Just around the time that twittering taco trucks took off, Los Angeles artist Sean Finocchio started doing this series of taco trucks. From his website you can get one for $25 or a pair for $40. I’m *this* close to forking over the money to get a couple. I think they’d look great in my kitchen or bathroom. I hit him up for a query-laden quintet.

1) How did you come up with the idea to do taco truck prints?

I spend a lot of time in my car commuting to and from work. I take a camera with me daily to take pictures. Taco trucks kept showing up and I decided to do a series of them. I had previously done a series of mobile homes. The taco truck series was completed back in the fall of 2008. Most of my artwork is of everyday life in and around Los Angeles. Markets, Liquor stores, alleys, apartment buildings, etc.

2) How are these trucks selected? Where are they located? Are they your favorites?

All of my images are completely random. They are just trucks seen around town. Some were found downtown, Hawthorne, Mar Vista, Venice, Hollywood, etc. Taco Trucks are everywhere in LA. I’ve also changed the names on all of the trucks. I have taken some creative liberties while creating these images. My artwork celebrates the culture of the taco trucks — not necessarily a specific truck.

Full disclosure on the taco truck series — I’ve changed the names on all of the trucks. All the names are fictitious. I didn’t want to exploit these trucks because I realize these are family run trucks (usually) and I did not get their permission when taking the pictures. I didn’t want to get in a legal mess. So — you wont find these exact trucks around town. They do exist, but I don’t remember exactly where they are located. And finally, the red truck and the yellow truck were not actually taco trucks but a fire and rescue truck and a delivery truck. I was looking to complete a set of trucks and needed to find a few more — most of the trucks I came across are all the same shape and I wanted to have some different looking ones.

I’m telling you all of this because your site appears to celebrate specific trucks and I don’t want people to ask you or me what part of town “La Mexicanita” is at on Tuesdays. I’m not trying to be accurate- I’m an artist. My artwork really is just to celebrate the beauty of the taco trucks and the culture — not any truck specifically.

3) How many of them have you sold? Have you ever given/sold to these (or other?) taco trucks?

Taco trucks are pretty popular right now. It has been a happy accident. I’ve sold quite a few of these locally and nationally. People tell me they like them because of their love for LA and their love of taco trucks. I haven’t approached any of theses taco trucks with my artwork. If they were interested in one of my print I would gladly give them one or trade for some tacos.

4) What’s most visually appealing about taco trucks for you?

I’m attracted to the different shapes and colors of the trucks and the artwork on the sides of the trucks. It is a completely random process. I usually spot a cool truck and take a picture from the other side of the road and keep going. Unfortunately I haven’t eaten at any of these trucks.

5) Are you going to do another round, given the new twittering generation of trucks?

I might do a different series in the future. I take pictures daily and I have a bunch of new images that I have taken in the last few months.

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Earlier this summer, a former Wolfgang Puck chef, Antonio Medina, started The Gastrobus, a fun new mobile restaurant roaming the streets of Los Angeles. I hit up Medina for the standard fiver.

1) Gastrobus? Is it really a bus or a truck? How’d you get that going? Why a bus? How’d you convert it?

The Gastrobus is a truck, it just took a paint job and a name to turn it into a school bus. The idea came from the need to work together as a family. The name is a play on words ‘gastro pub’, which is the type of restaurant we wanted. School busses are also cool looking and familiar to everybody.

2) Tell me about yourself. What’s your cooking/food/eating background? What’s the biggest difference cooking in a truck/bus rather than restaurant kitchen?

I have been cooking professionally for the past 7 years, during which I was the Executive Chef for Wolfgang Puck at the Pacific Design Center, worked for catering companies in Hollywood and at a couple of restaurants in the city. The food at the Bus is my take on American gastro pub fare, accentuated by my Latin roots.
Kitchens are kitchens, whether it’s a five star restaurant, a catering company, a pizza joint in the Caribbean or a Bus. I just do my best with I have.

3) Man, root beer floats! I love it! Are those difficult to concoct on a truck? Is there room for a freezer? What kind of ice cream/root beer are you using?

Floats are an American summer classic. We tasted many root beers and ice creams (big brands and microbrews) and nothing beats A&W with homemade vanilla ice cream. There’s no freezer in this truck, but we know how to keep things cool at The Gastrobus.

4) How’d you pick your menu items? What’s the difference between the regular menu items and the Los Feliz Farmer’s Market menu items? What are the specials and how do we find out about them?

The menu looks really simple, but all the items have been thought thru, from the bread to the garnishes, each component adds some flavor/texture to them. “Organic Sundays” is our new project at Farmers Markets, and is completely improvised each time. Sunday mornings we shop at the market and whip up small plates using the best local produce that the farmers bring. It is a very interesting approach to the “market-driven” concept that some restaurants have. Check out the website for menus, bus stops and our latest creations at the Farmers Market. Or follow us on twitter (@thegastrobus).

