Sweet And Savory Ezine Fall 2018
"Food trucks are a
rising tide lifting all boats in the
local food industry." - Institute of Justice
Table Of Contents Meet the Editors
3
The Golden Dream
5
The Hisotry Of Food Trucks
9
Keeping Austin Weird 11 Through Desserts What Dessert Place Should you Go To?
15
Gobble This Up
17
Fun Facts For Foodies 21
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3
9 5
11 17 21 15
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Meet
Thanks to all the people that could make this magazine possible: Ms. Mcguire and all of our interviewees, as well as other classmates that gave us advice. This magazine is meant to educate people about food trucks and how they play a huge part in Austin’s communal culture.
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The
Editors
Anushka Parag is a freshman at LASA High. Her hobbies include baking and drawing. She has a passion for desserts whether it’s making them or learning about the industry. She loves Austin for being a unique, creative and adventurous city with amazing food and a great community.
Anushka Parag
Miloni Patel
Fabi Ramirez is a freshman at Liberal Arts and Science Academy and loves food. She loves to play soccer and socialize with people, as well as dancing. She also enjoys traveling and being in the outdoors. She enjoys Austin’s culture and unique culinary art.
Fabi Ramirez
Miloni Patel is a freshman at LASA high school. She loves dance, music, and good jokes. She has a passion for learning new things including all types of cooking. She loves interacting with people, engaging in new activities, and Austin as a whole for being so culinarily diverse!
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Their Golden Dream By: Fabiola Ramirez
Making Food Mobile 5| Sweet & Savory -- Fall Ezine 2018
Dream jobs. People all have them. Some people dream about becoming an astronaut, others dream about becoming a doctor, or a teacher. But not a lot of people dream about opening up a food truck. There are several reasons why someone would want to open up a food truck. There are the food lovers, those who like to be in things that are popular, and the dreamers. Sometimes a combination of all three. But the main reason someone should posses a food truck should be due to their passion for food. Mike Leroy, owner of
Pitalicious, is someone who has always admired food. At a very young age, he was in the kitchen cooking up a dish for him and his beloved family to enjoy. “My mom got me into this hobby, and I appreciated the time spent with her because it was just something the two of us did together,” Leroy said. Leroy has this very strong perspective as a food lover. His recipes are often traditional and with this job, he can get fairly creative, and generate his own kind of fusion. Because he loved cooking with his mom, he hopes his children and himself get to have some-
thing to bond over with. For 20 years, Leroy, with the help of his wife Lerima, his mother, and his mother in law, have successfully established a food truck in South Congress.
“It’s not about the money all the time… it’s about doing what you love,” Leroy said.
Currently they have two food trucks and they are working on introducing a restaurant to Austin. Although Leroy went to graduate school at the University of Texas for software engineering, he rarely takes a job for it since
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he puts most of his time into Pitalicious. “It’s not about the money all the time… it’s about doing what you love,” Leroy said. He has never wanted to give
“Around 2013, I saw a niche in the market business and I saw that no one was doing this here,” Burrow said.
Although there are times when there are ups and downs, he would never want to give up on something that has made him so happy. For five years, Justin Burrow has run Cheese Burro on South Congress. When he was little, he did not see himself running a food truck in the future.
The reason he set up a food truck is not because he loves food. Justin is from Seattle, and has done some light up on this dream because traveling which has allowed he truly loves working with food. Without this passion for him to taste various dishes from around the country. food, he thinks he couldn’t have done it, and he has his “Around 2013, I saw a niche mom to thank this for. in the market business and I saw that no one was doing “If I’m doing this for the this here,” Burro said. money, I would get After moving back to exhausted and would not Austin, he decided to create want to continue,” Leroy a business that not a lot of said.
