the chicken fried chicken, which also happens to be a fan favorite. Other best-sellers include her fried pickles, fish tacos, and jalapeno mac n cheese. For a vegetarian modification to the fish tacos, try the fried avocado tacos with all the same fixin's instead. Sam's menu is inspired by home cooked meals from her mother and grandmother in Victoria, Texas. As such, everything from the SoCo To Go trailer is hand made from scratch, daily. She still has a thriving lunch delivery business and is capable of providing large orders to downtown business groups - so give her a call and tell her Trailer Food Diaries sent ya!

Summer in a Cup - part 4 in the snow cone series

2011-07-11T16:46:00.000-05:00

To the left, we have.... summer in a cup! There are many sounds that remind me of summer: the locusts, the hum of the pool cleaner, the neighbors' lawnmower. There are many flavors that remind me of summer too - and South Austin Sno has put all of the special flavors of summer in one radical snow cone that they are calling "Summer in a Cup". This is their best-seller during summer, and contains mango, pineapple, and tiger's blood (which is a blend of strawberry and coconut flavors). Then, they add a squeeze of fresh lime that really makes it a unique cup of snow. Yum!

South Austin Sno is in their 7th season this summer. The business started as a St. Ed's economic project, and has now expanded to two snow cone trailers.

License to Chill .... kolache snow cones! (part 3 in the snow cone series)

2011-07-09T10:37:00.000-05:00

On my way to Taste of Dallas, we saw a cool trailer by the Czech Stop in West, Texas. Naturally, I stopped in to get the story. License to Chill was built from the ground up by three enterprising friends who recently graduated from West High School. They opened this May (2011) with some pretty creative flavors. Taking advantage of their heritage and what West is most popularly known for, License to Chill's best seller is the kolache-flavored snow cone. Pick any flavor you want, and make it kolache-style by adding the sticky gooey sweet cream that they make in a criss-cross pattern over your snow cone, and sprinkle with posipka (Czech sugary froo froo). The owners have their own suggestions for what to get under the kolache topping: red velvet cake, mango, and creamsicle rank among their favorites.

Snow Cones! part 2: Sweet Caroline's

2011-06-30T18:53:00.000-05:00

Let me tell you about David Mebane, born eating snow balls in New Orleans, who's love for fluffy Southern ice has turned into a full-fledged fleet of trailers you'll be able to find sprinkled throughout Austin in the near future. It's a family affair that started when his grandparents would walk with him up to the snow ball stand on Roosevelt Avenue after dinner. One of the recipes for chocolate cream was contributed by David's aunt, who found the recipe in the rubble after she lost her home in the wake of Katrina. A special recipe no doubt, she received it from a friend who had worked at Hansen's (popular snow ball shop in Nawlins'). Sweet Caroline's namesake is David's daughter (Caroline), and the Wild Weston snow ball is named after his son (Weston). Since kids like to order by color (as opposed to flavor), Weston's preference is rainbow - therefore, the Wild Weston has Red (strawberry), Yellow (pineapple), and Blue (blue raspberry).

The 'Pink Lady' is David's favorite - which utilizes a special nectar cream flavor. In fact, the cream drizzled on top of flavored ice is what makes a New Orleans snow ball a little different than the snow cones we grew up with here in Texas. Another interesting menu item from Sweet Caroline's that migrated it's way to Austin is the stuffed snow ball. It starts with ice and syrup in the bottom, followed by a scoop of Blue Bell Vanilla ice cream, and then topped with more fluffy ice and flavor-dy goodness-sakes!

Eco-conscious, these guys do not use styrofoam. Rather, you can carry your treat out in a chinese paper to go square container. Now thats what I call Sno-Ballin'. Check them out: www.sweetcarolinessnowshack.com

Snow Cones! .... Part 1

2011-06-19T21:48:00.000-05:00

It's hot here in the capitol city and one of our favorite summer past times is to stop for a snow cone to cool off. In efforts to provide you with the city's best snow cone, I took a quick text-poll to see what my friends' favorite flavors and trailers were. The results? Everyone loves the watermelon snow cone at Sno-Beach on Barton Springs Road.

Jared Tennant Photography: JTpics.com

Now I'll be honest. I've never ordered a watermelon snow cone. The thought hadn't crossed my mind. But now that friends from all walks of life are telling me it's their favorite, I'll be on a mission to find the best watermelon snow cone of the season. My personal favorite has always been the creamsicle, and I can be found ordering it at the little stand in Tarrytown. If your snow cone trailer doesn't have creamsicle, don't worry - you can create it using half orange and half vanilla flavors. Here are some more of the local favorites:

Fan favorite: Watermelon from Sno-Beach
Other Sno-Beach favorites: Blueberry, Tiger's Blood, Cherry, Mango, Blue Coconut, sugar-free Grapefruit, Strawberry
Jim Jim's: Strawberry Lemonade, Mango, Watermelon,
Kasey's New Orleans Sno Balls:Strawberry & Banana with cream
South Austin Sno: Sour Grape
Moonieburger in Pflugerville: Watermelon
Disch-Falk Field: Dreamsicle (that's from my UT-baseball-lovin' Aunt Tootie!)

Go ahead, sing it - 'The Heat is ON! The Heat is ah-ah-ah-ah-ah-on, the heat is.... ON!"

Catch the Peached Tortilla at Films for the Forest: June 16th

2011-06-12T19:28:00.000-05:00

Eric & Tiffany during SXSW

If you haven't tried the Peached Tortilla at their regular locations, here is an opportunity to try gourmet trailer food at a swanky street party in the Rainey District. The Peached Tortilla truck will be posted outside of local NPO, Rainforest Partnership, during their annual event: Films for the Forest. This film festival, free to the public, showcases international short films. This year's theme is Breath of the Planet. Entries are judged by film professionals Rick Linklater, Ed Begley Jr., Paul Steckler, & Elizabeth Avellan. In addition to great food and films, guests will experience music, art, panel discussions and more - all in the street! This event supports local efforts to protect rainforests in Peru and Ecuador.

When: June 16th 6p-10p
Where: 505 Willow St. ATX/78701
Web: www.filmsfortheforest.org/ or www.rainforestpartnership.org
It's FREE, but RSVP here: http://filmsfortheforest2011.eventbrite.com

More on the food - the Peached Tortilla is a fusion concept that blends Asian food and Southern Comfort Cuisine. Owner Eric Silverstein spent his youth in both Japan and Georgia. As such, his food concept was born. His delectable sliders are served on Hawaiian sweet rolls ($2.50). My current favorite is the Pad Thai taco ($2.25) which includes chicken or tofu sauteed in traditional pad thai sauce, bean sprouts, peanuts and a lime wedge. Check out the menu online: http://thepeachedtortilla.com/menu

Hungry for more? Here is a recent Trailer Food Diaries review in the Austin Man.

Peruvian Street Food: Comida de Paso

2011-06-02T18:39:00.000-05:00

I had a wonderful week in Peru discovering some of the country's most beautiful food and adventures with one of my good friends Maurine, who works to save the Amazonian Rainforest in that neck of the woods. From boat tours to the sea lions and penguins in Paracas, sand-boarding in Huacachina, hiking on the Incan trail up to Machu Picchu, flying over the Nazca lines - it was the Amazing Race meets the History Channel, in Spanish - Trailer Food Diaries style. We had street food ("trailer food") at each point of interest and I gathered some recipes along the way.

Our first street food effort was made here in Lima. We had avocado ("palta") sandwiches and apple-quinoa soup for breakfast before boarding the bus to Pisco. Quinoa, along with corn and potatoes are the country's staple food. Traditional plates also include Cuy (guinea pig), and alpaca (llama). The Avocado sammies were an instant hit and we made them a bunch throughout the trip for snacks. Just fresh baked rolls, sliced avocados and salt.

And here is where we bought the fresh avocados and rolls from street food vendors at the market in Pisco:

Fresh fruit was a common thing for street food vendors to sell in each town. I was surprised to learn that many of the vendors were not growing their own fruit, but shipping it in from other parts of Peru. One of the ladies in this market was making fresh pestos. Some were from aji (their version of the jalapeno - yum!), another was cilantro-based. She suggested using them with a little milk to make a creamy sauce for chicken.

The purple corn in the middle/top of this photo is what is used to make "Chicha Morada" - a corn-based purple juice/drink that is served hot. It is typically non-alcoholic, although, you can ferment it I'm told. Another popular Peruvian drink is the Pisco Sour. Pisco is an alcohol made from a white grape, but not the same grapes used for wine. We flew over some of the Pisco vinyards on the Nazca tour, but I didn't have enough time to go explore the grape up close.

Confession: my favorite meal during the Peruvian adventure was not street food. This was breakfast in Nazca. Potatoes with cheese and herbs and coca tea. Coca leaves are used widely in Peru for tea, or to chew (tobacco-style). The intent when using coca is to clear your head or to remove pain. Indeed...

Award: Coolest Place to get Street Food - at the base of the mountain at the Pisac ruins. This chick makes a mean fresh OJ!

Look! A mobile food vendor, who's a little more than the average Peruvian-street-food-bear. This guy sets up in Cusco ("the belly-button of the world" to the Inca's) and fires up his oven inside the truck to cook pizzas and hamburgers for the tourists.

Among other foodie interests, this area is also known for it's Ceviche and Salt. We passed the main salt island mine in Paracas, which is a major export for Peru along with - um - guano... different islands but remarkably close. Funny quote from the tour: "Guano was used in the 1800's for explosives. Now it's used for agriculture."

Stay tuned for the recipes!

TFD and Gypsy Picnic representin'!

Trailer Food Diaries the SHOW

2011-05-24T19:33:00.001-05:00

Trailer Food Fans, I'm heading to Miami and Peru to check out how they do street food. While I'm out to lunch, I thought you guys might like to have a sneak peak at the TV show the trailer food team is pitching. Special thanks to Keith Maitland (Directing) and Lisa McWilliams (Producing) plus all the crew and wonderful vendors for putting this cool piece together.

Trailer Food Diaries from keith maitland on Vimeo.

Buffalo Bob's Chalupa Wagon

2011-05-21T21:33:00.000-05:00

This is a menu you'll want to take a good look at as you make your list of favorites. RJ, “Buffalo Bob” himself, has combined all my favorite things: healthy choices, traditional Mexican food, authentic Texan recipes, locally sourced ingredients on a Chalupa. I stopped by his ‘wagon’, which is sitting at 600 S. Lamar Blvd. next to the Bananarchy trailer in front of the old Urban Moto shop and ordered ‘the Cretian’ which has hummus, flax seed meal, chopped green olives, ground bison, chopped spinach, onion, tomato and parmesan cheese. He’s serious about his hummus – it’s good and spicy. Even spicier is the dang good Cowboy hummus RJ created by thinking about what a good old country boy would do if he were challenged to make hummus on the spot. You’ll have to ask him for specifics, but I’ll peep and tell you it’s got some peanuts, beer and something good and hot in it all in a true hummus consistency. It’s good stuff.

With 18 varieties of the Chalupa ranging from the traditional version to a selection of healthier alternatives, 65% of his menu is gluten-free and built on low fat tostadas. Even cooler, he uses only range fed bison (Madono ranch) and chicken (Buddie’s) that are all locally and humanely produced sans hormones and anti-biotics. And only organic produce tops his Chalupas. Next time I’m there, I’m going to try the Istanbul Chalupa, which has hummus, marinated artichoke hearts, roasted red peppers, flax seed meal, chopped green olives and other yummy ingredients. Tell the guy with the curly stache that Trailer Food Diaries sent ya!

Eat Street is coming to Austin May 17-21

2011-05-16T17:22:00.000-05:00

Hit TV series Eat Street is filming right here in Austin, Texas this week. I'm honored to be part of the Austin-trailer-foodie team that the crew from Food Network Canada will be featuring. Here are some fun opportunites to come out and support the local trailer food scene while they are being featured. Meet me at the Jalopy tomorrow (Tuesday) at 2p!

Tuesday, May 17th

The Jalopy: Lunch: Noon – 2pm
Mike from http://willruntoeat.wordpress.com/ will be interviewed at the big 18-wheeler at 1pm, and yours truly will be interviewed live starting at 2p.

Tiff's pick - The Gaad Thai Chicken Sandwich (We have this recipe in the Trailer Food Diaries Cookbook!) mmmmm- peanut sauce, cilantro, sriracha, pickled onions- $6.... Says the Jalopy Menu online: "Created in adoration of a super cool guy named Ryan Gaad. Our love for him, and for spicy peanut sauces are unmatched and incontrollable. With that, we have created one of our most popular sandwiches replicating a Thai sauce typically used in stir fry or marinade but just so happens to miraculously meld together with our onions and cilantro to deliver a blissful combination of flavor."

Wednesday, May 18thThe Evil Wiener: Lunch: Noon – 2pm

Tiff's pick: These guys are still new, but the Revolucion Dog is going to be their best-seller. It's also a favorite among the owners, as it's namesake is a street on the main drag in Tijuana where they had their first bites of a bacon-wrapped hot dog. The Evil Wiener's version of the Revolucion is a frank wrapped in bacon with mustard, mayo, ketchup, pico de gallo and tapatillo sauce on top

Thursday, May 19th
Cazamance: Dinner: 5pm – 7pm
Tiff's pick: Whatever Iba is making! I haven't had a bad Cazamance experience yet. Keep your fingers crossed for steak, or go with the bunny chow which is a staple on his menu.

Friday, May 20th
East Side King, Liberty Dinner: 5pm – 7pm

Chef Moto’s band will be playing after the dinner rush

Tiff's pick: I've got their recipe for Thai Chicken Karaage but it tastes better when they do it... – $8....Deep fried chicken thigh with sweet & spicy sauce, fresh basil, cilantro, mint, onion, and jalapeño.

