Wednesday, September 7, 2011

My Chalk It Up! Mobile Food Truck Experience

Over the weekend, my mobile food truck wish (http://sacramentovegan.blogspot.com/2011/09/sacramento-mobile-food-truck-movement.html), or something very close to it, was granted.  Several food trucks and other food vendors set up at Fremont Park for the annual Labor Day weekend Chalk It Up art festival.  I went from truck to truck looking for something vegan to eat, but I wasn't having much luck.  

There was nothing vegan on the menu at Mama Kim Cooks, but they offered to put together a sandwich with guacamole, lettuce, and tomatoes.  I decided to keep looking for a truck offering something specifically vegan.  I thought I could count on Yolanda's Tamales (a food vendor, but not a mobile food truck), since Yolanda's makes veggie tamales without cheese, and I'm pretty sure that vegetable shortening is used in the masa instead of lard.  But Yolanda's Tamales wasn't serving any tamales on the first day of Chalk It Up.

Finally, I reached the last food truck in the row -- Wicked Wich, a sandwich truck.  The menu offered not one, but two, vegan options.  One was a vegan Italian sausage and the other was a vegan kolbassi.  They were out of the vegan Italian sausage, so I ordered the kolbassi.  While I waited for them to prepare my order, I noticed a small sign posted next to the menu:

            "Yes...the fries and slaw come on the sandwich!!  It has been made this
            way for almost 80 years now...so we suggest you don't try to change it!!!"

Which necessitated the question, is everything on the sandwich vegan?  The answer to that was "yes."  The coleslaw is made without mayonnaise, and the provolone cheese is vegan too.

My husband had ordered something from another food vendor, but we were able to sit together in the park at one of the few tables that had been set up for that purpose.  My kolbassi sandwich, served on thick slices of white bread, was pleasantly spicy and quite tasty. 

Before we left Chalk It Up, we stopped at Little Rich's Italian-ice for dessert.  My small lemon and cherry combination hit the spot as we walked around in the summer heat and looked at all of the great sidewalk art.

According to the Sac Food Truck Tracker (http://www.sacfoodtrucks.net/), several food trucks have been having weekly roundups at various locations outside the Sacramento city limits.  Tonight's roundup, for example, is from 5:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. at Soccer World in Elk Grove, located at 9756 Kent Street.  I'm looking forward to the day when there will be regular roundups inside the Sacramento city limits.  Of course, I'm also looking forward to the day when more of these food trucks offer something for vegans to eat!

No comments: