Top-Tier Food Truck Tuesday’s!!!

Live Action Quick Tips

Did you know….

When Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans, food trucks were “invaluable” for feeding the “clean-up crews and construction workers who couldn’t leave their sites to dine out at the few reopened restaurants,” according to The Atlantic. After Hurricane Sandy, food trucks served over 100,000 meals to hungry New Yorkers, even offering 11,000 free hot lunches in just one day..(buzzfeed.com)

Today’s Restaurant

Movable Feast – 2151 Mission College Blvd.
Santa Clara, CA

Average Cost

Depends on which truck you choose but about $10-15 per meal

Rating (1-10)

9.5

Recommended Trucks(Dishes): 

Tastee Bytes – Pulled Pork Sandwich, Hill Country BBQ – Beef Brisket, Pork, Chicken, Hot Link, Mac n Cheese

Ever since I engulfed myself in the wonderful world of Food Network Television, I have found myself lusting over the great tasting sensations that I see during the shows and envision those fantasy imaged meals in my mouth that those wonderful chefs portray. One of the shows I like to watch on the Food Network is The Great Food Truck Race.

Really cool show if you haven’t seen it and it introduces you to the world of the Food Truck Extravaganza! This world is a realm of divergent creations of foods that you may be used to eating but it involves a twist to what you do not commonly order on a regular menu. Well actually, those are the illustrious ones; you will find some trucks that offer a menu familiar to the eye but those I tend to pass up since I can eat that type of food anywhere.

If you are not sure where to find these lustrous wagons of love then you may want to do a quick Google search and type something like ‘ food trucks san jose, ca’. Just replace ‘san jose, ca’ with your city name and you should get some Yelp information or simply just search on Yelp and type ‘food trucks’ and that should do the trick.

Once you figure out that you actually have food trucks in your area, which I’m sure you will, you should be able to find out the locations when they gather together for an event. When they gather in one location for an event they usually have a sponsor that promotes where they will reside and also they will usually provide music and colorful decorative paint buckets for you to use as chairs and mini tables.

I can see you reading this now, “Trevis, I don’t want to be uncomfortable eating and sitting on a paint bucket, my butt is way too big for that..” 🙂

No worries, they usually have these events in an open area where you can pull out a blanket and lay down and just enjoy the music, food, and all of the variety of people attending as well. It is a great place for lunch with coworkers and they even have these at night so you can invite friends and family for a social gathering as well. If you are in the Bay Area the Food Truck Extravaganza that I usually attend and what I am writing about today is The Movable Feast.

They do a great job with the trucks that they are scheduled in multiple locations on different dates.  The other thing I like about the events they host is that they shuffle the trucks around so you usually always get a different noteworthy experience every time and they play great music and even come out when it is raining. Good Job Movable Feast!! Now that’s a great portrayal of live action eating!!

Now let’s talk a little bit about the event so you get an idea of my paramount decision on what will be massaging my taste buds today.  It was my work out day so I got into the office and went to the gym downstairs around 8:30am to make sure I was able to catch up on work when I was done so I could get to the food trucks before 1pm. They start serving at 11am and it gets packed by 1pm wherever it is held so I wanted to beat the long lines; plus it was about 75 degrees today in Santa Clara, Ca so a perfect day to enjoy.. sorry East Coasters. 🙁

Any-who, I texted my close friend Justin Englehaupt (director, actor) to join me at the food trucks since we both work nearby the event and he decided to attend as well; so this article will be a depiction of two minds to give you an idea on different options of choice you have available.

Stepping out of the car , we have a clear visual of these prowess meal carriages on wheels and my ears start to tingle from hearing the engaging music as I begin to take deep breaths to take in the aroma of all of the clever ingredients in the soon to be decimated grub that we plan to take in.

Each meal carriage has their own logos and description of foods on their trucks and they provided photos of their most signature dish they offer.

After carefully viewing each menu I decide to try the Pulled Pork Sandwich from Tastee Bytes.

“Ok Trevis, so you chose Tastee Bytes.. Can you tell us why?”

“I’m glad you asked!”

The three options were Hill Country BBQ, which I have tasted before and it is really good from my memory, Thai Thai Food truck which I noticed their menu was ordinary so I instantly walked away from that, (keep in mind I love Thai Food), and then to my surprise. Excalibur…..THE TASTEE BYTES Food Truck!

I saw a picture of this sinful looking delicacy of a dish which was a pulled pork sandwich with heavenly decorative artistic colors of sauce and coleslaw which immediately wanted me to try it.

The chef let me know that the silky, flavor filled, multiple hour cooked pork would be placed in a Hawaiian Roll and have a slight crisp to it as well, which to me that would mean that every bite would inject a mythical sensation into my already saliva filled mouth.

After waiting only about 10 minutes, he handed me my order and I opened the treasure chest box and found the sandwich looked just like the picture and I could hear ‘ Hallelujah, Hallelujah ‘ in  a spiritual musical midst around me. I wanted to take this slow so I didn’t swallow the entire thing instantly, so I took a bite big enough to fill my entire left cheek and I began to chew. This would be the same type of test like taking that first sip of red wine. Aaaaaaaaaah.

To my joy, the pork was silky and tender and flavorful just as he said! I could taste the juices massaging my tongue as they leaked down it like an Olympic runner with sweat running down their face from a 50 yard sprint in 80 degree weather.

There was a slight crunch from the roll and the cole slaw as well that sparked my ears as I bit into this masterpiece. Combined with that was the ranch and BBQ sauce which gave it the final symphony drums in my mouth. Well done Tastee Bytes! I plan on trying other things on your menu as well, like your pulled pork fries and your Rajun Cajun Bacon Dog. That’s live action eating!

Now don’t get me wrong here in my decision, thinking I didn’t ponder biting into some savory baked beans and delectable BBQ chicken like my friend Justin did. He let me know it was just what he wanted and it was as delicious as I said it would be! Hats off to you as well Hill Country BBQ!

Sometimes you will find familiar trucks and sometimes you want that same delightful experience again. The beauty of it all is that it is up to you how you feel that day and you can make any choice you want.

Remember that when food meets action then live action living begins! Stay tuned for more live action eating really soon!

Eating is an enjoyable way of life.Live it..Learn it..Love it!

Trevis Dampier Sr.

References:

Author Unknown (June 27, 2014, at 6:50 a.m). 9 Facts You Didn’t Know About Food Trucks. Retrieved from http://www.buzzfeed.com/nicks29/9-facts-you-didnat-know-about-food-trucks-4y3w