Saturday, May 21st

Pig Vicious - Dinner: 6pm – 9pm
Tiff's pick: The Mescaline High Hat will make you squeal. A quesadilla with smoked bacon, spicy homemade sauce, tomato, cheese and avocado. Things that make you go mmmmm.

Where can you get rattlesnake sausage? Wurst Tex

2011-05-05T10:08:00.000-05:00

Confesison: Part of my colorful past includes a stint in the snake pits of Sweetwater, Texas competing in the Rattlesnake Roundup beauty pageant and scholoarship awards. (Thats a picture of me in high school holding one of the rattlers just before 'milking' it's venom in that little glass dish.) So! I was thrilled to talk to Sam Raver of Wurst Tex, who is serving up this West Texas tradition in a sausage.
Without a wealth of culinary expertise, Sam and fiancée Leslie along with Sam’s step-Dad set out for a new chapter of their lives and developed a straightforward sausage concept for their first shot at the trailer food business. Their menu of exotic game sausages, however, is miles from the standard bratwurst experience. From rattlesnake, venison, rabbit, duck and more to regular sausages and extraordinary vegetarian options the Wurst Tex menu is truly unique.

The ‘predator and prey’ is Sam’s personal favorite. It contains rattlesnake, rabbit and pork with jalapenos. Two fun options for vegetarians that look like real sausage links are the ’04 delight’,a combination of smoked apples, sage and potatoes, and the ‘Veggiano’, which contains eggplant, fennel and garlic.

All City Subs

2011-05-01T19:46:00.000-05:00

Address

3808 S Congress Ave. #2, Austin, TX 78704 ·

Phone

512-516-3660

Website

http://www.twitter.com/AllCitySubs

Hours

Mon - Tues:	11:30 am	-	7:00 pm
Wed - Thurs:	11:30 am	-	1:00 am
Fri - Sat:	11:30 am	-	2:00 am

As a drummer who had played in Austin several times while on tour, J.K. Bellucci moved here and opened All City Subs to fill a need for readily available good sandwiches in Austin. Having worked in every facet of the service industry for 20 years along with learning some tricks of the trade from family recipes, J.K. put together an all-star menu featuring some of his favorite sandwiches.

His pork sandwich is hugely popular. It was influenced from ‘the Mix’, a restaurant in Philadelphia. Although J.K modified the broccoli rabe to a more southern taste by using collard greens, the sandwich is similar. He takes a sweet Italian roll and toasts it with a garlic infused canola oil and builds the sandwich with homemade mustard, collard greens, slow roasted pork dipped in au jus, sweet pickled onions, and smoked provolone. He learned how to slow roast his pork from a family-owned restaurant in Rhode Island that made their roast beef similarly: brine the meat for 6 hours, season and slow roast it for four hours, and let it cool overnight. It takes a full day to develop the product for proper serving.

J.K and his crew aren’t afraid to color outside of the lines a little bit. Their 4/20 sandwich was so popular last April 20^th, they brought it back a week later for Willie Nelson’s birthday (4/30). The 4/20 is a roast beef/pastrami with mustard, cheese, pickled onions, fried egg and Cheetos. Their favorite reaction to the sandwich was a patron proclaiming “I now know what God eats.”

South Shore Eatery (Trailer Park)

2011-04-29T22:26:00.000-05:00

Three's company at the south shore eatery and trailer park, which is home to That's Amore, Lil Mama's and the Giggling Goat. This is my kind of trailer park - three stellar options with a wide variety, some shade, close to the water and easy to find on the bike. They are situated at 1620 East Riverside Dr. (78741) right by the Amli off the hike and bike trail. I'll admit it, at this stage of the game it takes something odd or unique to get me excited. This trailer park is the newest must-do on my list.

This cannoli and panini to the left is from Angela Melia's 74' airstream 'That's Amore'. I was fortunate to be there when both Angela and chef Josh Rippie were there to spoil me with some of the best Italian food I've ever had. Ok fine, I'll go ahead and say it. This was the best Italian food I've ever had. Some of you know that I trained horses the majority of my life, and one of my teachers was from Rome. We would go to her house for 'dinner' and start with wine, cheese and sausages. I would be completely full and half cocked by the time the first salad came out. I somehow would get that down and then came the chicken. Nibbling and at this point trying not to offend the Italian-only-speaking- alpha female, I would go on to eat her lasagne, souffle and dessert - all with wine of course. Eating at Angela's trailer brought back those precious memories of being at an Italian home for dinner. Their food not only tasted good and was made with heart (and tradition), it was big enough for two - typical Italian. I had a wonderful panini, 'the Sicilian', which has italian sausage mixed with bell peppers, fennel and mozzarella. I've been craving the house salad ever since I left. (I think it was the creamy herb parmesan dressing). The salad has a romaine and spring mix, with celery, tomatoes, hearts of palm, cucumber, pepperocini and kalamata and green pimento stuffed olives. I had a spoonful of the cherry pistachio cannoli and that was pretty incredible too. Oh! and I snuck a taste of the pine nut gorgonzola spread (I'm a sucker for gorgonzola!) Angela's menu is inspired by her Sicilian grandparents (all of which have an item named after them). I can't wait to try everything else she offers and you'll be able to make her olive tapenade and basil lemonade at home because they are featured in the trailer food diaries cookbook.

I'm equally excited about the Giggling Goat. I felt obligated to go with the Cabrito Burger (grilled and topped with tomato confit, baby greens, honey mustard, jack cheese and japanese fries) and was not disappointed. Goat is a lean meat and because of it's lower fat content can easily dry out upon cooking. But this burger was not dry at all. If you're looking for an even livlier choice, Chad's menu contains such exotic cuisine as a soft shell crab sandwich, sweet breads, zucchini fries with a poblano ranch sauce and rabbit egg rolls, a little foodie parody containing local rabbit, cabbage, carrots and ginger. Chad gave me the Cordero burger, which is a lamb burger to share with you all in the cookbook.

Speaking of good recipes that will be in the cookbook, Heather from lil Mama's has contributed her version of cheesecake and her grandmother's poundcake. This gal started her dessert trailer because it has been a dream of hers since she was in middle school. Heather started baking when she was thirteen and she has worked for Texas French Bread here in Austin as well Walt Disney World in Orlando where she was a baker and cake decorater. You'll know her truly special breads and treats are made from the heart with the first bite. She's open Thursday thru Saturday 5pm to 9pm.

This trailer park is a triple win - check them out!

We did it! The cookbook is funded!

2011-04-29T15:40:00.001-05:00

Just a quick note to say thank you from the bottom of my heart to those who helped promote and pledged toward the kickstarter campaign. We did it! The production has been funded - the writing is done - you will all have a fun collectible cookbook for this fall. I can't wait to show you the cover.

Campaign to fund the Trailer Food COOKBOOK ends this Wednesday - (get you a copy!)

2011-04-24T13:07:00.000-05:00

Most of you know I have bootstrapped my way through the last year as an entrepreneur in the trailer food scene. I started my company, Trailer Food Diaries, with this very blog. We expanded to co-produce the first annual Gypsy Picnic trailer food festival with C3 Presents (free). We have printed two guides/magazines on trailer food in ATX (also free). I have collected beautiful pictures from local photographers and oddly-gourmet recipes from all of our favorite street food vendors in Austin and pieced them together to create the first volume of the Trailer Food Diaries: COOKBOOK. It is being published & printed locally through Greenleaf Book Group. And this is where I need your help. We created a kickstarter campaign so that you can prepurchase the cookbook while helping me pay for the production and printing of this fun project.

***The campaign ends this Wednesday 4/27. Please pledge your support of $25 or more here (via this link) and I'll send you a signed copy from the first batch that is printed.***

Or - go to www.kickstarter.com and search: trailer food diaries. The more you pledge, the more fun stuff you can get rewarded with.

Why might you snag a copy of this cookbook?

- you LOVE trailer food as much as I do

- you love Austin
- you love trailer food and austin
- you collect cookbooks
- you need some gifts for your peeps (birthdays, christmas, mothers day)
- you want to give your sweetie some ideas in the kitchen
- you want to support a hometown girl and her vision to help inspire entrepreneurs while eliminating childhood hunger while providing scoop on the trailer food scene
- you believe in paying it forward and good kaaaaarmaaaah (most days)

Recipe teaser: Homemade Basil Lemonade
Courtesy of That’s Amore on East Riverside by the Amli

2 C fresh squeezed lemon juice
2 C basil simple syrup*
2 C cold San Pellegrino sparkling water

*To make simple syrup:

1 bunch fresh basil
2 C sugar
1 C water

Cook on stove top, bring water to a boil and add sugar and basil, stir until sugar dissolves. Place in a bowl on an ice bath. Run liquid through strainer when cooled.

To make lemonade:

Mix simple syrup into remaining ingredients. Serve over ice. Yield: 4 to 6 servings.

Cazamance

2011-04-06T10:26:00.000-05:00

I had the great pleasure of sitting down with Iba, owner/creator of Cazamance food trailer in the Rainey district downtown the other night. Iba is a self-taught foodie from South Africa who knows the importance of nutrition and relationships. He practices being kind to all who come to his 'table', which is one of my favorite things about eating at the trailer - you get treated like family, and you get to eat really well.

His menu is African influenced, and yet Iba develops the menu with his own creativity and persuasions. For example, his recent options include a cinnamon rosemary smoked brisket, and a red curry smoked brisket. A little Texas, a little Africa, and you've got a meal to be remembered. He also likes to shop at the Asian market on North Lamar to utilize their wild spices in his creations.

We talked mostly about his Mafe' ('ma-fay'), otherwise known as Peanut Soup. It is an authentic dish from West Africa that he relates to mashed potatoes of the states. It's a dish that makes you think of family and home, but each region will do it a little differently. He gives the example of New Orleans mashed potatoes having different spices and flavors than perhaps the way New York does their mashed potatoes. Same thing with peanut soup. He did give me the recipe which will be featured in my upcoming cookbook - and I have to say I'm excited to start making this at home. You'll have to wait for the publication to get the measurements, but one tip for home-chefs is to make sure the peanut butter is fully dissolved in water before adding it to the soup.

So what is Iba's version of African peanut soup? He says, "My mom cooked it way differently than my recipe. She slow cooked the vegetables like a stew, cooking them for hours. But when you cook vegetables like that for so long, you lose the nutrients. So I prefer to steam the veggies while cooking the body of the soup. I make my soup in 30-45 minutes instead of 5 hours, and mine is healthier," he says with a genuine grin.

Also on his menu is yassa, which is a dish that was developed from food they grow in Senegal: clear-water river fish, lemon, onion and of course the staple rice. I have tried his delicious 'bunny chow' a few times, which is a beautiful plate of meat stuffed in bread. Iba told me this orginated during the Apartheid time when many poor blacks worked in the kitchen and would hide meat inside a loaf or piece of bread. This way, when they were seen giving other blacks food, it just looked like bread. They would add curry and beans as well, making a wholy delicious but secret meal.

'The eyes eat first," he says, so everything that is plated at Cazamance comes out appealing to look at. Every dish that walked by made my mouth water.

Eating at Cazamance gives you the full trailer experience of community, good food, and a friendly Austin vibe under the shade trees. It's across the street from Clive bar (where you're sure to find a friendly bartender), and smack downtown off Red River and Caesar Chavez - super easy to bike to from just about anywhere. Also, Iba is open on Mondays when most trailers are not - so if you're hunkering for something different and nourishing I absolutely recommend trying Cazamance at your next trailer outing.

the Evil Wiener & "Feed the Soul" trailer park

2011-03-31T17:31:00.000-05:00

Tex-mex weiner

I missed opening day yesterday, but I was there for the evil wiener's 2nd day of official business at 15th and Rio Grande for a late lunch today. I met with owners Anna Cummins and Roger Zapata who along with their spouses and their combined 6 children created this recent hot dog truck. Although they have only been open one day they can tell the Revolucion Dog is going to be a best-seller. It's also a favorite among the owners, as it's namesake is a street on the main drag in Tijuana where they had their first bites of a bacon-wrapped hot dog. The Evil Wiener's version of the Revolucion is a frank wrapped in bacon with mustard, mayo, ketchup, pico de gallo and tapatillo sauce on top. I had the Tex-Mex, which includes Roger's carne guisada, cheese and a spicy jalapeno relish that had me reaching for a coke. My daughter Callie had the french fries, seasoned with 'evil dust'. For that recipe Roger said would have to kill me, and since he was a marine for 20 years, I'll take his word for it.

Anna's husband Jeff has more than 15 years experience in fine dining. It was Jeff and Roger who created the evil wiener concept over beers one night, after having worked in the kitchen together. One thing Anna stressed to me was the importance of putting their families first. In her words,"The restaurant industry takes you away from your family, so we decided family first, then food." Their kids have been part of the research and development with family dinner parties and have some summer jobs to look forward to in the trailer.

Anna and crew will be managing the "Feed the Soul" trailer park which is owned by St. Martin's Lutheran Church (across the street). There will be a total of 8 trailer vendors and the park will be open for business in mid-April complete with picnic tables, trees, public restrooms and shade trees. She said their would be diverse and unique food trucks including mexican enchiladas/burritos, tacos, philly cheesesteaks, and more to be released soon. We wish the 'feed the soul' vendors the best of luck in a great new location downtown!

Trailer Food on your FACE: the trailer facial

2011-03-29T21:36:00.000-05:00

Leftover guacamole is not normally a 'problem' in my household. It's one of those favorite tex-mex foods I just can't get enough of. But alas, I had some leftover guacamole from my trailer food adventures today and upon remembering a famous journal entry from 1st grade I was inspired to create the trailer facial. Said journal entry went something like this: "My Aunt came over and put wokamole all over my mom's face. I will never put wokamole on my face." Despite this 20-something-year old vow, I smeared guacamole infused with some other favorite ingredients on my face. It was emollient, luxurient, and I will definitely be doing this again. Meanwhile, I wanted to share the recipe with you, that is good enough to eat and will produce cleopatra-like results on your skin:

Tiffany's Trailer Facial

leftover guacamole from your favorite trailer
agave
coconut oil
rose water
orange flower water
bach flower essences (your choice)
lavender essential oil
fresh squeezed lemon juice

SXSW trailer food crawl for Lucky J's Friday 3/18/2011

2011-03-18T13:02:00.000-05:00

Close to 30 trailers are joining together (separately) to show their support for one of their colleagues: Jason Umlas of Lucky J’s Chicken and Waffles this March 18th (Friday) during South by Southwest. You may recognize Lucky J’s from being in the news recently when one of his trailers was stolen on Christmas day, but that was just one of a series of unlucky events in 2010 that led to the current fund raising quest. After losing his youngest son Lev to cancer, his marriage, and then his trailer in 2010 no one would blame Jason if he gave up. But Jason has been given a new opportunity with the GIFT of a brick and mortar restaurant. When I have spoken with Jason, his spirits are humble and he is optimistic. In his words, “I don’t want help cleaning up my past; I want help with my future.” So in efforts to support a fellow trailer food vendor, these business owners (listed below) have agreed to give up to 10% of their sales to friend Jason for help starting his future.
I have been heavily involved in the trailer food scene in Austin since February of 2010, and can tell you whole-heartedly this community is one of the things that makes me proud to be an Austinite. Not only are the business-owners giving with open arms a percentage of sales on one of their busiest days of the year (arguably their biggest opportunity for income in 2011) to help a friend in need with a huge opportunity on the table, Jason is grateful that something that was meant to benefit his future was also going to help create traffic flow to his cohorts.

Whether you live in town or are visiting our great city, please mark Friday, March 18th on your calendar and eat at one or more of the following trailer food venues with a ‘choose your own adventure’ trailer-style. Below I have listed each of the participating trailers with links to their stories. Please check with each of them for location and hours as things may change during the fun chaos that is SXSW.

East

Lucky j’s
The local yolk
Iggi’s Texitarian
Old School BBQ & Grill
Trailer Perk

Downtown

One Taco
Colibri Cuisine
South Lamar
LaBoite
Texas Cuban

Soco

The frigid frog
Crepes Mille
Flying Carpet

Sofi

Man Bites Dog
Holy Cacao

Barton Springs

Kate’s Southern Comfort
Sushi A Go Go

Roving/Unsure of location

The peached tortilla
86 This
Short Bus Subs
Ice Queens
Mmmpanadas
Ugly Banjos
The coffee trailer / hallowed grounds
Bananarchy
North-ish

Counter culture
Zubikhouse
Elixer Coffee

SXSW trailer opportunities and fun finds

2011-03-15T13:00:00.000-05:00

SXSW stands for "South by South West" - it's is THE coolest interactive and music event that takes place over Spring Break in Austin, Texas. For some who live here and are frustrated by the influx of traffic, the initials stand for so, by so what. For those who are thrilled the global music and itneractive scene has showed up at their back door, it's 'hell by hell yesss'. Either way, SXSW is happening in Austin this week and I've already had some incredible opportunties in trailer food land that I wanted to share right away. But before I get to my 'finds', I wanted to make sure to share three super fun things:

1 - Our Trailer Food Diaries printed GUIDE/DIRECTORY is free! and it's out! I gave 1,000 copies away yesterday and am doing the same volume all week long. Many thanks to Torquil at October Custom Pubishing and Rusty at Ginny's Printing. Thank you advertisers! (kindly email me if you'd like to adverstise in the fall directory: tiffany@trailerfooddiaries.com)

2 - If you need ideas for trailer food vendors to visit while you're in town, check my new 'Tiff's picks' page at the top of this blog.... I have posted what our trailer food vendors recommend on where they like to eat. It's a bit of a cop out so I don't have to answer that dreaded question (what's your favorite trailer) - but, it works.

3 - TRAILER FOOD CRAWL TO BENEFIT LUCKY J'S CHICKEN & WAFFLES - THIS FRIDAY 3/18/11 - I love our trailer food community here in ATX - about 30 vendors are donating a portion of their sales to go to a vendor in need, who had a particularly rough last year with the loss of his youngest son to cancer, the loss of his marriage, a trailer that got stolen on Christmas and not to mention the 'normal; bumps in the road. Jason Umlas, owner of Lucky J's has a positive attitude about his future and has recently opened a brick and mortar restaurant in addition to his trailer(s) (which, to clear up any misconceptions was a gift to him). See subsequent post for a list of participating trailers.

Backing up into the fun I've stirred up already...

Chi'Lantro bulgogi beef fries

I was at 3rd and Colorado with Torchy's Tacos, Chi'Lantro BBQ, and Coolhaus Ice Cream - all = yum. I've been eating with these guys for a year now, but my favorite 'new' thing I tried was the chicken quesadillas at Chi'Lantro, which tasted like bbq chicken but asian with gooey cheddar cheese and a perfectly crisped buttery tortilla. Executive Chef "Bex" popped her head through the window for a spell - tell her trailer food diaries sent you if you check out Chi'Lantro this week (as you well should!). You can find them on twitter @chilantrobbq.com

Kimberly, Tiff, Marla, Joni

The pork experiment on Sunday was not a boar (insert laugh). I met my freind Kimberly Key, author and blogger for Psychology Today, who connected with many of the pork foodies with her love of bread pudding (yes, there is a bread pudding recipe involving bacon). Mentor and friend Marla Camp, publisher of Edible Austin, was there judging. Although I don't know her favorites of the day, I'm going to say "not that Martha" was tops on my list. On a personal note, I loved that not-that-martha and her partner Jo are 6 months into a 'year' of not eating out and not buying new clothes. (They both looked great, and the food was SO good - I'm hoping for a dinner invite soon!). Also pictured was new friend Joni, who was there with Chameleon Cold Brew, newly launched organic fair trade coffee company here in ATX.

Tif & co-founder Nick Suarez

Torchy's with ATX sky line

Royito's

I spent some time promoting Royito's hot sauce with my Royito's friends at a fun GSD&M/google event. If you haven't heard about what Roy Spence of GSD&M is doing to work his way down the corporate ladder with his hot sauce company, and you haven't tasted the salsa yet - check out the story and the sauce before you get out of town. Inspired by lessons from his Dad, Royito's stands for entrepreneurialism and supports small businesses. Royito's is kind of like the Tom's Shoes of hot sauce, in that you have an immediate feel-good, do-good, be-good effect when you eat it (plus it's the best salsa in Texas if you ask me). In short, the Royito's 'lessons' as I call them are to 1 - be kind to everyone, 2 - simplify your life, and 3 - don't do mild (in anything!). Royito's is going to be giving away more free salsa (and beer and music) on St. Patty's day, curbside, at 6th and lamar. Check out this cool airstream with a mission.

Maria of the Flying Carpet

My friends the Flying Carpet were there serving delicious moroccan food alongside Mark Bradly of Ciao Chow Catering, Royito's and Coolhaus Ice Cream sandwiches at a very fun industry party. Party in your pallette!

I helped bring some trailer food vendors to the Plutopia event which was themed with 'play' and held at the Mexican American Cultural Center. Besides the trailers, the coolest thing there were some plants that had been flown in from France. When you touched them, they played enchanting musical sounds. I ate the pork banmhi slider and the pad thai taco from the Peached Tortilla, and sampled bbq and moonshine tea from Sugar Shack. Torchy's had our amazing crew serving up green chile pork tacos, chicken fajita tacos and bean and cheese tacos. And Jon with the Best Wurst brought his game with his fan favorite sausages. Bloggers at the event attracted over 180,00 hits. Stay tuned for more SXSW stories from trailer food land!

Eric of the Peached Tortilla and Tif

Torchy's!

List of Trailers & SXSW guide to trailers

2011-03-07T18:58:00.000-06:00

We've been busy shooting our trailer and pilot episodes, but wanted to let you know the Spring Directory for Trailer Food Diaries is up! We will have a free printed copy for you circulating throughout various official and unofficial SXSW events.

Also, we're starting to pre-sell the cookbook at $12 (40% off retail price). Check out the button on our home page to purchase. We will ship your orders with the first printing in September.

From Trailer to Brick and Mortar – examining the leap (+ trailer moves and updates)

2011-03-02T14:08:00.000-06:00

Some trailer vendors start out with dreams of opening a brick and mortar restaurant, and some restaurateurs expand their businesses by opening trailers. For example, the incredibly successful Torchy’s Tacos started in a single taco trailer in 2006 and they now have 7 permanent restaurant locations throughout Texas. Conversely, Hat Creek Burgers started with their brick and mortar establishment and expanded business by taking their trailer to local sporting events.
One area of town is becoming the new spot for trailers to take up permanent residency in a restaurant setting; we’re talking about Burnet Road. Yep, Burnet Rd is blowing up with trailers that now have brick and mortars: Cutie Pie Wagon, Man Bites Dog, Lucky J’s, Hat Creek Burgers, & Hey Cupcake are on my radar. To the best of my knowledge, everyone is keeping their airstreams/trailers open, and are expanding their businesses with these new permanent addresses for restaurants:

• Cutie Pie Wagon: 7329 Burnet Rd

• Man Bites Dog: on Burnet road between Hancock and N. Loop road

• Lucky Js’ Chicken & Waffles: 5035 Burnet Rd

• Hat Creek Burgers: 5400 Burnet Rd

• Hey Cupcake: 5530 Burnet Road

Other trailers opening permanent locations:

• Odd Duck opened up a brick and mortar called Barley Swine on 2024 S. Lamar

• FN Goode Burger is opening “The Real Deal Kitchen”, their 2nd site, March 1st inside the Hold in the Wall. They will still have their trailer at the Local Pub and Patio (formerly Little Woodrow’s on the Drag).

• Franklin BBQ is moving out of the trailer and into their permanent home on 11th St

Other moves and additions in trailer food land:

• The Peached Tortilla is opening their second location on the drag at Dean Keaton and Guadalupe

• Smokilicious moved from South Congress/Gibson to the Crow Bar, 3116 S. Congress Ave., across from St. Edwards University

• The Flying Carpet – now open for lunches in addition to dinners with expanded menu

DC food truck: CapMac

2011-02-22T19:53:00.000-06:00

My first attempt to find a food trailer in DC was thwarted because of the timing. It's not like Austin where you have multiple culinary options at any given time of day. The trucks in DC operate on an 'ice cream license', which I found out means they can only stop for business if there is a line. Thus, several of them convene at parks during the day when people are on their lunch break. My sources indicate there are only about 25 such food trucks in the DC area. So after striking out on finding a 'trailer' for dinner I set out for lunch the following day in search of (drum roll): the CAP MAC FOOD TRUCK.....

After taking the metro (for my first metro experience), a cab, and then walking a few blocks to Farragut park (17th and K-ish) I was approached by the chef himself, Brian Arnoff, and was told our party would be the last of the day as he was almost out of cap mac. This worked out nicely, as it gave me the opportunity to have a conversation with him after lunch to learn a little more about the mac daddy of the cap mac (sorry).

Chef Brian, originally from Poughkeepsie, NY graduated with a degree in hospitality management from Boston University and after several high end experiences in the dining world, he decided to try his hand in entrepreneurialism with the CapMac. The food truck was open for business starting last November (2010) and serves an average 150 plates per lunch. His menu is small and easily managed - both ideal qualities for success in the food truck industry. Because he's dealing with pasta, there isn't a delay due to seasonal differences and with green in mind his cutlery is all biodegradable.

The 'CapMac 'n Cheese' for $6 is their best-seller. It involves Cheddar, Pimento, and Cheez-it crumbles on spirally macaroni noodles. You can 'make it sloppy' (which you know I did) for an extra $2 to create the "sloppy joe meets mac and cheese," in Chef Brian's words. For more:

http://www.capmacdc.com/

@CapMacDC

Keep Your Recommendations Weird in Austin

2011-02-11T10:18:00.000-06:00

When Google first called me at Torchy’s Tacos, they said they were coming to my hometown to celebrate Austin’s local business community. Hot off the track from launching Hotpot, a new local recommendation engine from Google Places, Google has chosen Austin to promote this fun new technology because of our forward-thinking and love for all things local. And several Austinites had recommended Torchy’s as a great team to partner with when Google hit town.

Photo courtesy of Jared Tennant Photography

Cecelia and Vanessa from the Hotpot team met me at the Trailer Park on South 1st Street to chat about all the delicious food we offer here in Austin, and to talk about all the Google products you can use to help your business (or your favorite Austin business) connect with customers. Cecelia had a clue about Austin’s great food offers, being a UT alumna, but Vanessa was new to the Tex-Mex scene, so we had to order some tacos before we could even proceed.

We quickly decided we wanted to do something fun for Torchy’s customers, and what’s more fun than free tacos?

Photo courtesy of Jared Tennant Photography

Thus, I'm exceptionally excited to announce that we’ll be giving away — on Google — the Hotpot taco (or for those familiar with our menu, the Migas) at all six Torchy's Tacos locations until 2pm today. Keep in mind this is while supplies last and one per customer. Woohoo! Thanks, Google.

Now back to Hotpot. It’s a tool that supports local businesses by allowing users to share the places they love with their friends and discover new places they might like. As both a local Austin business owner and someone who reviews other local businesses, I'm excited about Hotpot and very happy to see big dogs like Google collaborating with unique trendsetters like Torchy's.

