"food truck" news and stories

Is it your dream to become a restaurateur? Or to travel the world? Now you can fulfill both wishes thanks to Muvbox, a "partially-solar-powered, 12,000-pound shipping container that transforms into a restaurant with seating areas shaded by large awnings." The Transformer-like concept boxes are made to order, so any restless chef could give their eatery a go on one continent, and then ship it across the world and start anew.

Head over to Eater to read more about the Muvbox, and see a video of its amazing assembly.
[Eater]

What's powerful enough to stop the growing armada of 10-ton gourmet food trucks trolling the streets of our great American cities? Looks like the answer may be bureaucratic red tape.

As reported yesterday, the first of what appears to be the next generation of food trucks (essentially, a double-decker bus converted into a sit-down restaurant) began cruising the streets of LA last month. But an investigation by the county health department may put the skids on the "bustaurant" trend before it really even begins.

Now New Yorkers who have come to crave such food truck fare as Marrakech lamb (Bistro Truck), cod schnitzel (Schnitzel & Things), and warm molten chocolate cake (Dessert Truck) are bracing for the prospect of imminent withdrawal. According to The Wall Street Journal's Metropolis blog (and originally reported by Midtown Lunch), two NYC councilwomen have proposed a sort of three strikes law for food trucks: three parking violations, and you're out of business.

If YouTube revolutionized the concept of downtime for cubicle drones, then Twitter did the same for lunch.

It was all thanks to last summer's glorious techno-culinary union of Twitter and the food truck. Mobile eateries serving up everything from edamame dumplings in New York to Korean BBQ in LA snagged a parking spot and began Tweeting their location to eager fans who were still stuck behind their desks. The only problem was, once you had the carne asada taco in hand, there was only one place left to go: back to your cubicle.

Enter the bustaurant. As Salon reports, what appears to be the country's first full-fledged restaurant on wheels began rolling the streets of LA this past March, offering not only the sort of hipster-pleasing fast food the trucks are famous for (Worcestershire-braised short rib; vegetarian chili), but also a place to sit and enjoy it.

A few of the best links on the Web this week:

• Back-of-the-box recipes used to be basic -- but not anymore.
• Gwyneth Paltrow discovers the delights of fried Southern food and shares her "Quest for the Best Fried Chicken."
• The food bus is the latest take on the food truck even offers patrons a place to sit and eat.
• Unemployed? There's no law against using food stamps for gourmet provisions.

While food trucks are a dime a dozen in cities like Los Angeles and New York, the trend is relatively new to Miami. Food Network personality and cookbook author Ingrid Hoffmann saw the void in the marketplace and recently debuted her Latin Burger mobile kitchen in Miami.

Since Hoffmann of Simply Delicioso fame is known for her Latina-style cooking, her food truck has a decidedly ethnic flair to it. The hot-pink-and-black customized truck serves up gourmet tacos (pulled pork, chicken mole and chicken tomatillo) and a signature burger with a chorizo and sirloin filling. This marquee patty also features Oaxaca cheese, caramelized onions, jalapenos and red-pepper mayo. "It's street food," she acknowledges, "but it's quality street food. We use Latin influences in a modern way." All of the ingredients used on board the renovated UPS truck are fresh and never canned.