Each Monday I recap food truck news as it relates to the Triangle area (Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill). Bringing news that impacts food truck owners, fans, or those curious.
Interested in New Food Trucks? Check out the Weekly Radar
Jay’s Italian Ice
Coming soon! Jay’s Italian Ice will roll out this new look for his carts. It looks pretty sweet in my opinion. Fans will notice he’s kept the sky blue color and his face on the carts. The big difference is a nice picture of the cart. If you haven’t read his Behind The Wheel, today would be a good day to catch up.
Kocina reveals new products
In the next two weeks, Kocina will begin to offer take home meals. Guests will be able to order take-and-bake products empanadas and pan con queso (“cheese bread”). These will be frozen meals you can pre-order, pick-up at the truck, and bake at home. They will also offer meals to go catered as pick-up family meals.
The frozen offerings will expand to gluten-free carimanolas (“meat stuffed yucca root”), papa rellena (“stuffed potatoes”), and guava chicharrones (“guava turnovers”). Kocina has already begun expanding to gluten-free options on the truck right now. The Wandering Sheppard will provide more in-depth coverage on Kocina’s release.
If you have not read their Behind The Wheel, today might be a good day to catch up. Also catch Chef JP on Hola NC.
Happening this Week
Diane Wilson, Investigative Reporter for ABC 11, is doing a segment on food truck contractors on Monday on the 5:30pm telecast. The teaser for it shows her confronting a contractor and a potential owner upset. I’m usually driving home, so I’ll have to set the DVR for this telecast.
Saint Barbara Greek Orthodox Church – Gyro Day
Gussy’s Greek Street Food will serve gyros on Saturday, February 7th from 11 am to 3pm. In addition, the women of St. Barbara’s will sell Greek pastries. Dine in will be inside or outside depending on the weather and will be served at your table. All proceeds will go to the Church.
Saint Barbara Greek Orthodox Church is on 8066 NC Highway 751 in Durham, just south of Interstate 40 and Southpoint.
Love Wins: Pre-Valentine Market
On February 7th and 8th, Rebus Works will two-day Art Market with a wide range of vendors. In addition to the vendors, All American, Captain Ponchos, and Red Eye BBQ will be there for food and Just In Time Coffee for coffee. Rebus Works is located at 301-2 Kinsey Street, Raleigh. For more details on the market, check out their Facebook Page.
Food Truck Rodeo
There will be a five truck rodeo (one truck will be BulKogi) at the Worship Center (2304 Page Road, Durham). The trucks will be parked to support a church conference. Follow @RUWandering on Twitter or the Facebook Page for updates.
The rest of February…
Food Trucks and Sweet Potatoes
This February is North Carolina Sweet Potato month. In celebration, North Carolina Sweet Potato Commission created the “Signature Sweets” promotion. Chefs and food artisans have put together creations highlighting the root vegetable. Food trucks AmigoSan, Bam Pow Chow, CockADoodleMoo, Kocina, and Valentino’s are all participating.
Here are some of the recipes:
CockADoodleMoo: Ginger Thai Sweet Potato Bisque. Check Gadaboutfood’s post about the recipe (you may recognize her from a recent Chew episode).
Kocina: A Sweet Potato Empanada.
Valentino’s: Potato Chic~Pig Hero, Tender grilled chicken & bacon topped with a reduction sauce spiced NC Sweet Potatoes and Fullsteam Beer. Steve hinted more items like gnocchi and zeppoles.
Sweet potato fries w/Kobiyaki sauce, spicy mayo, black sesame seeds @BamPowChow @loneriderbeer http://t.co/wPWCL0yVER—
(@BamPowChow) January 17, 2015
Double Barley and MANNA Beer Dinner
MANNA and Double Barley Brewing will do a 5 course and pairings on Wednesday, February 11th. In addition to the food and beers, the Doug Largent Trio will perform live jazz. Seats are limited. Stop by Double Barley to reserve tickets with the bartender. You can contact them at (919) 934-3433.
Big Easy: Mardi Gras Party
From Noon to 10 pm on February 17th, Big Easy will throw a huge party on Fayetteville Street for Mardi Gras. The food truck line-up: AmigoSan, Bam Pow Chow, Baugettaboutit, CockADoodleMoo, Hibachi Xpress, Mac-UR-Roni, and Stuft.
In addition, they will have musical performances from:
5:00 pm to 6:00 pm Soul Psychedelique (High Energy Dance)
6:00pm to 7:00pm Big Chief & The Rumba Boogie Band (Cajun)
7:00pm to 7:15pm Processional with 2nd Line Stompers
7:15pm to 8:15pm 2nd Line Stompers
8:30 pm to 10:00pm GrooveTown (High Energy Dance)
Inside The Big Easy
8:30pm to 11:30pm MikeMickXer
11:45 pm to 2 am Big Chief & The Rumba Boogie Band
Also, there will also be multiple raffles for great prizes, including the grand prize of a VIP Tour to the Abita Brewery, located in Covington, Louisiana – provided by Abita Beer. Night hotel accommodations, limo ride to and from brewery, VIP tour and lunch at Pub House ‐ a $750 value – are included. Air transportation has been graciously donated by the Travel Leaders located in High Point NC. Raffle tickets support Transitions LifeCare (formerly Hospice of Wake County)
More event details at their website or their Facebook Page.