One of the fun features of Hotpot is the Best Ever medal, reserved only for the most deserving of favorite local spots. The Google girls asked me about some of my Best Ever trailer food vendors so they could check them out while here in Austin. (This, as you know, is always my most dreaded question. Trailers, you’re all pretty.) But for you, Google and readers, here is just a tiny portion of the awesome trailers not to miss, in addition to our beloved Torchy's:

G'Raj Mahal – fine Indian dining al fresco on Rainey Street
La Boite Cafe – unique local bistro cuisine in an eco-friendly box on S. Lamar
Franklin Barbecue - a must-have mouthwatering bbq experience east of campus
Hey Cupcake! - selling thousands of swanky cupcakes a day in multiple locations
Mighty Cone - gourmet fried chicken from the creators of Hudson's on the Bend on South Congress
Lulu B's Sandwiches - one of the best-kept underground secrets of sandwich teases on S. Lamar
The Flying Carpet – incredible Moroccan food from a loving family on South Congress

Photo courtesy of Jared Tennant Photography

A big thanks again to Google for recognizing Austin for one of the things we love about ourselves: that we vote with our dollars by supporting each others' businesses both on and offline.

Posted by Tiffany Harelik. Tiffany started her company Trailer Food Diaries with nothing more than a blog in February 2010. Attracting the attention of C3 Presents, she partnered with them to create the first annual Gypsy Picnic trailer food festival last fall. Her successes led local trailer food ambassadors Torchy's Tacos to hire her, and she consults with other trailer food vendors across the country. Her trailer food cookbook will be coming out this fall. She remains inspired by the foodie-entrepreneurs she encounters on her trailer food journeys.

the cookbook is coming! the cookbook is coming!

2011-02-03T12:26:00.000-06:00

Trailer Foodie fans, I am super excited to announce the Trailer Food Diaries: Cookbook is coming to bookshelves near you in 2011! Would you like to know how Patika Coffee brews their single cup pourover so you can treat your sweetheart to a cup of joe in bed? Want to try your hand at baking Cutie Pie's Fredericksburg Peach Blackberry Pie for your next bridal shower? How about impressing the guests with Royito's famous guacamole dip for a superbowl party? Spice it up at your next dinner party with a Thai Chicken Karaage recipe from the East Side King himself or serve up a rotisserie chicken with onion marmelade from the Jalopy. Hungry? Stay tuned for info on pre-purchasing this unique cookbook that combines good food, pretty pictures, and special stories. You can get on our email list by emailing: tiffany@trailerfooddiaries.com

Love is in the Hair

2011-01-29T21:19:00.000-06:00

My friends at social ding are hosting a Valentine-centric pub-crawl in the West 6th area on February 12th that promises weird-Austin-fun for participants while providing amusement for unsuspecting spectators.

"Love is in the Hair" is featuring specials not only for wig-wearers at prominent bars, but also at three of my favorite food trailers in one of my favorite neighborhoods: Colibri Cuisine, One Taco, and the Peached Tortilla. Here are the deals:

Colibri

Colibri Cuisine, with Anthony Alaniz and his soon-to-be-bride Candy, will be delivering love via Mexian food on W. 6th and Nueces across the street from Little Woodrows:

- "4, 3, 2, Love": $4 Chicken Chipotle Quesadillas, $3 Taco-dillas, $2 Love Cider

- "Ménage à Trois" combo: $9 for any 3 tacos & any drink

One Taco

One Taco is dishing up the love, taco style just outside of Little Woodrow's on W. 6th & Nueces:

- "Love is in the Taco" combo: $4.25 for two new tacos made for this event

- "15% off" everything else on the menu

Eric at the Peached Tortilla just behind Star Bar is offering his Asian/Southern food fusionary blend:

- "$7 any two sliders and Belgian fries" - enough said

the Peached Tortilla

While the trailers are always center stage in my blog, I'll also mention the event-wide drink specials include $2 domestics and $3 wells (21 and up, y'all). Check out the website for bar-specific potions. And I hear Lucy's on South Congress is offering 15% off wig rentals with your ticket stubb - so get your wig on and get down to this fun event from 4p-9p on February 12th.

You can RSVP at the facebook event page and when you buy tickets here, enter "Trailer Food Diaries" in the code to get your tickets at $10/head ($5 off the ticket price).

The morning Joe, and Mark

2011-01-24T19:57:00.000-06:00

This morning, I got up a little early to meet local realtor Mark Strub for a cup of coffee. Facebook friends with similar enterprising efforts, we sat to chat in the brisk morning under the vogue awnings at la Boite where Victoria herself was there brewing and brainstorming about cycling routes. He, with his small black coffee and me with my super-big-fancy-favorite chocolate-vanilla latte took some morning moments to discuss our mutual interests in philanthropic endeavors to see if we could brainstorm up something wonderful. (I'd order that coffee with sprinkles and glitter if possible.)

Mark asked me about involving some of the trailer vendors in the New Wave Ball fund raiser for the Austin Children's Shelter for next year. The Austin Children's Shelter, like me, was born here in a small house in the 80's.... and to remain congruent in eras, the 'ball' is an 80's theme party complete with dance and costume contests judged by local celebrity judges. "Mark" your calendars for Friday, February 25th at the Parish from 8p-midnight - $20 for the kiddies and a fun party is a no brainer.

We also talked about his first sawnky trailer that he wanted to convert into a mobile food vending business....I *think our conversation may have inspired him to find the old treasure and see what might be in store for his entrepreneurial spirit. I had some good news to report within Trailer Food Diaries (TM) as well. TFD is in the process of pricing out the cookbook (coming to you this Fall!), as well as finishing filming the trailer for our TV show (hopefully this Fall as well!). We are sponsoring a trailer food crawl for Lucky J's during SXSW, among other fund raising efforts scheduled throughout 2011 for good people doing good things here in Austin.

My cup of Joe with Mark was a great start to this weeks worth of eating and talking at the trailers. If you need some ideas on where to go for your next lunch meeting, check out some trailer parks. For example, Torchy's Tacos is now offering their event barn for meeting space or parties (what what). If you need some one-off ideas, please search my blog or make comments for suggestions. I love hearing from you and knowing that you're voting with your dollars by supporting local businesses while simultaneously supporting the slow food movement.

preparing for SXSW - local musician supporting local trailers

2011-01-12T16:49:00.000-06:00

Today I had lunch with Ben Brown of No Show Ponies at Conscious Cravings in the Longhorn food court. Very fun to dine with a local musician supporting local trailer vendors out on one of the coldest days Austin has seen this winter. Ben tried a spicy pan seared tofu wrap with chipotle mayo while I opted for the chimichurri wrap with vegan Daiya cheese. The rosemary baked fries and blueberry lemonade were pretty. delicious. Trailer-owner Rishi came out and shared that he may be in the market for an egg-roll cart to be able to provide students on campus with his hot wraps (all $5). Even though he is in the Longhorn Food Court (MLK/Rio Grande) trailer park, the students want him a little bit closer and more convenient. So – the egg roll cart seems to be a great solution. Next time I’m there, I’m going to try the black bean slider (also served on chimichurri sauce) or the spicy chickpea wrap which is simmered in Indian spices.

Also currently in the Longhorn food court are: Salt Lick BBQ trailer, Lee’s Hurricane Party (gumbo, catfish, etc.), and Hero’s frozen treats. While we were visiting, Lee let us know there may be sounds of SXSW right there at the park – stay tuned for updates. He also had fellow trailer owner Amber Glowski of Powdered Sugar lending a hand. Don’t let the temporary road construction stop you from going, there is plenty of parking and four diverse food options to try. Other vegetarian trailers in Austin include two vegan options: Iggi’s Texatarian for a vegan take on southern comfort (1104 E. 6th St. 78702) and Counter Culture (120 East North Loop 78751).

Stay tuned for next articles including information on the trailer crawl to benefit lucky j’s during SXSW (email tiffany@trailerfooddiaries.com if you’re interested in participating) and check out Ben’s music at http://www.noshowponies.com/ -

Trailer thievery

2011-01-03T21:37:00.000-06:00

photos by JTpics.com / edited by Sam Crutsinger

I got a call from the Wall Street Journal this afternoon inquiring about the recent thefts within trailer food land here in Austin. Although we concluded the story wasn't quite thick enough to warrant alerting mass hyper-focus on security and safety issues at this stage, I do feel it is blog-worthy for a few reasons. My first reaction was simply: Really? Someone's going to steal a tricked out, highly branded, very obvious trailer and do what with it? Gut the kitchen equipment and hope to sell it on craigslist real quick (?)... and then do what with the blatant trailer who's owners are there 18 hrs a day anyways and will discover soon enough that their entire livelihood is missing. It doesn't make a lot of sense and it's just down right mean. We don't do mean here in Austin, so this topic got my blood boiling a little bit. Periodic cutting of power cords for their valuable copper wiring, and patrons running off with tip jars have been reported in the past but nothing like the shameful trailer thievery that went down over the Christmas break.

The basics: Lucky J's Chicken and Waffles' 12 x 8 ft red and black trailer was stolen on Christmas day after thieves cut through several chains on E. 6th and Waller. The suspect turned himself in and his bond was set at $7,500 with charges of theft by possession. Jason picked his trailer up on January 3rd. Hook'Em Up Tacos near 2222 and 620 had the same maddening experience with no positive outcome as of yet. Barry's trailer, built from scratch, was bolted down prior to theives stealing his business. I hear the Baltimore Ballers' 12 volt snow wizard ice shaver was stolen on December 29th from their E. 6th and Waller location as well.

If you have information and/or opinions regarding security and safety of the trailer food businesses, please share.

Cooking with the Flying Carpet

2010-12-24T14:26:00.000-06:00

I had the great priviledge of cooking with Maria Souktourri of the Flying Carpet in their home in Austin last night. I'll update the blog with the full story later, but wanted to post the video and recipe while it's hot.

Short lil minute and a half video on how we cooked the dish.

Moroccan Lemon Butter & Olive Chicken w/ French Fries

1 whole large Chicken - washed and dried skin on

In a bowl combine:

1/2 cup olive oil
1 stalk cilantro finely chopped
1 med. onion finely chopped
3 sm garlic cloves finely chopped
1/2 tsp. ginger
2 tsp. paprika
1 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp tumeric
2 tsp Fine Sea Salt
1 tsp Coarse Black Pepper
Juice of one med-large lemon
1/2 stick of salted butter slightly softened

Mix ingredients together making a paste. Cover chicken with paste outside and inside the skin. Insert lemon halves used for their juice inside the chicken

Cook at 350 for 1 1/12 hours or until done. Every 20-30 baste chicken in it's own juices with a spoon

Add 1 1/2 c. green olives (no brine) to the chicken the last 10-15 min. of cook time. Olives will fall to the sides and into the chicken's juices- this is what you want.

This chicken is often served with a cucumber/tomato salad, french fries & bread to sop up the sauce.

Much love,

the Souktouri Family

Table for One - Not Anymore

2010-12-22T13:02:00.000-06:00

I recently stumbled upon this popular tumblr site: Table for One and it got me thinking. We weren't meant to eat alone. We were made to create and share food together. As primitive people, we hunted in groups and gathered in groups and cooked and ate in groups. It's in our DNA. Yet so many of us eat in isolation either becuase it's faster or easier than preparing a meal for one. I will admit there are times in life when eating alone is the way to go, like if you're sick, or if you just want to hunker down with a good book and hearty snacks. And I'm not suggesting that every meal needs to be shared here in the 21st century hectic lifestyle. Rather, I am encouraging you to eat one less meal alone this week. Find a meal buddy and cook something together, or get a group together and eat something local.

Facing a meal 'alone' is often the reason I resort to protein shakes over a wholesome meal. It's no fun cooking for one. I'm not much of a leftover-eater anyways. A potential 'meal alone' is also something that prevents me from my duty of trying new trailer food. So to remedy my newly acknowledged conundrum I am going to take one person to lunch at least once a week in 2011. Join me at the trailers!

These pictures were taken from my first trailer food crawl in Austin, TX in February 2010.

Two trailers participating in Sip & Savor Austin

2010-12-20T19:04:00.000-06:00

Sip & Savor Austin is a two-week event featuring a representative sample of local food and drink that is reflective of the variety of choices we have available in Austin. From upscale restaurants and swanky night clubs to gourmet food trailers and dive bars, this event showcases some of our favorite eats. A full listing of particpants can be found at their site: http://sipandsavoraustin.com/ The event will be peppered throughout Austin January 16-30, 2011 and there is still time to participate as a vendor or sponsor. The deadline for participation is Wed, Dec 22nd - contact carrie@launch787.com

Meanwhile, I want to highlight two of the trailer food vendors that are currently in the line up. Both came to the Gypsy Picnic and are continuing to make their mark in the trailer food scene here in town: Colibri Cuisine and the Holy Cacao.

Former accountant and teacher Anthony Alaniz alongside his bride to be, Candy, are dishing out such authentic Mexican cuisine as Barbacoa, Tamales, Quesadillas, Nacho-dillas, Taco-dillas and Tostadas down at their trailer Colibri Cuisine. Check them out at their permanent location on W. 6th and Nueces in the trailer across the street from Little Woodrows. They are open for dinner and late night Tuesday - Sunday 7:30pm to 2:30am. Being from the Rio Grande Valley area, Anthony's roots in good food and hospitality come naturally.

I'm also excited that Ellen and John of the Holy Cacao will be participating in the event with their famous cake ball trailer that also serves frozen hot chocolate and cake shakes. They have a rich publicity history including 'best dessert' from the Gypsy Picnic, 'best frozen hot chocolate in America' from Travel & Leisure Magazine and were featured on the Food Network's 'Kid in a Candy Store'. They are parked in the famous South Austin Trailer Park & Eatery (by Torchy's Tacos and Man Bites Dog) at 1311 S. 1st and are open for business seven days a week from noon til 8p, with two extra hours on Friday and Saturday.

