Trading Spaces, Trading Places

Returning to Austin after a three-month hiatus in Dallas has been like a breath of fresh air. It may be really hot, humid air, but it's good to be back nonetheless.

This fall I'll be balancing a healthy diet with exploring new food trucks (and visiting my old faves, of course!), so that means you'll get a balance of healthy and indulgent options from the trucks. This stricter diet is a goal of mine because I'm planning for a trip to Europe this summer! I want to be able to eat all the cheese and drink all the wine I want with a guilt free conscious. Annnd that's the last time you'll be getting a diet update from me!

Since I've been gone, not only have a few food truck lots shut down, but there've been other relocations and food trucks that have become (or at least plan to be) full blown brick and mortars:

Brick and Mortar:

Gourdough's
Prepare your pallet for the sweetness that is to be served up at Gourdough's Public House! The king of Big. Fat. Donuts. is going brick and mortar this fall, Relish Austin reports. I can't wait to see what kind of over the top cocktail recipes they come up with.

From the new Gourdough's Pub website.

Keep updated on the grand opening here.

Yumé Burger

Eater Austin reported a couple of weeks ago that our beloved Yumé Burger was closing permanently. Fans across the interwebz collectively mourned the loss of such a deliciously unique food truck.

From the YB Facebook page.

On the bright side, The Peached Tortilla & Yumé Burger may be opening as a brick and mortar restaurant. As soon as I learn more information, you'll hear about it.

East Side King

Paul Qui has been especially busy in the last year and a half, and he's not slowing down anytime soon. Qui told Eater Austin in August that he'll be opening a brick and mortar of ESK around March 2013. 

If you can't wait that long to eat some fried Brussels sprouts in the luxury of AC, then just hold out a little longer for the East Side King menu to take over the kitchen at Hole in the Wall off Guad. 

The caption says it all.

A review of ESK and more details coming soon!

Leaving Austin:

Star Co. Mobile Coffee House
The trailer is putting in a bid to move to the potential new "food trailer park" in Roundrock. Because Roundrockers want all the good Austin grub up North too.

Back in Austin:
Fresh Off the Truck 
They've been serving troops stationed in Fort Hood for the last month or so, but returned to Mueller Trailer Eats this week.

A happy customer from Ft. Hood! From FOT Facebook page.

Grab a Char-Sieu BBQ Pork Baguette this weekend and thank them for supporting our troops!
*Note: the truck is closed if it's raining.


Which brick and mortar are you most excited for? How bummed are you that Yumé Burger closed? Tell me whatcha think in the comments below!

Gypsy Picnic 2011

Bringin' the gypsy to the picnic

If you got to experience Gypsy Picnic this year, yay! I hope you ate your fill of the variety of trailer food and enjoyed the amazing weather. If you went to last year’s Gypsy Picnic and tried it out again this year, WASN’T IT 50,000X BETTER?

The harsh, but true criticism of the first-ever Gypsy Picnic in 2010 was heeded and the attendees benefitted. I was thoroughly impressed by C3’s improvements to the festival: the area blocked off at Auditorium shores seemed twice as big as last year, the number of trucks increased and the vendors were more prepared overall.

This year I had the chance to work behind-the-scenes at the festival at The Peached Tortilla. If you’ve read my posts (and there isn’t an overabundance of them...yet) you should know that I’m madly in love with the Banh Mi taco and all other things ‘peached.’ So basically I felt like I was getting to work backstage on the set of one of my favorite TV shows!

"I'm a peach head!"

Being on the inside of the truck – or in Gypsy Picnic’s case, on the other side of the table – was such an amazing experience! I got to talk to so many cool people and tell hundreds of hungry folks that they should buy one of my favorite foods in Austin. And man, were we churning out some tacos!

I parted ways with the peached crew around 2 p.m., but not before having a banh mi taco, BBQ brisket taco and szechwan veggie taco. I have no shame. The Szechwan veggie was new to me and caught me off guard with how spicy it was. The eggplant, red bell pepper and onions blended well with the black bean garlic sauce, tofu and pickled daikon slaw. I don’t think anything will top the banh mi taco for me though.

After happily stuffing my face, I wandered out to the center of the park to try to decide where I wanted to go with my $20 in ‘research funds.’

My first stop was Short Bus Subs because I saw on Twitter that it was one of their peeps' birthday and I have never been out to visit the trailer at Mueller Park. Eric, the birthday boy and one of the three co-owners and brothers who runs the bus, traded my birthday wish for a sub!