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people open up: a food truck that primarily sells grilled cheese. In Seattle, Justin had a very special place where he would go write and get grilled cheese sandwiches. This place was his absolute favorite and has inspired some of the flavors that he discovered. When this first started off, it was just a hobby that his friends and him pursued. Although it started off as that, it didn’t stay that way. Now all the help he gets is from his daughter, when they are involved with big events like Austin City Limits. Justin also makes a lot of his recipes and salsas, but unlike Leroy, he does get stuck sometimes. Although he said that sometimes it is fun to create food, there are times
when it becomes stressful because creativity requires a lot of trial and error. Since food isn’t a huge interest in his life, it’s more about the business. Evelia Rosas always had a dream to establish her own business, and four years ago, she accomplished this dream. With the support of her mom, she was able to fulfill this desire. Although her father wasn’t the most supportive --Rosa’s father was scared that her family would criticize her -- her mother ran Rosa’s food truck for a year because Evelia was still working at a food restaurant, but one day her mom asked her a big question: ‘Do you want to focus on somebody else’s business, or your own?’ After she was prompted this question, she immediately knew what she wanted. She chose her own restaurant. Although her father was struggling with this idea, she told her family. Rosa did not expect her family’s support and kindness. Her cousin ended up helping her with the logo of her food truck, and the rest of her family gave her positive
feedback. “I couldn’t have done any of this without my mom, she is my backbone,” Evelia said. “Unlike my dad. ‘You don't know anything. You're worthless. You are a stay-home person. And when my dad shut down the opportunity of me going to college when he said, ‘I'm not going to support you, I'm not going to help you.’ That's when I was like, ‘Okay, I'm going to prove him wrong.’” Although her major push to pursue her dream was due
“Okay, I’m going to prove him wrong,” Rosa said. to something her dad said she couldn’t do, she doesn’t regret opening her own business. Without the support of her loving family and tough love from her dad, she couldn’t have done it. She doesn’t regret anything that she’s ever had because those experiences have shaped her into who she is. Without these experiences, she might have not become the owner of a successful food truck at age 22.
Pitalicious is located on South Congress, and is owned by Mike Leroy, he has dedicated decades to it. Photo courtesy of Mike Leroy The second picture with the bright yellow food truck is owned by Justin Burrow and is located on South Congress. Photo Courtesy of Ashley The black and white picure on the upper-left hand corner is Rosa’s logo that her cousin created. Photo Courtesy of Frida Rosa.
Dream jobs don’t always go how people expect them to be. Sometimes the “dream job” will be really far away from what you end up doing, but as long as you’re doing something that interest you, you will succeed like these people. Although all food truck owners struggled with finding a location that attracts people, they are all succeeding with their mobile food business. This is now their golden dream, and they do not regret opening up a food truck. Sweet & Savory -- Fall Ezine 2018 | 8
The Evolution Of Food Trucks By: Fabiola Ramirez The story of food trucks from the early 1800’s to 2018.
Chuckwagon
The chuckwagon was one of the first things to serve as a car, transporter, and a place to serve and sell food. This was considered as one of the first food trucks in the mid 1800’s.
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WHO? Charles Goodnight, the creater of the first food truck and a prominent rancher, came up with this idea,in the 1866, so that during lengthy drives, there would be a way to feed the cattlemen, as well as others.
PORTABLECARTS
PushCarts
In 1936, Oscar Mayer rolled out the first portable cart that sold hot dogs. It was called The Weiner Mobile.
The first push cart that sold food was in right after the chuckwagon, in New Amsterdam, which is now New York City.
Now
Photo courtesy of 303magezine.com People socializing at a food-truck park on a evening in Austin while enjoying some delicious food.
IceCreamTrucks
Around the 1950’s Ice cream trucks were introduced and they began to sell their frozen treats.
2010
In around 2010 food trucks started becoming more popular in NYC, Chicago, Austin, etc..
Nowadays, people can open a food truck pretty easily without the use of a lot of money. There are a lot of food truck parks open.
SoCalMFVA
SoCalMFVA was created in 2010. This is an organization created to prtect the rights of gourmet food truck owners. photo courtesy yelp
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Keeping Austin Weird Through Desserts Food trucks have shaped the Austin community with a diverse choice of unique foods to accommodate every need. By: Anushka Parag From savory doughnuts bigger than a CD, to sweet tacos made out of ice cream and waffle cone, Austin is arguably the most unique city for desserts. With the growing availability of food trucks on every corner, enjoying 11| Sweet & Savory -- Fall Ezine 2018
your favorite sweet treat is easier than ever. Dessert trucks in particular have always been an intriguing concept with lots of potential. By being so adventurous in their
selection of food, Austin’s food trucks play an important role in the culture of the city just as the community plays a critical role in the success and popularity of new food trucks.
Food truck, Goudough’s, is parked in South Congress. Photo courtesy of Kelly Purkey.