Check out their food during Sip & Savor week and tell them Trailer Food Diaries sent you!

Trailer of Lights: Cancelled

2010-12-15T13:00:00.000-06:00

Hi guys, With all the last minute red tape from yesterdays walk through, we are not in a position to proceed for the trailer of lights this year. While I admit I'm disappointed, my chin is up and for those of you who know me well, you know I'm busy making lemonade. No one loves the trailer food scene more than I do. The trailer food scene exploded overnight in Austin and I have been there documenting it every step of the way with my company Trailer Food Diaries. Austin is becoming as much a destination location for the food vendor culture as the live music scene and I remain optimistic in the future successes of this industry. Thank you for your patience, support and understanding. Please feel free to call and email me. Emailing's a little easier right now if possible just due to the influx :).

My official statement:
We are cancelling the Trailer of Lights of event, unofrtunately because of existing contradictions in policy between our fire code and health department that the event cannot sustain. While this may look like a hassle of red tape, ultimately, once we all know and understand the playing field, these are the regulations that will set our city up for success within the mobile food vending industry.

Happy trailers,
Tiffany Harelik, MA

Trailer of Lights is ON: Dec 18th

2010-12-08T15:48:00.000-06:00

Exciting! Trailer Food Diaries and partners are bringing another unique event to Austinites and those visiting our city during the Holidays.

If you're in need of family-friendly Christmas nostalgia in a funky Austin setting, come check out the first-annual Trailer of Lights event at Seaholm (the Power Plant) just off Ceaser Chavez. Trailer food vendors will be there to offer you samples from their menus at $5 or less and local artisans will provide you with some unique gifts for a fun shopping experience. Rumor has it we will be playing a classic holiday film between small sets from local musicians. Experience the swanky light display and come get your hot cocoa on for an eco-friendly celebration all for a good cause.

Saturday, December 18th
12p(noon)-10p

Seaholm Power Plant

*Free to the public; suggested donation of 1+ canned food item benefitting the Capital Area Food Bank

Please help us plan by with your support on Facebook: Trailer of Lights

Contact Tiffany@trailerfooddiaries.com if you would like to be an artist vendor or trailer food vendor.

A current list of trailer food vendors includes:
Hey Cupcake
Chi'Lantro
Torchy's (trailer repair willing)
Austin Daily Press
Crepe Crazy
Sugar Shack BBQ
Short Bus Subs
Colibri Cuisine
the Peached Tortilla
Kate's Southern Comfort
the Flying Carpet
Cutie Pie Wagon

Video Clip from Gypsy Picnic

2010-12-08T11:15:00.001-06:00

Check it out!

http://vimeo.com/17422311

Password: tfd

Thanksgiving at the Trailers

2010-11-24T21:29:00.000-06:00

They may not be open for business on Thanksgiving day, but I bought my Cajun-fried turkey from Kate's Southern Comfort on Barton Springs Road this year and man oh man it smells divine. Easiest $40 I've spent all month and it will feed my family for the next week. While I was at it, I talked Katie into whipping me up a full pan of her Cajun bread pudding with Sailor Jerry Sauce. Like a good daughter would, I went ahead and broke my diet to try a bite for quality control prior to bringing it home to my folks. A quarter of the pan later, I told Kate she may have just got me an allowance with this savory spin on a southern tradition.

Another Thanksgiving favorite this year has been the Turkey Mole tacos at Torchy's Tacos. Torchy's recently won the meat category at the first-ever Gypsy Picnic with their green chile pork. Other fan favorites include their fried avocado taco. However, I am here to tell you that the Turkey Mole is hands down the absolute best taco I've had at Torchy's (and I sample them often). Get your passport - this taco envelops Texas fried turkey in a Oaxacan mole sauce with Mexican rice, avocado, queso fresco, and fresh cilantro served on your choice of tortilla. All that taco for a cool $4.

Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours from everyone on the Trailer Food Diaries team!

First-ever Gypsy Picnic

2010-11-12T23:07:00.000-06:00

photo credit: JTpics.com

The seed for the Gypsy Picnic was planted in February 2010 when I went on my first trailer food crawl with some girl friends. We started the day with some local/bistro sandwiches with Victoria at La Boite. We then set out on the trail to hunt down some vietnamese sandwiches at lulu b's, but she was closed. Still determined we drove down lamar to the Odd Duck, who was only opened for dinner. We struck gold with Gourdough's where we finally caved in to not really knowing who was open or where to go next and sat down for some big fat doughnuts, Tecate's and Lights/Menthols. It was Sunday brunch in Austin afterall. So after this experience of trail blazing a trailer crawl back when the trailers were first thriving, I decided once and for all someone in this city was going to have to take notes and report back. Trailer Food Diaries was born and I began blogging about the stories behind each of these vendors.

But there was more to it than that. I had recently quit my job (the previous December) and was looking for a true career experience that would allow me freedom to work from home, travel, and the general ability to wake up happy and excited about my day. As the stories behind the trailer vendors began to unfold I realized we had a lot in common: we wanted to work for ourselves, wake up inspired, and be involved in the food community here in Austin. Then it dawned on me that this trailer food business was actually part of my heritage, as my great-grandfather came to this country from Russia and began his pursuit of the American dream with a banana cart which evolved into 5 general stores (and some really cool progeny). (Insert 'ding' light bulb sound)

While I was talking with the vendors about their stories, I began asking them if they had ever entered a cook-off. Partly, the question was to reflect to them how proud they were of their food and to see if they honestly thought their cuisine would stand out in a competition. I had 100% response rate that yes they would like to do a cook-off.

By some twist of fate my idea fell into the right circles at the right time and I found myself in the office of Roy Spence at GSD&M one morning, followed by a meeting with Charlie Jones of C3 Presents. Both companies took various aspects of the project under their wings and Trailer Food Diaries began to soar.

We started planning the Gypsy Picnic in May of 2010 and executed the first-ever Gypsy Picnic Trailer Food Festival in Austin last November 6, 2010. As a fourth generation Austinite, I felt very proud to have been a part of something that is a fun and quirky contribution to the city that I hope will outlive me. When I'm an old woman, I want to hear people say 'remember that first Gypsy Picnic?' just like I hear people talking about Aquafest.

We had 30 trailers pile in at auditorium shores and we told them to prepare at least 1,000 units of food in anticipation a crowd of 10,000. We had more than 15,000 show up (it was free, dog-friendly, kid-friendly event) on a gorgeous day in Austin and many of the vendors sold upwards fo 3,000 units. The music was great and my friend Barbie volunteered her signing services so the deaf community could participate in the shows. The sideshow had fun entertainment acts, stories from Book People and more. Behind the scenes a cook-off was going on with 10 local judges who are highly esteemed in the foodie scene.

In addition to having a really fun and successful event, I launched the Trailer Food Diaries Magazine which featured the 30 pioneer gypsies and some of their recipes. We gave away 5,000 copies and ran out by 2:30pm. Don't worry, I saved a handful for stocking stuffers. I also started filming the pilot for Trailer Food Diaries TV series. All this on November 6th, one day before my 30th birthday. And all of this stemming from one thought on one day at a relatively unsuccessful trailer food crawl, half-depressed, half-buzzed with some friends.

The Gypsy Picnic and Trailer Food Diaries projects represent the spirit of unique entrepreneurialism here in Austin. Over the last several months I have enjoyed getting to know the vendors, their stories and try their cuisine. Although not all of the trailers I started out interviewing are still open, the trend overall is still growing. In fact, I think it is soon becoming a point of interest for travelers visiting my hometown. I'm humbled and excited about the success of the trailer food vendors as artists, creative spirits and entrepreneurial souls. If you ever get stuck wondering what's for lunch - try a trailer!

Grab Some Lunch at The Gypsy Picnic

2010-11-03T15:37:00.000-05:00

As we prepare for the first annual Gypsy Picnic Trailer Food Festival, we are featuring the unique tastes you will have the pleasure of enjoying on Saturday, November 6th. Here is a look at the mid-day offerings from Gypsy Picnic trailers.
Continuing the exploration of one of the most popular questions I get asked, here is a question I personally ponder daily: What’s for lunch? Whether you have a friend in town that you want to share the trailer food scene with, or are just up for trying something new, I have you covered.

If you’re on South Congress, check out The Flying Carpet for some fresh and healthy Moroccan cuisine made with local love from the Souktouri family. While you’re in the area you might try the popular Mighty Cone, one of the landmark trailer businesses in Austin that offers a unique take of fried chicken with ancho sauce in a tortilla wrapped to go. Turf n Surf Po'Boys is another popular downtown trailer vendor who has a killer shrimp po’boy. You can enjoy eating it outside the trailer Ralph Gilmore green-built himself at their 2nd and Congress Av. location. Nick Patrizi, owner of The Jalopy, will slide you a gourmet rotisserie chicken sandwich from the top of his big rig that is as much a mural as it is an eatery over on 15th and San Antonio. For something south of the border, Kronic Krave Arepas is serving traditional Colombian arepas on 5th and Colorado.

Skipping over to South First, if you dine with 4th generation Austinite, John Galindo, at Izzoz, he’ll be sure to remember your name and order the next time you stop by for his tacos. Down the street from John stands the South Austin Trailer Park and Eatery: home to Torchy’s Tacos, Holy Cacao and Man Bites Dog. There you can sample tacos, cake balls, and hot dogs - all in one spot! Further down South 1st stands Pick Up Stixx, home to chef, Cowden Ward, who is developing multiple sauces for his unique fare. Down on Barton Springs, you can catch some Louisiana fried pies at Kate’s Southern Comfort, where even folks from New Orleans come crawling back for more. Last but not least, if you are up in Pflugerville, be sure to check out the Multi-tasker sandwich from 86 This, which has slow roasted brisket with cheesy mashed potatoes.

Lunch on the fly? Austin is also home to many roving units that will post their locations and hours online or via social media. Try finding Chi’Lantro for a Korean/Mexican fusion experience or Mmmpanadas for, you guessed it, empanadas. Short Bus Subs offers hot, toasted sub sandwiches on freshly baked bread out of a short yellow school bus.

Can’t get out of the office? Most of these vendors will cater upon request, but ALL of them will be at the Gypsy Picnic, showcasing up to three of their favorite menu items. If you’re still wondering "what’s for lunch?" post-picnic, you can keep a Trailer Food Diaries magazine, featuring a guide to all the vendors in Austin, in your car. We are giving away 5,000 sample copies at the picnic and will distribute a full size version in time for SXSW. Happy eating!

Conscious Cravings

2010-10-22T19:45:00.000-05:00

- Location: Longhorn Food Court - 1901 Rio Grande St. - @Martin Luther King, Jr. Blvd
- Hours: Monday -Saturday: 11 AM - 8 PM
- Telephone: 512-782-0546
- Website: www.consciouscravingsaustin.com / Facebook: Conscious Cravings / Twitter: ConsciousCrvngs

- Cuisine: Vegetarian

Rishi Dhir spent four years as an auctions trader on the Philly stock exchange before looking for something more laid back to do. As a vegetarian, he had created unique recipes based on his own dietary needs and thought he had something that might hold up with the general public. As such, he heard about Austin and the trailer food scene and opened Conscious Cravings in August of 2010. His menu is mostly hot wraps and cold sandwiches. Rishi loves to eat the Black Bean Slider Wrap, and his customers report the Chimmichurri Seitan Wrap is sure to please.

The name Conscious Cravings was developed to inform people the food is healthy while also being short and catchy. What does Rishi say the best part about Conscious Cravings is? “The fact that I’m allowing people to have affordable healthy tasty food that is not offered widely. It’s cheap, healthy, organic, and environmentally food.”

the Zubikhouse

2010-10-22T18:48:00.000-05:00

- Location & Hours:
Tuesday - Friday: 8 AM - 2PM - 3447 Northland Dr.
Saturdays: 9 AM - 1 PM - 4th and Guadalupe @Austin Farmers Market
- Telephone: 512-751-1989
- Facebook: The ZubikHouse
- Cuisine: Texas Czech - kolaches, sandwiches, dessert

Andy Zubik and his brother Jason have been in business with the Zubikhouse in October or 2009. With over 20 years of experience in the food industry roaming from Austin to Durango, Houston and beyond Andy came up with a mouth watering menu for his Texas Czech cuisine. So how does he make this seemingly contradictory fusion work? “Kolaches and other traditional items that are a pretty big staple in Czech cuisine have a lot of weight to them. German/Polish/Hungarian winters are so long that they eat a lot of meat potato dishes. But when you get to Texas and have 7 months of heat, it doesn’t translate as easily. You have to be more creative with the heat. For example, we do fried strawberries and chipotle pecan pie ice cream. At some point the chef goes back to their roots –what they grew up with, what they started cooking.”

Andy is a big advocate for local business and leads by example by buying from local farms such as Full Quiver, Richardson, Fredericksburg beef, Slovacek and Kocurek. He says, “If you want a good strong economy you have to have a strong local economy – I can do my part with my business by buying local products. If I have my way, we will get nothing but local products and keep those dollars here and not sending them overseas or far away.”

