Anyone who ever chased the ice-cream man will understand the concept behind the food truck, those trendy mobile outlets that are starting to pop up on the streets of Calgary. The new version of the food truck leaves the ice-cream man in the dust. The newest vendors are doing more than serving prefab food like hot dogs and frozen treats. They’re cooking in those trucks, preparing everything from real barbecue to perogies. It all means that the curb might just be the most coveted dining spot in town this summer. (For those who argue that Calgary’s climate means that the season is too short for these outlets to make a go of it, Rocky’s Burger Bus, a foodie favourite parked off Blackfoot Trail, proves that Calgarians are willing to brave the elements for good food.)
Charcut (downtown, in the Hôtel Le Germain) and the crew from Taste (on 1st Street S.W.) recently announced they’d be rolling out their own portable kitchens at the beginning of August. (Both are putting the finishing touches on their trucks.) The Charcut truck will be selling the restaurant’s Alley Burger. Since it started making random late-night appearances in the alley beside Charcut, the burger has taken on a life and a Twitter feed (@alleyburger) of its own.
Chef-owners John Jackson and Connie DeSousa have teamed up with chef Mike Batke (a.k.a. Alley Burger Mike) to revamp a 1981 vehicle that has been operating on the West Coast for a few decades. Batke, who worked with Jackson in San Francisco, is drawn to his new job because it will let him spend his nights at home with his family. In addition to Alley Burgers, Batke, who worked with Jackson in San Francisco, will be serving up Whole Truck burgers (made with Spring Creek Ranch beef chuck) and hand-cut, duck-fat-fried potatoes (plain or turned into poutine with Quebec cheese curds).
Brendan Bankowski, a co-owner of Taste Restaurant, partnered with friends Curtis Berry and Shawn Greenwood (the chef at Taste) to create the Perogy Boyz food truck. The Boyz menu aims for a mix between the traditional and creative, with perogies (stuffed with potato & cottage cheese or potato, onion and sauerkraut), borscht (made using a recipe from a friend’s Ukrainian baba) alongside rohess speck (double-smoked bacon) and a variety of sausages ranging from a traditional pork kielbasa to a spicy number called the Tijuana Baba. The perogies are hand-pinched at Heritage Deli and the sausages come from Illichmann’s Sausage Shop in Forest Lawn.
Beyond caramelized onions and sour cream (not that there’s anything wrong with either of those), Perogy Boyz will dress up its offerings with pork belly, a fried egg and tempura leeks. There’s even eastern European-style dessert with carrot-cake perogies (stuffed with carrots, sweet potato, cream cheese, raisins and cinnamon) and paczki, Polish-style donuts.
The Alley Burger and Perogy Boyz trucks are just adding to an already growing street-food scene. Jody Barned, formerly the pit boss at the Palomino, has converted an RV into “a chariot of smoke” known as JoJo’s Barbecue. She recently set up shop in the parking lot of Barbecues Galore on Edmonton Trail where she dished up ribs, chicken and griddle mac ’n’ cheese in addition to classics like pulled pork and brisket. (The chariot of smoke is at the Calgary Blues Festival this weekend.)
Urban baker Aviv Fried has also taken to the streets with his now-famous bread and scones. Baked goods from Sidewalk Citizen Bakery are now available from his custom-built bike, complete with Plexiglas display case. Fries & Dolls are serving up gluten-free gourmet French fries and smokies from a hot-pink truck, and Fiasco Gelato has taken its Italian ices on the road, too.
The city has pulled together a task force to address issues such as location—these vary from city streets to corporate properties and public events—and is working with potential new food-truck operators, parking authorities, Alberta Health Services, inner-city BRZs and other involved parties to help facilitate this new industry and get things rolling. Calgarians might even find a reason to applaud increased traffic on our streets. “Mobile food trucks create street vibrancy, energize communities and build culturally diverse culinary experiences,” says Perogy Boy Bankowski.
To track the location of your favourite street eats, follow them on Twitter: @AlleyBurger, @Fries_n_Dolls, @PerogyBoyz, @JoJosBBQ, @FiascoGelato, @ChefMarioMobile. For updates on all happenings, check out @YYCFoodTruck.
YYC Food Trucks has teamed up with The City of Calgary, Tourism Calgary and The Downtown Calgary Association, to launch the first-ever food truck festival in the city. The event, “YYC Taste The Trucks” will be held on August 11th from 11:00 A.M to 3:00 P.M on Stephen Ave in the Convention Centre Block (100E Stephen Ave).