The Short Bus

I sampled The Hot Teacher, a veggie sub with roasted portabella mushroom, red pepper, sun-dried tomato pesto, mozzarella, cheddar and fresh sun dried tomatoes. I was honestly surprised with how good the sub was. I mean subs are subs, but I think it was the sun-dried tomato pesto and freshly baked from scratch bread that made it.

My second stop was East Side King, the fan favorite winner. A hippy-biker type recommended the Thai Chicken Karaage, but I opted for the Fried Brussels Sprout Salad. It was a unique combo of fried brussels sprouts, sweet and spicy sauce, shredded cabbage, alfalfa sprouts, basil, cilantro, mint, onion and jalapeño. The brussels sprouts were flavorful and not deep fried, just crispy enough. I’m not sure if it was the sweet and spicy sauce or the mint in the dish, but something triggered a coughing fit. I had to give up on the rest of the salad which was unfortunate because I really liked it!

East Side King
Left Thai Chicken Karaage, Right Fried Brussels Sprout Salad

I met up with some friends and we made our way over to Tenderland for the “battered” (aka deep fried) pork tenderloin sandwich. It was HUGE! I snagged a couple of bites of my friend’s sandwich and it was good, but a little too much fried sandwich for me. I think if they made the sandwich in a smaller portion it’d be better, but it’s not something I would seek out to buy.

Gypsy Michelle with her Austin-made craft beer and tenderloin sandwich.

I was getting full, but I had few more stops on my list. I powered through to give you more, fellow food truck lovers. I had planned on trying Ju Ju’s Kaboose, a Cajun/traditional Louisianan food trailer that I learned about for the first time in the Gypsy Picnic lineup. I loved the roving musicians that happened to be walking by as were waiting in line at Ju Ju’s, especially because they had a brass band sound that went along with the Cajun cuisine.

The roving jazz band!

Having roots in New Orleans I was really looking forward to trying the Crawfish Cornbread served up by Ju Ju herself…I was so disappointed. The cornbread was served in a cupcake sleeve with a spoon. You needed the spoon because it was so mushy you couldn’t eat it like normal crumbly corn bread. It lacked flavor overall and left me wishing I had a bottle of Crystal hot sauce to pour all over it. The Pork Poboy did look like the real thing (compared to some so-called poboys I've seen in Austin), but I was too full and also didn’t want to shell out $8 to try the foot long sub.

Ju Ju's Kaboose
Crawfish Cornbread

My last two samples before dessert were bites of each slice from Spartan Pizza. The Zeus, made with roasted garlic olive oil (something I don’t think I’ve ever tried, but loved!), bacon, spinach, tomatoes and mozzarella, was delicious, but was a little overtaken by the bacon. It seemed to be their rendition of a Margarita pizza. I really liked The Spartan with tomato sauce, green bell pepper, white onion, lots of fresh garlic and parmesan, and topped with red pepper flakes. People at the picnic had said that Spartan Pizza was better than Homeslice Pizza which is pretty much the only place that can get me out of the house for a pie. Though Spartan definitely gave 'em a run for their money, I think Homeslice still has a special place on my palette.

Van kissing eating a slice of The Zeus.

I ended on a high note with the Frozen Hot Chocolate from Holy Cacao. Holy chocolate was that shake amazing. I had planned on sharing it with a friend to try to compensate for all the calories I’d already consumed, but once I tasted that sucker I became very greedy. It was great when you were drinking it and at the end of each sip there was a punch of chocolate that stayed with you. Everyone I was with either bought or shared one after tasting it. Yeah, it was good.

Leah and I fighting over Holy Cacao's Frozen Hot Chocolate.

Overall, this Gypsy Picnic was a 500% improvement from last year. Lines were kept to three minutes or less at most spots, hardly anyone sold out before 5 p.m. and the $3 samples at every trailer made it easy to try a wide variety. AND I got to meet Tiffany Harelik of Trailer Food Diaries who I consider to be a total local celebrity.

Tiffany Harelik, Trailer Food Diaries author and co-creator of Gypsy Picnic and me squinting happily.

This food truck foodie left feeling happy, full and excited for next year's picnic.

Which trailer was your favorite? Did you try one of the dishes I did? Do you agree or disagree with my reviews? Was there something I missed that I need to hunt down around Austin? Leave a comment below and share your Gypsy Picnic experience with me!

