Food
It’s a Southern Thing
Food Trucks Going Strong Find chicken, tacos, cheesesteaks, cakes, crepes and more at more than 40 local trucks and trailers
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BY LAURA LINDSAY
he food truck scene took off in popularity this spring when COVID-19 forced these small business owners to rethink their plans to work at festivals and events. When people started staying home, many of the food trucks came to them—serving brunch, lunch, dinner and desserts in the neighborhoods. “On the first night we went into a neighborhood, we sold out in 27 minutes,” said Haley Griffin, who co-owns the dessert business It’s a Southern Thing with her husband, Jason. “I thought, ‘Oh my goodness, why have we been sitting at home during the coronavirus when we can be out in all these neighborhoods?’” she said. “This put a spark under us. 16 * JULY 2020 * BOROPULSE.COM
“Our best seller right now is strawberry cake, and we have all kinds of desserts. M&M’s cake is my favorite family recipe that I offer because every year growing up, my nanny would make me this cake for my birthday. I knew when I started the dessert trailer that I had to put that on there.” Business is also going pretty well for Cedar Valley Kitchen, which had its grand opening on April 18, said Sam Elliot, who co-owns the sandwich wrap company with his wife, Ellen. “About three months ago, I retired from my real job, and we built our food trailer,” Elliot said. “Everything is brand-new and we are really proud of it. “We were looking to find something in the marketplace that you don’t see very
often, and we decided on a healthy wrap. All of our product is fresh with nothing processed other than our all-beef hotdog wraps. Our barbecue is fresh-smoked and our pulled chicken has no additives other than some minor seasoning. We have a BLT wrap that is popular with a lot of folks, and we also have a chicken salad that we serve up. Everything is served up like it is unless the customer wants to pick from a variety of toppings and sauces. They can load it up and take all the toppings and sauce that they want.” The 12-inch wraps come in spinach, tomato-basil, flour and whole wheat. “Once someone has eaten one of our fresh wraps, they love them. We haven’t had a complaint and our prices are very competitive,” he said. “Things started slow and steady in April, and that gave us a chance to learn the business. We’d like people to try our product, which is an alternative to greasy or fried food.” Another healthy new alternative, served
out of a food truck, is Boro Salad Kitchen, which opens in July 2020. “We serve hot salads, cold salads, salads inside tortillas and salad inside egg rolls,” said Darlene Pleman-Voakes, who co-owns Boro Salad Kitchen with her husband, Paul Voakes. “Our salads are colorful, tasty and healthy. I have always wanted to cook for people,” she said. If you are missing fair food, there are several food trucks in town that will serve you those kinds of meals and treats. Chicken Shack Express comes to a lot of neighborhoods in Rutherford County, serving up family recipe chicken wings and tenders, catfish, fries and okra—and, the same company just opened a dessert truck. “My kids will help run the dessert truck,” said Kenyatta Pumphrey, who owns the business with his wife, Debbie, and their children, Kenadi and Kylan. “We have many flavors of slushies, cheesecake on a stick, chocolate-covered Oreos and bananas on a stick,” he said. You can also fill your stomach at the Steaming Goat food truck. “I don’t serve goat and never will,” said owner Jeff Romstedt. “People call me The Goat because I will eat anything in my sight. I am a big foodie.” Romstedt will serve you one of his big, messy steamed sandwiches. The meat is roasted or grilled ahead of time and then steamed in chicken or beef stock, or in beer from a local brewery. “If the sandwich isn’t messy, we didn’t make it,” he said. Other food trucks in town offer foods originating from different corners of the world including Mexican, Thai, Lao, French and Colombian, just to name a few.