This environment enables pastry shops and bakeries to take risks with ingredients that could potentially be unsuccessful in other cities. Ryan Palmer co-owns the food truck Gourdough’s, one of the most popular food trucks in Austin. They sell a wide and unique variety of large donuts. “Austin is known to be a diverse place where different things are accepted and you can try new things and people embrace that,” said Palmer. “It helps expand the thought of what food can be and you can have fun with it.” The community of Austin is genuinely open to new and interesting ideas. Palmer elaborates on the initial responses to Gourdough’s products. “We didn’t really listen
to a lot of the people that said that you can’t do this and there are a lot of different rules like you can’t have two starches together in a meal or you can’t mix these combinations together,” commented Palmer. Despite the backlash
popular for not only sweet donuts like ‘dirty berry’, but also for their wide range of savory donuts including chicken and bacon ingredients. Their creative choice of names further add to the experience.
Austinites frequently visit food trucks that aren’t necessarily targeting their demographic. Pat Wittman, owner of a local snow cone food truck called Sweet Caroline’s, talks about the diverse age-range that she sees at the -Ryan Palmer truck. “It’s really strange because you have all the children Palmer received in the coming to the truck with beginning of his food truck their parents and the career from close friends parent’s sometimes bring and family, the responses freinds,” said Wittman, “so from open-minded you have your adults and consumers in Austin the older people who are greatly differed. maybe in their mid 20s Gourdough’s is now that come too.” Customers
"Austin is a diverse place where different things are excepted and you can try new things."
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People enjoy a trailer park in Austin with popular local food trucks. Photo coutesy of Austin Chronicle.
of all ages eat at the food truck that mainly caters towards younger children due to the welcoming and inclusive community it creates. Despite the popularity across all ages, Wittman has a unique obstacle to overcome. Given the seasonal nature of her business, there is insufficient demand for cold desserts during the winter months. As a result, she accounts for this by operating her business from April to September every year. Other dessert food trucks and bakeries such as
Capital City Bakery, offer a large selection of food for people with dietary restrictions. The assistant manager of Capital City Bakery, Kyle Duhe, explains the
to be all-inclusive. The bakery’s main focus is vegan baking which is a benefit to those with egg and dairy allergies,” said Duhe. In taking this approach to baking, Capital City Bakery is growing in popularity with the increasing number of Austinites choosing a vegan lifestyle. While some people may perceive this type of diet restriction as a limitation to flavor, the bakery has shown otherwise with a reputation for developing desserts that taste no different than non vegan desserts. In reality,
"[Austinites] have that food truck love so it's accepted in this market to eat out of a food truck."
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-Pat Wittman
reasoning behind the bakery’s variety of vegan food. “As allergies are becoming more and more prevalent, we like
A food truck park allows people to gather outdooors at night. Photo courtesy of Pintrest.
they often serve people who don’t have allergies, but are open minded and willing to try new things, therefore making the business more successful. With so many creative options available, Austin has built a reputation across the nation for its food trucks. “Since food trucks are a norm, people aren’t reluctant to order from a single standing truck in the middle of a parking lot. It’s also part
Image 1: The Austin skyline is to a lit up at night with truck the lake steady in below. Photo Austin. courtesy of Photo And I like that they’re not Shelter.
afraid to come.” In other cities it might be common belief that eating out of a food truck isn’t enjoyable, whereas of the Austin culture,” said in most places in AusDuhe. tin it’s more common to eat out of a truck than a Families are restaurant. increasingly accustomed to eating outdoors while This willingness by the spending time with close community to embrace family and friends without the creativity of any kind questioning it. “The things of cuisine at a food truck that are good about has led to the exponential owning a food truck are growth of the industry. the people who live in While this has attracted Austin.” said Wittman. several new food truck “They have that food truck businesses to the city, the love and so it’s accepted competitive nature of the in this market to eat out of industry means that only a food truck. I really like those with a unique twist this need for people to go succeed long term.
Food trucks sit in a trailer park with covered seating. Photo coutesy of Toaster Life.
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What dessert place should you go to? I love it!
What kind of dessert do you like?
cookies
I have an allergy but I love it!
What kind of restaurant enviroment do you like?
outside
donuts
How do you feel about dessert?
outside and inside
inside
cake
What kind of dessert do you like?
ice cream
Gourdough’s food truck
donuts
Moojo food truck
ice cream
Amy’s Ice Cream food truck
What kind of dessert do you like?
donuts ice cream
Voodoo Donuts
cookies
Austin Scoops
Capital City Bakery Amy’s Ice Cream
cake Capital City Bakery
Tiff’s Treats
cake
Moojo bakery
Gourdough’s Public House
Hey Cupcake! food truck
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cookies
I only like savory
What is your favorite kind of food truck food? Burgers
Tex-Mex
Veracruz
Japanese Thai Mighty Cone
Mediterranean DEE DEE
Don Japanese Kitchen Kebabalicious
What are you allergic to? nuts gluten
eggs dairy What kind of dessert do you like?