Pittsboro announces first rodeo for 2015
Excited to see that Pittsboro will start up with a rodeo on March 21st and 3rd Saturdays following. These rodeos are located next to the Pittsboro Roadhouse with a concert usually inside the Roadhouse. They are setting up a lighted sign, which will allow for food trucks to have power and not depend on generators. The first line-up has not been set, so trucks interested should contact the Pittsboro Roadhouse.
Trucks Giving Back
I hope you can recall last year when Gussy’s organized a rodeo that was just for the Durham Rescue Mission. The event was participated by Gussy’s, Stuft, Chick-N-Que, and Not Just Icing, where they provided food to those at the Rescue Mission for free. Gus wants to do the event again expanding it to more trucks and Rescue Mission locations. If your food truck is interested, contact Gus at 919-656-7096 or Direct/Private Message @GreekGussys. The event was covered by many media outlets, including a live shot by Anthony Wilson from ABC 11.
Trucks Opening Locations
Coming Soon
Sol Tacos (as a Sol Tapas concept) – estimated early 2015, Downtown Raleigh. Hints have been out about an April 1st opening.
Deli-icious: Location is in Clayton with a 2015 date expected.
Captain Ponchos: location in Southern Village, Chapel Hill. Got word they are looking forward to February 15, 2015. So tell your date (I guess my wife will find on this post), you are going here for dinner. They are not holding back and they will a mariachi band there.
And KoKyu BBQ has sent another update to Kickstarter backers and Facebook followers about a KoKyu Na’mean Sandwich Shop as well as further progress on a commissary and restaurant. The details are still influx right now. I’ll update as we get more information.
Looking for Trucks with recent Brick and Mortar Openings – New! Dedicated Weekly Post
Big Events Coming
Durham Central Park 2015 Schedule released
January 25th
March 8th
June 21st
September 6th
November 1st
If interested, the Durham Central Park recognized Ben Weber, Becky Hacker (Pie Pushers) and Brian Bottger (Only Burger) as the rodeo organizers.
Knightdale Rodeo
Truck Line-up
Ribmaster III
Take Two
We Bea Grillin
CJ Funnel Cakes
The event will be at Knightdale Station Park, 810 North First Avenue, from 11am-2pm. For more details, check out the town’s website.
World’s Largest Food Truck Festival III coming
Awhile back Generation Food Truck down in Tampa, Florida organized the largest food truck parade in March 2014. Looks like they want to organize another one this March 2015. The goal is to have over 200 food trucks at the State Fairgrounds outside of Tampa. If interested, email the organizer at Generationfoodtruck (at) gmail (dot) com. I did hear they will provide power for this event.
Brewgaloo
This event has been around, but this year was my first time. For beer (and spirits as local TOPO Distillery was here this year) and food truck fans, this is a prime event. Two stages on both ends of Fayetteville Street with beer and food trucks filling the asphalt in between. The date set is April 25, 2015 and is from 2-10pm. I know a bit early, but you might want to circle it and tell your family this is a great weekend to visit.
Downtown Raleigh Food Truck Rodeo 2015
May 3rd
June 14th
August 9th (Evening Rodeo)
October 11th
Beericana presented by 919 Beer
In 2014, the Triangle was introduced to an awesome event with local beer, food trucks, and music. Thankfully we will see this again September 12th, 2015. Mark your calendars and stay tuned for details on the blog.
ROAM is coming to Orlando, Florida
Hopefully you caught last week’s special post on the 2014 event.
Circle your calendars now for ROAM 2015 in Orlando. This is the only food truck industry conference that brings owners and industry-specific people together. I’ll have a special post just on my experience here in San Antonio. But in short, if you are someone in the food truck business, I think you need to be here. The dates are November 15 and 16th, which is Sunday and Monday. Hopefully, those are admin days and only 8 1/2 hours (by car) between the Triangle and Orlando. I hope we can exponentially expand our representation for this one.
Food Trucks and Restaurants to support (RED) in June 2015
I came back from the ROAM Conference early November was about the (RED) organization. The (RED) Organization fights AIDS in Africa where 2/3 of those with AIDS are located. In 2014, the organization had events around the food and beverage industry. However, they want to make it bigger and get everyone involved. It would be a nice scene to see food trucks featuring a (RED) menu next June!
For more details on the event, check out details at (RED)‘s website dedicated to the food and beverage industry.
Truck and Equipment For Sale
Jakki’s Juice Jam is closing up shop and selling their truck. If you are interested, contact them at 919-208-7405 or via their Facebook page.
Thanks Captain Ponchos, Gussy’s Greek Truck, MANNA, and Pittsboro Roadhouse for providing details for the blog.
If you got news, let the blog know. This is a weekly post summarizing food truck information in the Triangle area.
The Wandering Sheppard 