The Peached Tortilla Strikes Again

I recently found out that one of my former coworkers, Jess, is the brand manager/operations manager for The Peached Tortilla--my favorite ATX food truck!

So of course once I was off from work at 2 a.m. I walked down the street to Star Bar, where The Peached Tortilla hangs out Friday and Saturday nights, and indulged in a few sliders.

I've sought out the truck a handful of times and I've always gone with tacos. Jess basically told me when I ordered my usual Bánh Mì tacos that I was in fact getting the sliders. (You don't argue with the chef!)

According to Jess, and the string of orders coming in, the Bánh Mì sliders are one of the most popular items on the menu.

Bánh Mì is a traditional type of Vietnamese sandwich that has been growing in popularity recently. See the entire website dedicated to these little morsels on http://battleofthebanhmi.com/. They can be served in a variety of ways, but the original recipe is on a Vietnamese baguette inspired by the French.
The sandwich can be stuffed with BBQ pork, pork belly, headcheese, grilled chicken or tofu. The usual condiments include pickled carrots and daikon, cucumbers, cilantro, jalapeño or chili peppers, mayonnaise and paté.

Founder Eric Silverstein got it just right with his Bánh Mì sliders. Served on sweet Hawaiian rolls with braised pork belly, pickled daikon and carrot salad, sriracha mayonnaise and cilantro. The sweetness of the roll in combination with the spicy sriracha mayo, sweet and sour salad, and juicy pork hit every taste bud on my tongue. Rarely do I have those moments of pure joy and astonishment with how good a meal can taste, but tasting this slider was one of those moments.

I also tried the BBQ brisket slider following the Bánh Mì. That was a big mistake because after the perfection of the first slider, the BBQ brisket was good, but paled in comparison. The BBQ brisket is also served on a sweet Hawaiian roll with creamy slaw, and peach barbecue sauce. I think it could use a little less creamy and a bit more sweet peached flavor.

Next time I track the trailer down I want to try their banana nutella wontons...just thinking about the combination of banana, peanut butter, chocolate and Mexican caramel sauce makes my mouth water. I'll make sure to let y'all know how it is!

Have you been to The Peached Tortilla? Which slider or taco is your favorite?

Have you had a momentous food tasting experience while in Austin? Leave a comment and fill me in, so I can get out there and try!

I'm like a real grown up writer, or something.

Remeber when I hinted about more details to come surrounding my interview with Peached Tortilla? Well, whether you read that post or not, good news! An article I wrote (and edited with the help of Professor Dave Junker) was chosen to be published to the Texas Advertising and Public Relations news page.

So, click below to check it out! Texas Advertising and Public Relations - NEWS

A special thanks to Jodi Bart of Tasty Touring and Eric Silverstein of The Peached Tortilla for their time and contributing words.

Comments are welcome!

Ahem..Introductions? - The Peached Tortilla

Let's just say I've been on a brief hiatus for the last few months. After studying for exams, stressing over exams, and actually taking exams, I couldn't bring myself to voluntarily put effort into writing anything. I know that maintaining a blog takes self discipline and hopefully it will be a discipline I can master. At least on my free time from 386346 other school commitments or when it's 3 a.m. and I can't fall asleep.

I went to New Orleans for a month to work over break, but a few days before I left Austin I fulfilled one of my desired food truck visits at The Peached Tortilla.

I saw via twitter (@peachedtortilla) that there was a lunch special at the trailer off 2nd and Colorado. I convinced my roommate to hop in the car and take a trip to the truck that I had somehow kept missing. The food and the service were exceptional.

I went after the Banh Mi taco on white corn because it had been the most highly recommended. And I loved it! The description of "Vietnamese braised pork belly, pickled daikon and carrot salad" intimidated me a little, but these new ingredients didn't scare my palate. The spicy sriracha mayo and cilantro pulled it all together as a taco that rivaled my beloved Torchy's Brush Fire.

I think my roommate ordered the BBQ Brisket taco with creamy slaw and smoke roasted peach bbq sauce. Mmmmmmmmmmm

Eric Silverstein, owner and founder of The Peached Tortilla, was a pretty laid back guy. He answered some questions I had for an article I was working on (more details on that to come) and even let me take his picture.

I need to make my way over to West Campus (where the truck is located most evening at Freewheeling Bicycles), so I can relive the Banh Mi and maybe try a slider or two.