What kind of dessert do you like? ice cream cookies donuts Capital City Bakery Voodoo Donuts
cake cookies
donuts
ice cream cake
Sweet Ritual Hey Cupcake!
Better Bites Bakery Gourdough’s Sweet & Savory -- Fall Ezine 2018 | 16
By: Miloni Patel
Gobble This Up
The Foodie Culture
W
hen you take a bite out of that delicious juicy burrito with sauce dri ping out of your mouth, and your tongue burning all you can think about is buying that burrito from that food truck was the best decision of your life. Food trucks have esta blished themselves as a separate but important realm of the Austin culinary world. Through supplying new and inn ovative cuisine, they have transformed our cities foodie culture.
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When you think about Austin, you envision its beautiful infrastructure, weird people, amazing opportunities and cultural diversity which all play a factor into bringing the city to life. The Austin we all know and love. Often people forget one of the most important factors in making Austin diffe rent from other cities is its food, specifically food trucks. Austin’s cuisine is what makes our city unique with many types of food combining to form inte
Austin’s Culinary Curiousity: Food Trucks
resting blends you can’t get anywhere except here. Austin’s food trucks play such a big role in tran sforming the culture of the city. They not only bring wide varieties of food, they bring comm unities together. When neighbors go eat at food trucks or meet new pe ople in a food park not only are they able to mi ngle but they also strengthen the commun ity bond over good food. John Ed Marchak, the e ntrepreneur of Hello Nabr,
talks about how he think food trucks are a true community builder, “The main benefit is getting neighbors out because they know that they are going to meet neighbors from the neighborhood. They set dates by it. Like in Circle C people have spots where they go eat in, and it provides an opport unity for neighbors to get to visit that they otherwise wouldn’t have.”
together but also entire workplace environments.
Meredith Privitera, head o rganizer for Barton Oaks Pl aza, expresses her vie wpoint, “There’s definitely days where we will go down there together. Or somebody will run down and get a whole bunch of food for people and eat in here. There’s some like Stony’s that sell us a whole for the office, you know, and we can hang out and eat rather than just one slice for one pe rson.” Not only do food trucks bring neighborhoods
London Campbell-Isel, Barton Oaks Plaza Coordin ator, talks about the reput ation of food trucks, “I feel like as a whole food trucks are typically kind of like you know, ‘Ew, food trucks!’, ten years ago food trucks were called roach coaches. They used to have a bad stigma that went along with them in some cities that stigma still exists but I feel like a lot of people even tourists understand that the Austin food truck theme
Food trucks have a long history, not only have they evolved and changed but they have molded Austin like water on clay as they have gone through their journey of finding their place. Over time food trucks have established themselves as a unique part of Austin’s culinary world.
has cleaned its act up a lot more than one might think.” That is why Austin is so co mpelling to so many food truck owners because of the cities welcoming nature and open mind. Similar to getting a good rep utation, managing a food truck is not a simple task despite how easy the owners make it look like when they hand you your burrito smi ling ear to ear. Not only does it demand a lot, but it is not a stable industry since business is always flu ctuating. “I can tell you that it is one of the hardest industries to be in, and some of the hardest wor king people I have ever meet have been in the food truck industry because as much as you might be a chef with a great idea for a menu you also
Austinites enjoy their burritos and nachos on a sunny day from a local food truck. Photo Courtesy of Shutterstock.
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have to be a business owner, someone who can fix things in the kitchen and a driver and a mobile mechanic,” explains Marchak. As stressful as it is worrying about all of this that is on your plate, you have even more to think about if your business might not be doing so well or it’s a rough(er) day than usual. People love to eat at food trucks for the most part, es pcially millennials who like the experiential aspect of going out and finding a food truck, or finding something that is unheralded or u nknown.
