DC Food Trucks - September 14, 2011
Posted 11/10/2011
If I told you there was a place where spicy Korean tacos and succulent Greek gyros were chauffeured around town in artfully designed private vans, where mobile miracles delivered lunchboxes of gourmet mac & cheese and overflowing lobster rolls to throngs of diehard fans willing to line up and wait for over an hour for a taste of their sweet, sweet culinary deliverance, would you believe me?
Well, my friends, you’re in luck! This place does exist and it’s called Washington D.C. where the recent food truck craze has vehicular chefs slinging out delicious culinary treats only slightly less faster than our Congressmen are slinging insults and words of stubborn un-cooperation in the not-too-far Capital building.
A fact I should probably leave out is that I visited the following three food trucks in one day. But hey, I’m all about transparency and I actually think you will respect my dedication to my blog more so than judge my inability to say no to wheel-bound treats.
So you respect me, right?
Hello?
I’ll take the resounding silence as a yes!
We've discussed food trucks on this site before but in a slightly different context. Leaving the bucket list behind for a moment, here is an adventure in actual food truck wonderment.
First up, CapMac. Yup, that’s right. A food truck solely dedicated to ooey, gooey, stick-to-the-roof-of-your-mouth macaroni and cheese. The folks at CapMac live, breathe and die macaroni and cheese.
Well, my friends, you’re in luck! This place does exist and it’s called Washington D.C. where the recent food truck craze has vehicular chefs slinging out delicious culinary treats only slightly less faster than our Congressmen are slinging insults and words of stubborn un-cooperation in the not-too-far Capital building.
A fact I should probably leave out is that I visited the following three food trucks in one day. But hey, I’m all about transparency and I actually think you will respect my dedication to my blog more so than judge my inability to say no to wheel-bound treats.
So you respect me, right?
Hello?
I’ll take the resounding silence as a yes!
We've discussed food trucks on this site before but in a slightly different context. Leaving the bucket list behind for a moment, here is an adventure in actual food truck wonderment.
First up, CapMac. Yup, that’s right. A food truck solely dedicated to ooey, gooey, stick-to-the-roof-of-your-mouth macaroni and cheese. The folks at CapMac live, breathe and die macaroni and cheese.
Even their logo is made out of mac & cheese! Crazies! And take a look at their cheesy food truck/van.
There is mac & cheese all over that sucker. So, how did I know where to find this pasta and dairy Graceland? Two ways: first, all food trucks have a twitter feed which they use to share their location in the world with their carb-loading followers; second, and what I consider to be the world’s most valuable digital treasure map, is the website Food Truck Fiesta. The site keeps a live map of the locations of food trucks across the capital region [read: Danger, Will Robinson, Danger!]
So, after I waited in line for the better part of 20 minutes, I finally placed my order and you know homegirl ordered the Goat Cheese Mac with crispy onions.
So, after I waited in line for the better part of 20 minutes, I finally placed my order and you know homegirl ordered the Goat Cheese Mac with crispy onions.
And this is what I saw when I opened my cardboard box of love.
OK, the picture doesn’t really do it justice, let me paint you a better one.
Imagine that scene in the movie where the heroic treasure seeker finally finds the legendary chest of gold. He puts his trembling hand on the latch, slowly opens the lid with dramatic intent and the squeaking of ancient hinges that haven’t moved in centuries. As he lifts the lid higher and peers inside with cautious optimism, an eruption of golden light showers his face and, if the treasure is a real good one, fills the entire cave with luminous validation of his quest! (Did I not mention the cave before? Yes, this all happened in a cave (which is an interesting metaphor because I enjoyed this lunch in my one room office that apparently, I subconsciously consider a cave … ))
Moving on! Here’s another delicious angle of the cholesterol-filled treat inside the box.
Imagine that scene in the movie where the heroic treasure seeker finally finds the legendary chest of gold. He puts his trembling hand on the latch, slowly opens the lid with dramatic intent and the squeaking of ancient hinges that haven’t moved in centuries. As he lifts the lid higher and peers inside with cautious optimism, an eruption of golden light showers his face and, if the treasure is a real good one, fills the entire cave with luminous validation of his quest! (Did I not mention the cave before? Yes, this all happened in a cave (which is an interesting metaphor because I enjoyed this lunch in my one room office that apparently, I subconsciously consider a cave … ))
Moving on! Here’s another delicious angle of the cholesterol-filled treat inside the box.
Adorable corkscrew pasta coasted in creamy goat cheese topped with crunchy breadcrumbs and, as the menu promised, crispy onions. So very, very tasty.
So how does one top this migrant meal of epically cheesy proportions?