Turf N Surf Po'Boys

2010-10-22T18:25:00.000-05:00

- Location: Downtown - 2nd St. & South Congress Ave.
- Hours: Sunday - Wednesday: 10 AM - 3 PM
Thursday - Saturday: 10 AM - 3 PM / 5 PM - 3 AM
- Number: 512-965-4679
- Website: www.turfnsurfpoboy.com / Facebook: Turf N Surf Po’ Boy
- Cuisine: Sandwiches - po'boys, to be exact

photo credit: JTpics.com

I liked cooking before cooking was cool,” states Ralph Gilmore of Turf n Surf Poboys. Ralph brings his background not only in the restaurant industry but also his experience in designing and building custom homes and choppers to the table as the designer and chef of his trailer that is currently located downtown. After buying the most raw and rustic unit he could find, he began molding the cart with a turf and surf feel. The majority of the items on his décor are recycled and he used less than 5% of wood in his build-out. Continuing with the overall green feel of his food trailer, Ralph buys his produce locally. “I just wanted to do something that gives back to the people,” he explains about his choice to buy from Austin-area farmers.

Most proud of his fried shrimp, it is also his best-seller. Having opened in April of 2010, he has some advice for new vendors: “Watch out for August. The heat factor, getting back to school, and last minute vacations puts you in the hole if you don’t have the capitol to get through it. But if it’s your dream, stay with it.”

I don't think Ralph is hiring, but as the sign states - I will work for poboys!

photo credit: JTpics.com

Short Bus Subs

2010-10-22T18:13:00.000-05:00

- Location: Roving - follow website and twitter to learn location
- Hours: Tuesday - Saturdays: hours vary according to location
- Number: 512-535-7827
- Website: www.shortbussubs.com / Facebook: Short Bus Subs / Twitter: ShortBusSubs
- Cuisine: Sandwiches

Eric Klusman hails from a sandwich shop family in the Midwest but he got to Austin as quick as he could. Alongside his brother Dane and business partner Ryan Campion, the three opened “Short Bus Subs” in August of 2009. The concept to serve cleverly named quality sandwiches out of the window of a 23-foot school bus actually came to Eric in a dream. After the economy had crashed, he decided instead of opening a shop he would do something a little less expensive so the Short Bus Subs idea was born.

“The Principal” is Eric’s personal favorite item and he claims to eat one everyday. Similar to a club, it has swiss, bacon, ham, turkey, roast beef, Dijon, lettuce and tomato. “The Bully” is probably their best seller, which is their version of an Italian sub. With six vegetarian sammies to select, the “Hot Teacher” sells like hot cakes and includes a tomato/garlic pesto spread with mozzarella and cheddar cheeses, roasted red peppers, sun dried tomatoes, and marinated/roasted Portobello’s. The bus does not have one location. They roam freely to catering events and deliver to offices.

Sugar Shack BBQ

2010-10-22T16:41:00.000-05:00

- Location: UT Campus area - 24th & San Antonio St.
- Hours: Monday - Friday: 7 AM - 7 PM
- Number: 512-464-1151
- Website: www.sugarshackbbq.com / Facebook: Sugar Shack BBQ
- Cuisine: BBQ, breakfast tacos

Sugar Shack BBQ was started out of a love for 70’s retro music and back yard bar-b-ques by partners Mark Avalos and Mark Stimak. If you’re thinking about joining Mark and Mark in the Trailer Food revolution, they have some words of wisdom, “Don’t get fooled by places that have a lot of car traffic. That’s the number one misconception. If you see a place that has a ton of cars driving by you think that place will do well – but really foot traffic is the key.” Indeed, Sugar Shack gets plenty of foot traffic at their log-cabin-shack on wheels which is a favorite place for many students to eat just behind Dobie mall on UT campus.

Playing with the college environment and their theme, their menu includes fun items like the Notorious PIG and the Bama Jammma. The Sugar Shack’s best seller is their pulled pork with a mustard base cole slaw followed closely by their chicken breast sandwich with a white BBQ sauce. White sauce you say? That’s right, the guys at Sugar Shack love all kinds of BBQ, not just Texas-style. Their white sauce is a mayo-based Alabama-style BBQ-sauce along with 6 or 7 other ingredients. Not available in bottles yet, their red BBQ sauce is also a fan favorite.

Torchy's Tacos

2010-10-22T16:03:00.000-05:00

- Location: South Austin Trailer Park & Eatery - 1311 S. 1st St - @Elizabeth
Other, various locations can be found on their website.
- Hours: Monday-Wednesday: 7 AM - 10 PM / Thursday & Friday: 7AM - 11 PM / Saturday: 8 AM - 11 PM / Sunday: 8 AM - 10 PM
- Number: 512-366-0537
- Website: www.torchystacos.com / Facebook: Torchy’s Tacos / Twitter: TorchyTaco
- Cuisine: Tacos - breakfast, lunch & dinner

Ask anyone in Austin where their favorite place to grab a taco is and you’ll likely hear “Torchys!” in response. Torchy’s five founding partners are Bob, Farrell, Rebecca, and Jay with Mike Rypka as the chef behind the team. Having been a chef at MTV, Dell, Chuys, Lucy’s Boat Yard and beyond, putting together delectable flavor combinations with tacos as the vehicle was right up his alley and his consistently good recipes are the reason behind Torchy’s rapid success. In addition to their trailer, they now have multiple other brick and mortar locations and have expanded into other cities.

Down at the South Austin Trailer Park and Eatery where Torchy’s trailer sits, you can enjoy tacos under the shade of the Live Oak trees that overlooks Bouldin Creek. The names of their tacos are equally shady with such crowd favorites like the Dirty Sanchez. In addition to their normal menu, you can look for such specialty items like their Turkey taco with mole during November. What should you get? The ‘brushfire’ and the ‘fried avocado taco’ is hot on my list.

Coolhaus

2010-10-22T15:13:00.000-05:00

- Location: Roving - follow website and twitter to learn location
- Hours: Roaming everyday - hours vary according to location
- Number: 512-743-7601
- Website: www.eatcoolhaus.com / Facebook: COOLHAUS Ice Cream Sandwiches /Twitter: coolhaus_AUSTIN
- Cuisine: Dessert - ice cream sandwiches!

Christine Aldrich & Nathan Hathaway were friends for many years and partners in life before picking up the torch for Coolhaus, a choose your own ice cream and cookie adventure in the trailer food business in early 2010. In a merge of food and architecture, Nathan made the 1984 vintage mail truck from Los Angeles what it is today. With a background in food and a love for baking, Christine manages the flavors that are as non-traditional as they are delicious.

Despite Christine’s claims to be a baker-extraordinaire, since she is producing and selling in such large volume she doesn’t get to make the cookies and creams herself. With personal favorite items on the menu like mascarpone and balsamic fig on snickerdoodle or coffee toffee on a chocolate cookie, rest assured many hours of quality control have gone into consideration of their super fine menu.

Perhaps Nathan’s love to scream for ice cream was founded during his first job as a dishwasher at age 15. He and crew purchased a 5 gallon bucket of mint chocolate chip that they would eat a heaping bowl every day in the pursuit of satiating their appetites. Christine also has fond ice cream memories including ice cream socials on Sunday afternoons in Michigan, or the ice cream shop that her University ran via their dairy. Regardless of where they got their sweet tooth, Christine and Nathan can be found roaming the streets and events of Austin with Coolhaus.

Juan Pelota Coffee Truck

2010-10-22T14:28:00.000-05:00

- Location & Hours:
Coffee Truck: Roves to sporting events - location & hours vary accordingly
Cafe at Mellow Johnny’s: Downtown @4th St. & Nueces
- Telephone: 512-473-0222
- Website: www.mellowjohnnys.com/juan-pelota-cafe / Facebook: Mellow Johnny's Bike Shop / Twitter: juanpelotacafe
- Cuisine: Coffee

Affiliated with hometown hero Lance Armstrong, the Juan Pelota coffee truck made its debut in April of 2010 to fill a void in providing snacks and drinks at bike races. The truck drove out to the Tour of Gila in New Mexico where it served contestants, staff and volunteers under a variety of weather conditions. Post Gila, the truck went on to the AMGEN tour in California before making it’s way back to local triathlons and bike race events such as the Mellow Classic at Lance’s ranch.

The Juan Pelota coffee truck is an off-shoot of the Juan Pelota Café, which is located in Mellow Johnny’s bike shop by la zona rosa downtown. The rustic yet modern building used to the be the old Pearl distributing center before blooming into a community bike shop and café where commuters can even bike in and shower before heading out for the work day. In addition to races and special events, the coffee truck goes out to ‘the driveway’ every Thursday night just off 183.

Kronic Krave Arepas

2010-10-04T12:28:00.001-05:00

- Location: Downtown - 5th & Colorado St.
- Hours: Thursday – Saturday: 7 PM – 4 AM
- Telephone: 606-369-5860 / 814.206.4090 / 512.968.0769
- Facebook: Kronic Krave Arepas / Twitter: kronickrave
- Cuisine: Sandwiches ...in an arepa-pocket

Brothers Nicolas and Andres Pombo, along with their friend Juan Carlos Delgado, opened Kronic Krave Arepas in September of 2010. In addition to providing traditional Colombian mouth-watering arepas, Nicolas sees their food trailer as a way to share something nice about their Colombian culture.

If you were to travel in Colombia today, you would find many different versions of the arepas the young men grew up on depending on what region you are visiting. An arepa is a cornbread-South-American version of a pita pocket that contains whatever fillings and flavors the consumer desires. For Nicolas and Juan Carlos, their favorite arepa is the “Blondie”, which combines pulled chicken, guacamole and Monterey jack for the filling. Andres might say his favorite is the “Don Pablo” which has pulled chicken, kronic sauce, feta and sweet plantains, or the “Mystic” which has sweet plantains, guacamole and feta. In addition to the three described, Kronic Krave also offers two pulled beef arepas: the “Mariachi” which is embellished with cheddar cheese, and the “Carribbean Craze” which adds sweet plantains to the mariachi.

The two brothers grew up in Bogota with a population of 8 million people, and their partner grew up in Barranquilla, where Shakira is from. They all came to the states for a college education. Nicolas completed a degree in industrial engineering from Penn State and his younger brother Andres is currently attending the University of Texas for supply chain management. They have a third brother, Miguel, who is in law school in Bogota, where their parents live as well. The entire Pombo family enjoys water skiing as a hobby and Andres is on the UT ski team as a competitive sport. Juan Carlos graduated with a degree in finance from Arizona State.

The political climate in Colombia is changing with the inauguration of a new President in August of 2010. The effect has been a diminishing of the terrorist groups and guerilla activity, although displaced families due to drug trafficking remains an issue. Nicolas remembers being in high school and offering mentorship programs as a service to a smaller school for displaced children. In fact, if you are interested in supporting displaced families due to the drug wars in Colombia, please contact one of these organizations: UNICEF or ACNUR which are international organizations, or Antioquia Presente is a local one from Medellin. The Pombo family as well as Juan Carlos would consider travel to Colombia safe at this time and hope you will take a taste of the Colombian cuisine as a positive thing from their beautiful country.

Hat Creek Burger, Co.

2010-10-04T12:22:00.000-05:00

- Location & Hours:
Burger Bus: Roves to UT sporting events - location & hours vary accordingly. Follow website and twitter to learn location.
Hat Creek Burger, Co.: 5400 Burnet Rd.
- Telephone: 512-732-2025
- Website: www.hatcreekburgers.com / Facebook: Hat Creek Burger Co. / Twitter: hatcreekburger
- Cuisine: Burgers

Hometown hero Drew Gressett grew up here in Austin and graduated from the University of Texas before doing a fair amount of traveling between DC, Dallas and China with a real estate venture. But he had always had a dream of owning a hamburger stand and decided it was now or never when he opened Hat Creek Burgers in October of 2008 with no regrets.

Drew says his mom taught him how to make his first burger. “She always cooked a typical backyard burger with thicker patty – but ours are thinner. Manageability of a smaller burger, that’s our angle at Hat Creek.” His favorite way to eat a “Big Hat” burger is with American cheese and ketchup only. The size of the hat refers to the size of the burger: the “Big Hat” has two 1/5 lb patties while the “Little Hat” is one 1/5 lb. patty. They offer four cheeses to choose from including American, Cheddar, Pepper Jack and Swiss. Drew says the premise of their product is a super fresh hand-pattied burger whose meat has never seen a freezer. “Freezers are for ice cream,” he says. His burgers have fresh cracked pepper, and are all natural with no hormones, no antibiotics, all vegetarian fed beef.

While Hat Creek started out as a trailer, they moved into a brick and mortar building in 2009 and now use the trailer for special events such as UT baseball games. Drew mentions a good point in that “the mobile trailer is such a great platform to eventually get into a brick and mortar, and then for a brick and mortar, it’s good to expand business with a mobile unit.” Coach Barnes and Coach Brown are among two of Drew’s guests. His employees love the burgers so much, that one of them commenced to eating a 10-patty Big Hat after clocking out.

The name Hat Creek refers to one of Drew’s favorite books and movies: Lonesome Dove, which contains the Hat Creek Cattle Company. The real Hat Creek is a trout fishing stream in northern California, and although he hasn’t been yet, Drew does love to fly fish when he’s not at the grill.

The Peached Tortilla

2010-10-04T12:17:00.000-05:00

- Location: Roving - follow website, facebook, and/or twitter to learn location
- Hours: Tuesday - Saturdays: hours vary according to location
- Telephone: 512-761-3241
- Website: www.thepeachedtortilla.com / Facebook: The Peached Tortilla / Twitter: peached tortilla
- Cuisine: Fusion Tacos

The Peached Tortilla is former lawyer Eric Silverstein’s mobile truck that is serving gourmet asian/southern fusion through the medium of street food. Born in Japan, and having traveled thoroughly around Asia, Eric was exposed to a variety of cultures and cuisines. At the age of ten, he moved to Atlanta, Georgia which offered a new range of ingredients and flavors. “When I started that concept made sense to mingle those two cultures,” says Eric. His personal favorite item on the menu is the Banhmi taco, which uses pork belly that is brined and braised served with a pickled daikon carrot salad with sirracha mayo and cilantro.