Under the bar however it is an extremely difficult business to run. “Your profit margin is very small, you don’t bring in a lot of sales or revenue. So you can’t really build up a lot of savings in case som ething happens like the truck breaks. So it is on a shoestring or you might have two or three employees working with you, and someone calls in sick. That means you have to man the truck basically. It is a very difficult business, and if you think you can just do it for fun and maybe it will lead to a restaurant, then I think that is pretty fool ha rdy,” says Will Anderson, the managing editor for the Austin Business Journal where he writes about
food trucks and their econo mic effect. Overall, the food truck scene is our growing city is thriving and will continue to expand and grow in the future. “B ecause [food trucks] are now a part of our fabric, it makes Austin what it is,” Marchak explains. Food trucks have so many influential effects like forcing Austin to make its economy more small business friendly, improving the convenience factor, creating more jobs and contributing to innovation. “They are an incubator of cr eativity for entrepr eneurial chefs to go after food. So I think those dreams of those chefs have turned into the different cuisines we see in restaurants today in Austin. So there are more restaurants and food trucks than ever before because of the sheer variety of food,” Marchak adds. Food trucks make regular life so convenient whether its for offices by giving their employees a break during Wednesday lunch rush hour, or for tourists who are hea
A food truck park at night where the community has gathered for an exciting night. Photo Courtesy
of Pinterest.
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ding downtown on a weekend night. Privitera discusses how food trucks make her life at work easier, “You don’t have to leave the office. You can walk right out and grab your food and come back if you’re slammed. It’s nice to get away from your desk a li ttle bit. Everyone can say it’s a nice little treat.” Food trucks improve the job market with their constant need for employees, but also give the owner a chance to be right there making food or i nteracting with customers, not behind the scenes. This can help them get a hands-on feel of what it would be like to own a restaurant. “Food trucks have become inte rtwined with Austin’s c ulinary culture. They offer both a venue for chefs to be be inventive with their menus and for
in Austin specifically has been baffling Austinites but its due to food trucks grasping a new and fresh concept that allows them to stay in business sep
arate from restaurants, the street food. “People definitely embrace the co mmon-man food offered by food trucks. Food trucks typically offer a strippe d-down menu — som ething you can eat with your hands, on the go, si tting outside. It’s decidedly different than fine dining. Both have their place, but food trucks offer som ething different, and that di fferentiator is critical to their success,” Anderson states.
"Food trucks are now a part of our fabric, it makes Austin what it is." - John Marchak
new co ncepts to gain tra ction before atte mpting to transition to brick and mortar,” Anderson notes. The success of food trucks
Food truck owner hands a plate of Haiwain Shrimp smiling to the customer. Photo Courtesy of Big Wave Shrimp.
Overall, food trucks are a great way to get your feet wet and to dabble in food if that is truly your passion, but kee ping in mind that it isn’t an easy road to just try out for fun. Austin is not only the perfect place for food trucks to be, but Austinites are so lucky to be exposed to all these eclectic food menus like your new f avorite Asian-mexican cu isine. Food trucks are the key to Austin’s culinary divers ity and our reputation as a weirdfood centric hub. So next time you’re picking up a bu rrito from that go-to foodtruck on your way home, take a minute to appreciate all the good food trucks have done and the effort behind them.
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Fun Facts For Foodies
The Food truck industry is now $2 billion-plus in estimated revenue in cities across the U.S.
fir was Cha m st c rl ch eal veh redi es G uc s. ic ted o o k Th le wa e th wit dn f a h ig be thi gon ame t tr th ht an ng th d an e v s, lik at op sp er an e h er or y d ste eld ate ted ca a k e d bb , ve a ry ag e.
Millennials are widely considered the “food truck generation” with 47 percent having eaten from a food truck at some point.
Food trucks have a holiday called “National Eat at a Food Truck Day” on June 24. Many food trucks offer specials, such as a free meal or a complementary drink.
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Ten cool facts you would have guessed about the f truck industry!
Ph
Starting a food truck for one year requires the completion 45 government-mandated procedures and spend $28,276 on permits and licenses.
Comparedtoto2014, 2014, Compared industry’s overthethe industry’s overall all revenue grown revenue hashas grown 300% 300% in the last three in the last three years. years.
By: Miloni Patel
Less than $100,000 can kickstart a food truck that makes $250,000 to $500,000 per year.
Over 90 percent of diners rated food truck quality as excellent or good and over 80 percent of them used words like fun, & exciting.
never food
hoto courtesy of kisspng
In Chicago, 80 percent of food trucks are minority-owned businesses. Food-truck owners represent a wide variety of races, genders, and income levels.
pu Mo tru rcha st li low ck se a kel ed are m y pe e ag by 5 aged al fr ople ed 4 p 1 om to b e 8 44 etwe rcen to 34 a foo ye en t o , f d ars 35 f d olold an ine d rs .
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"The business of feeding people
is the most amazing business
in the world." - jose andres
"Eating is a necessity, but cooking is an art" - Unkown