By having two desserts, of course!
Enter Curbside Cupcakes stage left.
So how does one top this migrant meal of epically cheesy proportions?
By having two desserts, of course!
Enter Curbside Cupcakes stage left.
How adorable is that little truck with its cute little pink paint job and cute little old school food truck look?
You want to know what really isn’t adorable? Every week, this truck is parked directly across the street from my building.
You want to know what really isn’t adorable? Every week, this truck is parked directly across the street from my building.
That building, right there. Ridiculous. It taunts me, beckons to me with its refined sugar goodness and begs me to sample these bakery wonders.
Again, how adorable is this truck with its little cupcake sneak-peek window highlighting the day’s temptation.
So which cupcake did I choose? Well, I am a sucker for Key Lime anything and so went with their Key Lime cupcake with its delicate vanilla cake and fluffy, sweet and citrusy icing finished off with sugared lime zest. In cupcake terms, this was a 4-biter, i.e. I inhaled this sucker in (count ‘em) 4 bites. Ahh, all was good with the world.
And then I had ‘second dessert’, and all was magnificent with the world!
(I eat dessert like a hobbit … we also talked about the no judging thing earlier, in case you forgot.)
Before quitting time that day, I found out that Pleasant Pops was making an impromptu pit stop near my office and after cursing the food truck gods for preying on my inability to ignore gourmet popsicles, I went on a short urban hike to the ‘coolest’ food truck in DC (haha, coolest! Get it? I heart puns.)
And then I had ‘second dessert’, and all was magnificent with the world!
(I eat dessert like a hobbit … we also talked about the no judging thing earlier, in case you forgot.)
Before quitting time that day, I found out that Pleasant Pops was making an impromptu pit stop near my office and after cursing the food truck gods for preying on my inability to ignore gourmet popsicles, I went on a short urban hike to the ‘coolest’ food truck in DC (haha, coolest! Get it? I heart puns.)
Here is the point in the story where I share my one and only beef with the food truck culture. Sure, a food truck is levels above your average street cart in quality and sheer mobile size but when a popsicle is equal in cost to half my daily commute to work in the morning, I get a little peeved.
Pleasant Pops are literally $2.50 a pop, my box of delicious mac & cheese was $8 and my 4-bite cupcake … $3! Again, I understand the quality of food is high but I also had myself an incredible food cart halal lunch in NYC in which I couldn’t finish even half of for a cheap and cheerful $6-7.
But, for the sake of research, I forked over the $2.50, kissed my morning coffee for tomorrow goodbye and took a big bite out of my Chili Lime Cucumber pop while the Capital building loomed in the distance.
But, for the sake of research, I forked over the $2.50, kissed my morning coffee for tomorrow goodbye and took a big bite out of my Chili Lime Cucumber pop while the Capital building loomed in the distance.
And I’ll be damned if it wasn’t a pretty stinkin’ delicious popsicle! Worth $2.50? I don’t know but I’m willing to save my pennies and give it another shot next year!
I hope if you ever visit DC, you experience the ridiculously booming food truck craze quite literally taking over the streets.
Because, it’s just plain fun to order food from a vehicle.
I hope if you ever visit DC, you experience the ridiculously booming food truck craze quite literally taking over the streets.
Because, it’s just plain fun to order food from a vehicle.
On 11/10/11, Kristin wrote:
"Omg.... I die... you are only giving me more reason to move to DC!"
On 11/10/11, Liana wrote:
"Well, I can assure you, you will be fat and happy in DC with all the food around :)"
On 11/10/11, Sara wrote:
"Love it! Glad I was there to accompany you on 2/3 of those food truck visits! We should probably do that again soon."
On 11/11/11, Emily wrote:
"As I sit here sucking down an entire bag of Utz chips, I commend you on your delicious blog once again!"
On 12/7/11, Victoria wrote:"So Brian (the owner) and I loved your article about us. It's definitely one of our favs!! Please tweet us at @capmacdc / chef_vicky or come by for lunch, our treat =}"
"Omg.... I die... you are only giving me more reason to move to DC!"
On 11/10/11, Liana wrote:
"Well, I can assure you, you will be fat and happy in DC with all the food around :)"
On 11/10/11, Sara wrote:
"Love it! Glad I was there to accompany you on 2/3 of those food truck visits! We should probably do that again soon."
On 11/11/11, Emily wrote:
"As I sit here sucking down an entire bag of Utz chips, I commend you on your delicious blog once again!"
On 12/7/11, Victoria wrote:"So Brian (the owner) and I loved your article about us. It's definitely one of our favs!! Please tweet us at @capmacdc / chef_vicky or come by for lunch, our treat =}"