5) What are your favorite food/taco trucks in LA?
Coolhaus! They have the best sweets on the road.

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Amigos, this weekend marks the premiere of the third season of CBC’s (that’s the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, folks) tech culture show, “Spark.”

They’ve got a new time slot (Starting September 13: Sunday afternoons on CBC Radio One at 1:05/1:35 NT (4:05 PT) and/or Tuesday afternoons on CBC Radio One at 3:05/3:35 NT) and have been expanded from a half-hour to a full hour.

Regardless of where you are, you can listen to the show — right now! — here, or via podcast.

In Episode #84, I close out the show with this little report on California’s new twittering taco trucks — my report starts at minute 44.

Much love goes out to Kogi BBQ and to Don Chow Tacos for making these interviews possible. (And if anyone knows how to find Joseph Santos in Palo Alto, tell him he’s on Canadian radio!)

Incidentally, my good friend Lisa Morehouse did a similar report on San Francisco’s twittering food trucks and carts too, on this week’s episode of The California Report.

Tacos + Radio = ¡Delicioso loco!

Also, join my CaliforniaTacoTrucks.com Facebook fan page!

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While most trucks tend to be lunchtime or late-night operations, a new truck is trying to capitalize on the most important meal of the day: breakfast. Enter the Buttermilk Truck. Owner Gigi Pascual served up her story.

1) A breakfast truck? Seriously? Are we talking breakfast burritos here? What’s the deal? What’s on your menu?

Yes a BREAKFAST truck:) I love breakfast all times of the day especially homemade from scratch recipes. We will be featuring fresh baked and housemade assorted pastries such as scones, breakfast cupcakes [pictured], turnovers, and granola. We will have breakfast sandwiches using applewood smoked bacon, and chicken apple sausage topped with a fried egg and sharp cheddar cheese on our housemade buttermilk biscuits. Also a Portuguese sausage sandwich on hawaiian sweet bread. A vegetarian option is available as well on our housemade corn bread topped with sauteed mushrooms, spinach and pepperjack cheese. Buttermilk pancakes, donuts, french toast sticks are a must as well as omelettes. Our late night menu will replace pastries with our fried chicken and buttermilk cinnamon waffles and something we call the buttermilk “brick”… a stick-to-your-ribs for those late night breakfast cravings.

2) When/where do you launch?

We plan to launch mid-November in West Los Angeles area.

3) What’s your background in food/eating? Why a truck? Why now? How’d you decide to get started? Who’s behind this, anyway?

I graduated from The French Culinary Institute NYC in Pastry Arts. I interned at Nobu NYC and worked as a Pastry Chef at Bin 8945 in West Hollywood. I always wanted my own bakery or breakfast joint but the start up costs were beyond my means. The truck was a feasible way to share my love for pastries and breakfast. It is a meal that is often skipped due to time restraints of our daily routines and our late night breakfast options are
always the same 24 hour joints. I wanted to fill that breakfast void. All the recipes are mine and have been fine tuned over the past years and months. I have close friends helping with PR and marketing. I am currently in the process of hiring my Buttermilk Truck Team.

4) Will you have egg and cheese on bagels like the street carts in NYC? What’s your fav item?

There will be modified versions of that NYC breakfast staple:) My favorite item is the fried chicken and buttermilk cinnamon waffles.

5) How many of your items actually have buttermilk, anyway?

A good 90% of our items contain Buttermilk

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First there was the Dosa Truck. And now, there’s India Jones Chow Truck, bringing more delicious Indian goodness to Santa Monica (my hometown!) and West Los Angeles. I checked in with chef Sumant Pardal.

1) Indian food in a taco truck? Are you serving Indian tacos? What’s the deal here? Why a truck?

Our speciality is a FRANKIE. This is an Indian wrap from the streets of Bombay. Sort of an in between of a taco & burrito, but has no rice & beans. It is an egg washed roti (like a tortilla) with marinated sauteed meats, chopped onions, cilantro, special chutney and a spice blend. Once you have one, you want another one. A truck is exciting. And I have location, location, location.

2) Do you have any regional specialties? Where is the chef from? What’s your background? How’d you decide on the menu? How does real Indian street food impact what you choose to sell?

I am from Jaipur, India, 33 years of experience, and have owned 12 restaurants in LA in the last 22 years,
including East India Grill, which I opened on 8.8.88.

3) How much of an influence was the Kogi BBQ truck? How did you decide on your route? Do you have a set location/route? Being from Santa Monica, I approve of the Westside.

Kogi has been a big influence in showing us that there is a lot of business to be done by way of a catering truck. They are heros of this world. Routes are decided, by invitation, office complexes, night clubs and various events in the city. We are also now hooked up with Bluebird Cafe in Culver City, where we have a beautiful courtyard and every Thursday night we serve food and Bluebird sells beer & wine and shows movies and videos on a big screen.