I asked Eric to explain the name, the Peached Tortilla, and he said, “It originates from Georgia roots because it’s the peach state. The word “peached” is something that allows you to define it yourself. To us, ‘peached’ is to get flavor smitten – we want people to get ‘peached’. The tortilla ties in with tacos. We also want to separate ourselves out from corporate America and this name was one way to do that. “

Eric represents the rebel version of entrepreneurs who aren’t satisfied working for someone else. After discussing a new city with his girlfriend and much research on his concept, Eric quit his job and three weeks later they moved to Austin and opened the Peached Tortilla. Why Austin? “We felt like it was a really open minded city open to eating from a food truck. There was already a tremendous amount of growth in trailer food industry, the city is growing, the economy is doing well, my concept is different and Austin likes different.” Currently, Eric is dishing up his gourmet fusion at multiple locations.

Recipe: Old School BBQ's Sedona Salad

2010-09-26T08:17:00.000-05:00

From the famously meaty food vendors, Old School BBQ, comes this hearty recipe for a salad - full of greens and goodness!

Old School BBQ's Sedona Salad

Ingredients:

12 oz. Baby lettuce mix
8 oz. Chicken Breast
4 oz. Bleu Cheese crumbles
4 oz. Walnuts – chopped
6 oz. Mandarin oranges
¾ cup Red onion
4 oz. Balsamic vinaigrette

Directions:

1. Cut chicken into 1 ½” pieces and brown over medium-high heat with salt and pepper to taste. Set aside.

2. Thinly slice red onion and cut slices in half to form crescents.

3. Place lettuces, walnuts, chicken, onion and bleu cheese crumbles in mixing bowl.

4. Add vinaigrette to bowl and toss thoroughly.

5. Portion on serving ware and garnish with Mandarin Orange sections.

Serve with a crisp, dry white wine like Pinot Grigio and hot crusty bread for a flavorful, fully satisfying light meal.

Recipe: Lucky J's Breakfast Waffle Taco

2010-09-26T08:08:00.000-05:00

What's that? Lucky J's shared the recipe to make their Breakfast Waffle Taco?? Mornings get real when breakfast is served in a waffle.

Lucky J's Breakfast Waffle Taco

Waffle Mix

1 cup flour

1 tsp sugar

¾ tsp baking powder

½ tsp salt

2 T vegetable oil

¾ cup water

½ cup buttermilk

1 egg

Combine ingredients and allow to sit for 15 minutes before using

Breakfast Potatoes

1 cup red potatoes diced ¾”

½ cup red onions diced ¾”

2 oz vegetable oil

1 tsp season salt

½ tsp dried rosemary

½ tsp dried thyme

Heat oil to medium high and add potatoes and onions. Sautees until the potatoes are crispy. Drain any excess oil and toss with the seasonings.

Waffle Breakfast Tacos

4 waffles

1 cup breakfast potatoes

4 slices cooked bacon cut into 1” pieces

4 slices cheddar cheese

Combine breakfast potatoes and bacon on a hot flattop or in a nonstick sauté pan over a medium high flame. Allow the contents of the pan to heat through thoroughly (about 1-2 minutes). Add the eggs to the pan and stir occasionally so that the eggs ‘scramble’ slightly. In the meantime, place a slice of cheddar cheese on each waffle. When the eggs are thoroughly cooked (about 4 minutes or until there is no runny parts visible), divide into four parts and place in the center of each waffle. Fold the waffles and serve.

Recipe: East Side King's Thai Chicken Karaage

2010-09-26T08:07:00.000-05:00

A destination trailer for Asian food aficionados, East Side King shares their Thai Chicken Karaage recipe with those equally adventurous in the kitchen to attempt a re-creation. Enjoy!

East Side King's Thai Chicken Karaage
Serves 4-6

Ingredients

3 lbs Chicken legs - Boned and cut into large bite size chunks

8 oz Thai Chicken Sauce (recipe follows)

4 oz white onion – Sliced thinly

2 oz Jalapeno – Sliced into thin rounds

3 oz Cilantro – Picked and washed

1.5 oz Mint – Picked and washed

1.5 oz Thai Basil – Picked and washed

2 C Corn Starch

4 cups Vegetable Oil

Method: Lightly toss the cut chicken in the corn starch, until each piece is evenly coated and there are no moist spots. Preheat your oil to 375. Fry chicken until golden brown and cooked throughout. Move the hot chicken to a large bowl, add the onions, jalapeno, and herbs, and add the sauce. Toss gently in Thai Chicken Sauce, and be sure to coat all the pieces well. Transfer to a serving dish, top with Sweet Chili Sauce, and enjoy!

Thai Chicken Sauce

4 oz Water

4 oz White Vinegar

4 oz White Sugar

1 oz Sweet Chili Sauce

2 oz Fish Sauce

1.5 oz garlic/thai chili – minced

Method: Combine in a bowl and whisk until all ingredients are fully incorporated.

Sweet Chili Sauce:

4 oz White Vinegar

2 oz White Sugar

1 oz Chili flakes

Method: In a small sauce pot combine the vinegar and sugar. Allow the mixture to come to a boil without stirring. Add the chilli flakes and stir.

#19

2010-09-08T11:50:00.000-05:00

- Location: East Side Drive In - 1001 E. 6th St. - @San Marcos
- Hours: Tuesday & Wednesday 8 AM - 2 PM
Thursday - Saturday: 7 PM - 3 AM
Sunday: 11 AM -2PM
- Telephone: 512-799-6764
- Website: www.number19bus.com / Facebook: #19
- Cuisine: Sandwiches - of the cheesesteak sort

From working in an engineering firm to owning a hair salon to managing a deli, Tim Lasater has a background as colorful as it is diverse. It was when he was touring in Philly with his band Pop Unknown that he had the realization no one was doing a good cheesesteak in Austin. Tim tells the story: “I had some business partners that were opening a beer and burger joint on the Eastside and the lease fell through. While we were looking for another brick and mortar I found the bus on craigslist, but the investors were not interested. I was talking with my old bass player and he said he would find the money. He called me the next morning and said he found the money so I drove down to Dripping Springs and got the bus. Driving the bus, I thought I had lost my mind. We forgot to measure the height and I didn’t know if it would even fit under a bridge.”

The bus was originally built as a tour bus for the Cheshire Inn, a hotel in Saint Louis in 1975. It’s the only factory made double decker bus in the

. And as far as the name, Tim wanted something simple that everyone could remember. He remembered the Clash’s song about a bus route that was number nineteen. The history behind that was that in the

, the 19 was a double decker bus route that would take people home from live music venues and bars. So with his background in music and new found double decker trailer food business that serves lunch and latenight, the #19 was a natural fit.

For his best-selling cheesesteaks, Tim uses rolls and meat from Philadelphia, but he twists it up with some mushrooms and cheese. And his brother Ryan, who is also a musician works the bus too. Tim says of Ryan, “He’s an assistant manager. That’s what I tell him anyways, it makes him get up a little earlier in the morning.” And on why he picked Austin as the spot for the #19: “After traveling Europe with the band and working in Yellowstone and Jackson hole, I met a lot of people and went to a lot of cool cities – but I love the laid back atmosphere and vibe in Austin. You don’t have to dress up to go to the great spots. Its got the best of all the worlds of music, rivers, people, put together –not too small and not too big.”

Royito's Hot Sauce Streamer

2010-09-08T10:50:00.000-05:00

- Location: Downtown - W. 6th St. & Wood St.
- Hours: Monday – Friday: 7:30 AM – 10 AM
- Telephone: 512-242-4594
- Facebook: Royito’s Hot Sauce Company / Twitter: royitos
- Cuisine: Breakfast Tacos. Hot Sauce.

On the surface, you may think Roy Spence with his history as the “S” of the illustrious GSD&M advertising agency is an unusual suspect in the trailer food business, but his down-to-earth core values are the same as all the other vendors. In Roy’s words, he is ‘working his way down the corporate ladder.’ He believes that

America

was ‘built on small’ and he is passionate about supporting local, small businesses. With his trailer, he believes he is representing part of the larger movement to revitalize small business in

America

Although, from an advertising standpoint, he has represented such restaurants as Chili’s, Macaroni Grill, On The Border, and more, Roy’s experience with the food industry stops there and starts in his own kitchen. “I hand made tens of thousands of jars and sent to restaurant owners and friends and everyone kept asking ‘when can we buy this?’ I finally decided I was cheating the world out of the opportunity to have a big dose of spice in their life,” Roy says with a big smile on his face. After fifteen years of experimentation, Roy developed a unique and simple blend of fresh, natural ingredients that when combined makes ‘Royitos’ hot sauce.

Down at the trailer, Chef Sarah hand makes the tortillas and all the food is made fresh from scratch. Crowd favorites from their best-selling breakfast tacos include migas, chorizo and picadillo, although Roy’s favorite item on the menu is his hot sauce which is about to be launched for sale. He is planning a family of items that will support the real magic, which is the hot sauce. We can expect a line up that includes queso, guacamole, tamales and more in the near future.

The hot sauce represents two of Roy’s values learned from his father: keep it simple and don’t do mild. In Roy’s words, “The hot sauce is not a burning heat but it’s not mild. It’s one flavor now, right where people like it.” While the ‘don’t do mild’ motto rings true in the taste of the hot sauce, the broader meaning is meant to inspire other entrepreneurs to not do anything mild in their endeavors and to truly live their dreams.

Powdered Sugar

2010-09-08T10:47:00.001-05:00

- Location: Longhorn Food Court - 1901 Rio Grande St. - @ Martin Luther King, Jr. Blvd
- Hours: Tuesday – Saturday: 12 - 8 PM
- Facebook: Powdered Sugar
- Cuisine: Dessert

Amber Glowski is a social work student at UT. Although she wasn’t technically in the food industry prior to opening Powdered Sugar in August of 2010, she brings up a good point: “Food has always been a part of me. I’ve been eating and grocery shopping and cooking most of my life, so food is something everybody’s around no matter what.” She bought her 1964 Shasta trailer from Kristin Gunn, who formerly operated Sugarstar, her ‘Martha Meets Metallica’ cupcake business out of the same trailer.

In Amber’s words, “I started this business with an observation. It’s such a piece of Austin culture – this isn’t a big thing in other big cities in Texas, Austin has it first. I tried food trailers and I realized no one was doing funnel cake. To me it seemed obvious: people are used to eating funnel cakes out of a truck. Plus there is no where to get funnel cake year round – you can’t go to a store and get a funnel cake.”

Amber remembers being about 7 years old and eating her first funnel cake where she grew up at the Houston Livestock Show & Rodeo but not all of her customers were raised with funnel cake fun. “It’s fun to find people who’ve never had one in their life that are 45-50 years old. The funnel cake also spans generations from little children who are so excited or more mature people who have grown up with funnel cake – that grew up with it in the 50s and 60s – it’s fun to see their reaction.” Amber reports the Houston Livestock Show & Rodeo sold some 100,000 funnel cakes earlier in March of 2010.

The funnel cake was traditionally made in cast iron skillet over a burner. It is Dutch in origin and outside of the being well known as a ‘fair’ food, it is still very popular in Pennsylvania where large Dutch and Amish communities exist. With Amber’s vision, Austinite’s can now relive the excitement and wonder of fair time funnel cake by visiting her “Powdered Sugar” trailer year round.

La Fantabulous

2010-09-08T10:45:00.000-05:00

- Location: Gibson Trailer Park - 1318 S. Congress Av. - @Gibson St.
- Hours: Varying. Follow Facebook page or take a chance and stop by!
- Telephone: 512-619-3008
- Facebook: La Fantabulous
- Cuisine: Tacos - breakfast, lunch, & dinner

Josie Paredes had been cooking since she was seven and spent 25 years in commercial kitchens before opening her la fantabulous taqueria trailer in 2007. Her menu is inspired from hole in the wall places she visited while backpacking the beaches in

Mexico

. “I love the way they combine their seasons with their fresh meat and fruits, and a lot of avocado,” Josie says.

Josie’s mother can take credit for giving her the passion to cook. Josie says, “My mom made her moles from scratch. She used different dried peppers, peanut butter and chocolate. What’s not to love, it’s reeses pieces on chicken.” Her personal favorite item on the la fantabulous menu is fish tacos. Currently the fish is red snapper, but she is moving to a ‘catch of the day’ so she can buy fresh fish daily.

If you ask Josie the best part of the trailer food business, she’ll answer: “I get to do my own thing. I love to cook, I like to make people happy with my food. I love the expression – that’s the best payment for me – that something that I made out of love, someone else is enjoying it.”

The Local Yolk

2010-09-08T10:41:00.001-05:00

- Location: East Side Drive In - 1001 E. 6th St. - @San Marcos
- Hours: Tuesday & Wednesday 8 AM - 2 PM
   Thursday - Saturday: 7 PM - 3 AM
   Sunday: 11 AM -2PM
- Telephone: 512-745-9110
- Website: www.thelocalyolkaustin.com / Facebook: The Local Yolk
- Cuisine: Sandwiches - all feature egg!

Having catered, bar tended and waited tables; the trailer food business came naturally to Shelly Speer. Her menu concept is centered entirely on the incredible edible egg. “I just really love to make egg sandwiches… It is fun to see how many different ones that I can come up with.” Her personal favorite is the tuna melt that comes with a fried egg on top. The Florence is a crowd favorite. It’s an Italian grilled sandwich with pesto, tomato, mozzarella and a fried egg. She also has deviled eggs which you can buy one at a time or by the dozen that she anticipates engaging fun flavors to change things up and is currently using a curry.

Shelly doesn’t have her own chickens yet, so she buys her eggs from Farm to Table. All of her sandwiches come with Kettle chips and a pickle. She developed her French toast dessert snack when she accidentally received a cinnamon swirl loaf instead of her normal sandwich bread.   “…so I made French toast and we passed it out for free for people to try and people loved it. I just cut it up in squares with a toothpick and drizzle it in syrup over it. It’s good for latenight or brunch.”

Iggi's Texatarian

2010-09-08T10:27:00.003-05:00

- Location: Waller Trailer Park Eatery - 1112 E. 6th Street - @Waller
- Hours: Wednesday & Thursday: 5 PM - 12 AM
   Friday: 5 PM - 2:30 AM
   Saturday: 12 PM - 2:30 AM
   Sunday: 12 PM - 10 PM
- Website: www.iggistexatarian.com / Facebook: Iggi Pup / Twitter: iggistexatarian
- Cuisine: Vegan - Texas style

Zoja Ulesoo and Rebecca (Becca) Strong met when they were both living in a vegan cooperative in west campus with 26 other room-mates. Becca was raised vegan and having cooked her whole life was starting to kick around the idea of operating a vegan trailer. Her friend Zoja stepped in with the funding and marketing to help get Iggi’s Texatarian off the ground and they opened in August of 2010.

They were playing with different themes, but their trailer was already painted like a big Texas flag, so they decided the Texan theme was going to work. “It is kind of ironic since most Texan-types aren’t normally vegan, but we wanted to have a more welcoming attitude towards omnivores,” explains Zoja; and for inquiring minds, “Iggi” is Becca’s pit bull mix.

Since their menu concept is southern comfort vegan food, they have a variety of healthy options that are sure to please your palette. The mac n cheese tastes close to the real thing, but the sauce is made of potatoes, carrots, and mustard. The Quintessential Chili recipe is Becca’s mother’s and step-father’s recipe which they have entered in the Texas Chili Cook-off the last 20-odd years and has won the people’s choice on multiple occasions.

Giovanni's Pizza Stand

2010-09-08T10:16:00.000-05:00

- Location: Southside - 2900 S. Lamar - @Manchaca
- Hours: Monday - Saturday: 7 AM - 10 PM
- Telephone: 512-656-7033
- Website: www.giovannispizzastand.com
- Cuisine: Tacos for breakfast. Pizza & pasta for lunch and dinner.

Julio Rangel might not be the first person you would expect to be running a high quality Italian style food trailer. He says smiling, “I’m from

Mexico

– but my diet is more than beans.” His menu is more than beans too. From pizzas and pastas, the Giovanni’s concept uses fresh ingredients that tantalize your taste buds. After 20 years of making pizza, he says he still eats it as if it were the first time. Julio also loves the scampi, which includes shrimp with mushrooms, spinach and sun dried tomatoes in a garlic butter sauce with Romano cheese.

When Julio came to the states from Guanojuato, he said he didn’t even know how to cook an egg. He started working in construction and then got a job at Mezzaluna, where he saw men in the kitchen for the first time. He determined being in the kitchen is what he really liked to do and instead of going to school for a title, he decided to be a street chef. He says, “You keep practicing til you get better and hopefully someone likes your stuff.’

When he first started out in 2007, he had a 14 x 7 trailer with a wood burning oven. Julio tells the story: “Can you believe inside I had a 1500 pound oven? It was our family homework for me, my wife and our two children to get the oven in place. She would tell me ‘you’re crazy.’ But you need to be a little crazy to make this happen.”

He has some advice for new entrepreneurs as well: “I know its hard at the beginning, but everyday you gotta keep feeding the dream. If you don’t, you forget, you get frustrated and you keep working. Everyday do a little bit to keep the dream alive. If I had an extra $10 I would go buy a spoon. My wife was like, why is this guy buying a spoon when I need milk. You don’t have to spend $2,000 every time, but spend $5 to keep the dream alive. It will be there, it’s just waiting for you to make it happen.”

Elixer Coffee

2010-09-08T10:08:00.001-05:00

- Location: Eastside - 4209 Airport Blvd. @Mueller Park
- Hours: Monday - Friday: 7 AM - 11 AM
Saturday & Sunday: 8 AM - 11 AM
- Telephone: 512-689-1448
- Website: www.elixercoffee.com / Facebook: elixercoffee / Twitter: elixercoffee
- Cuisine: Coffee & Breakfast Pastries

Keturah Somerville was a pediatric nurse before she started her family and decided to create a neighborhood coffee shop where she could stay at home with the kids. She found a ‘52 Studebaker with a converted flatbed that was already outfitted with the espresso machine in Tuscon, Arizona via craigslist. Keturah loves talking with her customers and getting to know them. She gets to hear lots of Studebaker-related stories that bring the older customers back to memories of their youth. The atmosphere of the coffee-car sparks a childlike behavior in one retired couple who come to hula hoop with Keturah.

About her children growing up in the coffee business, Keturah shares: “I have three children and two of them have been avid coffee drinkers since they were very little. I’m sure they’ll be able to grow up and tell stories about the disk that comes out of the espresso maker. When you pull a shot, you have a little 2 inch by 1 inch puck – my babies love to break them into crumbles in the yard – they get covered in grounds and wreak of coffee for days.”

Counter Culture

2010-09-08T09:48:00.000-05:00

- Location: UT Campus area -120 E. North Loop- @Avenue F
- Hours: Wednesday - Saturday: 12 - 8 PM
Sunday: 12 - 6 PM
- Telephone: 512-897-2602
- Website: www.countercultureaustin.com / Facebook: Counter Culture / Twitter: CCVegan
- Cuisine: Vegan & Raw foods

Sue Davis traded one art form for another when she moved from a black and white fine art printer in the photography world to a chef in vegan restaurants. She has been a vegetarian since the early 90’s and has been eating a vegan diet since 2002. Originally from Massachusetts, she moved to San Francisco in the late 80s, to Austin in 95, and spent some time in LA before returning to Austin to develop her vegan trailer food business.

Sue opened Counter Culture in July of 2009 with a small basic menu that includes mainly sandwiches, salads, raw food and desserts. The Philly Seitan is probably her best seller and it’s not hard to see why since she makes the seitan herself without the help of preservatives. You won’t find any tofu on Sue’s menu, she feels like it’s everywhere and is used as a substitute for meat too often. Rather, she makes everything from scratch. Since she doesn’t over advertise about her vegan menu, it’s one of her favorite things to serve an unknowing citizen and have them be pleasantly surprised.

In addition to her background with photography and culinary art, Sue is a vinyl record collector and former DJ. She has singer/songwriter-style acoustic music at her trailer during Sunday brunches. Sue rationalizes, “A brunch tab can get pretty high if you order mimosas, but here it’s different. Every Sunday I do a different themed brunch from Southern home cooking to breakfast burritos, and you can bring whatever you want to drink.”

Max Parfait

2010-09-08T09:21:00.000-05:00

- Location & Hours:
Roving - follow on Twitter and Facebook or sign up for newsletter to learn varying times and locations.
Saturdays: 9 AM - 1 PM - 4th and Guadalupe @Austin Farmers Market
Sundays: 11 AM - 3 PM - 414 Waller St - @HOPE Farmers Market
- Telephone: 512-522-6514
- Website: www.maxparfait.com / Facebook: Max Parfait / Twitter: maxparfait
- Cuisine: Texas Burgers & Belgian Fries

Zarghun and Edeaicsa (Eddy) Dean opened Max Parfait on July 4, 2010 after a ten year run starting and selling Tribeza magazine. It might surprise you to find out that Zarghun passed up a career in law to pursue a trailer food business but he seems destined to be successful at whatever he puts his heart into. Regarding the leap into the food industry, he explains, “Food has been the center of my family as long as I can remember. I’m originally from

Afghanistan

, I was 8 when we moved here. A lot of Afghan families would have a weekly get together and bring food and prepare something. My mom was the stand out cook in that community – she did a phenomenal job of cooking for us – the burger she made was one of them. So once I met my wife and we got married, she is from Veracruz,

Mexico

and she is a phenomenal cook when it comes to Mexican food. She and my mom really bonded over the cooking and passage of information took place as a result of that.”

Their menu is limited to a few items that they do really well with the burger being Zarghun’s favorite and their best seller. In his words, “We used a recipe my mom developed and passed on to my wife – my wife tinkered with it and she makes home made buns. It’s a stand out burger; we season it a bit so it’s different from other burgers you’re going to eat in Austin, Texas. We wood fire it so it adds another dimension.”

The couple wasn’t crazy about offering a veggie burger, so Eddy came up with a recipe for a portabella sandwich for any vegetarians who might come by and it has been surprisingly popular with even their meat eating customers. Their Belgian fries are right up there with the burger in terms of crow favorites. I asked Zarghun to explain what makes it ‘Belgian’ and he said, “It is the process of cooking them. They are cooked twice – at a lower temperature first, and then the fries have to rest and sweat a little. Then you cook them a second time at a higher temperature. This gives them a crispy outside and a mushy inside like baked potatoes. We go a step further by using organic potatoes and we fry them in olive oil.”

As far as their name ‘Max Parfait’, it was inspired by an old duke Ellington song that was a tribute to his drummer Max Roach. When Zarghun heard the song and album he thought about a fictional character called Max Parfait and the trailer was born.

East Side King

2010-09-01T19:44:00.001-05:00

- Location: Eastside - 1618 1/2 E 6th St - @Liberty Bar
- Hours: Everyday: 7 PM - 1:45 AM
- Telephone: 512-422-5884
- Website: www.eastsidekingaustin.com / Facebook: East Side King / Twitter: eastsidekingatx
- Cuisine: Asian Fusion

The famed East Side King trailer concept of “Good South Asian Street Food” was developed by business partners Moto and Paul and opened in December of 2009 since it seemed to be lacking in the Austin area. They found their trailer appropriately sitting on the East side of Austin in someone’s yard via craigslist. Hailing from a small island in the south part of Japan, Moto has been in Austin for 20 years. The trailer’s namesake comes from Moto’s Blues and Soul band which has the same title. Some of their best customers are bar tenders from Liberty bar and chefs from Mulberry. The chicken karaage is a best seller and Moto’s personal favorite item on the menu

Trailer Food Diaries

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How Portland's Pods stack up

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Gifting: a Cookbook with food truck recipes from Austin!

Lizzie's Lunchbox: Texas-Mediterranean

A Thanksgiving Trailer Story

Portland - here we come!

Ni Haowdy! "Fresh off the Truck" is fresh off the hook

Busy week in trailer land

Trick or Trailer - Happy Halloween!

Gypsy Picnic Cook-off Winners

GYPSY PICNIC - this weekend! October 22nd

Book Signing at Book People - Wednesday 10/12: 7pm

Bubba's BBQ in Cross Plains, TX

Art's BBQ in Port O'Connor

Bufalo Bob's & Bananarchy

3 Days of ACL GIVEAWAYS

Municipal Taste: Don't Mind if I Do

Trailer Food Under 500 Calories

Back to school! Find the best trailer food on campus

Torchy's 5th bday / Scavenger Hunt Party TODAY

JuiceOver

Get Excited about the Gypsy Picnic!

Soco To Go

Summer in a Cup - part 4 in the snow cone series

License to Chill .... kolache snow cones! (part 3 in the snow cone series)

Snow Cones! part 2: Sweet Caroline's

Snow Cones! .... Part 1

Catch the Peached Tortilla at Films for the Forest: June 16th

Peruvian Street Food: Comida de Paso

Trailer Food Diaries the SHOW

Buffalo Bob's Chalupa Wagon

Eat Street is coming to Austin May 17-21

Where can you get rattlesnake sausage? Wurst Tex

All City Subs

South Shore Eatery (Trailer Park)

We did it! The cookbook is funded!

Campaign to fund the Trailer Food COOKBOOK ends this Wednesday - (get you a copy!)

Cazamance

the Evil Wiener & "Feed the Soul" trailer park

Trailer Food on your FACE: the trailer facial

SXSW trailer food crawl for Lucky J's Friday 3/18/2011

SXSW trailer opportunities and fun finds

List of Trailers & SXSW guide to trailers

From Trailer to Brick and Mortar – examining the leap (+ trailer moves and updates)

DC food truck: CapMac

Keep Your Recommendations Weird in Austin

the cookbook is coming! the cookbook is coming!

Love is in the Hair

The morning Joe, and Mark

preparing for SXSW - local musician supporting local trailers

Trailer thievery

Cooking with the Flying Carpet

Table for One - Not Anymore

Two trailers participating in Sip & Savor Austin

Trailer of Lights: Cancelled

Trailer of Lights is ON: Dec 18th

Video Clip from Gypsy Picnic

Thanksgiving at the Trailers

First-ever Gypsy Picnic

Grab Some Lunch at The Gypsy Picnic

Conscious Cravings

the Zubikhouse

Turf N Surf Po'Boys

Short Bus Subs

Sugar Shack BBQ

Torchy's Tacos

Coolhaus

Juan Pelota Coffee Truck

Kronic Krave Arepas

Hat Creek Burger, Co.

The Peached Tortilla

Recipe: Old School BBQ's Sedona Salad

12 oz. Baby lettuce mix8 oz. Chicken Breast4 oz. Bleu Cheese crumbles4 oz. Walnuts – chopped6 oz. Mandarin oranges¾ cup Red onion4 oz. Balsamic vinaigrette

Directions:

Recipe: Lucky J's Breakfast Waffle Taco

12 oz. Baby lettuce mix
8 oz. Chicken Breast
4 oz. Bleu Cheese crumbles
4 oz. Walnuts – chopped
6 oz. Mandarin oranges
¾ cup Red onion
4 oz. Balsamic vinaigrette