4) What’s been the most surprising thing that you’ve learned about operating a truck? Did you buy or lease it? How much harder is it to work in a truck kitchen than a real kitchen?

All businesses are hard work. But everything is working out beautifully.

5) What happened with the LAPD tickets two weeks ago? What will you be doing differently in the future?

It was not against me alone. It was a sweep to get us all out of there. I just caught the worst of it. Everything is fine now.

6) Thums Up or Limca?

One day. Need to find a wholesaler. Can’t buy retail and sell cheap.

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It was only a matter of time before the traditional brick-and-mortar restaurants started getting their napkin rings in a twist over all the new taco trucks. The first area to complain? West Los Angeles’ Mid-Wilshire district, where such fine eating establishments like Toshi’s Fresh Asian, Koo Koo Roo, Baja Fresh and Johnnie’s New York Pizzeria have banded together to complain.

Last Wednesday, the Los Angeles Police Department arrived to dish out tickets to many of the trucks. And they didn’t come with a side of friendliness, either.

“They don’t have city and health department permits,” said Lt. Dan Hudson, watch commander at the Los Angeles Police Department Wilshire Division, who was quoted by the LA Times. “Restaurants complain because the lunch trucks are taking their business, and they don’t have [proper] permits.”

The paper added:

Sumant Pardal said the truck he leases to operate India Jones food catering [pictured] was impounded after police told him that “businesses don’t want you guys here.”

Pardal, who said he recently moved from Arizona and had been operating India Jones for a little more than a week, said he was cited for failing to have a California driver’s license and vehicle tags.

“They were trying to find any reason to cite me,” said Pardal, who said he’s been a chef for more than three decades.

[Note: We'll have an email interview with Sumant Pardal coming soon.]

Interestingly, the article noted that these vendors were seeking advice for the first time from the newly formed Asociación de Loncheros La Familia Unida de California. This represents the first significant crossover between these nouveau food trucks and the existing Latino trucks around the Southland.

According to LAist, the local restauranteurs are upset:

“They’re only picking on us apparently,” said Toshi’s General Manager, Fred Williams, who thinks all the recent criticism has been unfair. “We’re actually not the ones who called the police [on Wednesday]. All the restaurants here have been complaining about the trucks. We gave up on it a long time ago. We really haven’t been doing anything about it.”

And that’s true. Jose Ceja, the manager over at Johnnie’s New York Pizzaria, says all the restaurant managers in the area, including Koo Koo Roo, Baja Fresh and Organic to Go, have been meeting over the issue. “We’re all trying to work together getting rid of these things,” explained Ceja. “I’ve cut employees left and right because we don’t have enough income to keep everyone here. The economy has been bad and I had to cut, and then these trucks show up and had to cut more. We all average $15,000 to $18,000 in rent, have to pay employee taxes and alcohol licenses.”

I also checked in with LA taco truck lawyer extraordinaire Phil Greenwald, who said that this enforcement might not hold water in court.

He emailed me with the following reaction:

LAMC 80.73b2f (Time limit parking of catering trucks on the streets of Los Angeles) was considered by Superior Court Commissioner Barry D. Kohn on June 10, 2009. He dismissed the citation against the driver of the truck on the grounds that the ordinance was not in conformity with the California Vehicle Code. He held that the time limits were not rationally related to “public safety” as required by applicable Vehicle Code Sections. The “one day” sweep of catering trucks along Wilshire Blvd. appears to have been applied in a discriminatory manner since all vehicles parked along that street were not treated similarly. California Appellate Court Decisions do not permit discriminatory enforcement.

For the record, here’s the language of LAMC 80.73b2f:

F. (Amended by Ord. No. 177,620, Eff. 7/23/06.) No catering truck shall remain parked at any residential location for the purpose of dispensing victuals, or at any residential location within a half mile radius of that location, for a period of time, adding together all time parked at each residential location, which exceeds 30 minutes. Upon the elapse of that period of time, any catering truck that continues to be used for the purpose of dispensing victuals must be parked at a location more than half a mile distant, as measured in a straight line, from the location where the vehicle was parked at the beginning of the 30-minute period, and the vehicle shall not return to that location for at least another 30 minutes from the time of departure or relocation. The requirement that a vehicle must be parked one-half mile distant shall only apply if the new parking location is in a residential area.

No catering truck shall remain parked at any commercial location for the purpose of dispensing victuals, or at any commercial location within a half mile radius of that location, for a period of time, adding together all times parked at each commercial location, which exceeds one hour. Upon the elapse of that period of time, any catering truck that continues to be used for the purpose of dispensing victuals must be parked at a location more than half a mile distant, as measured in a straight line, from the location where the vehicle was parked at the beginning of the one hour period, and the vehicle shall not return to that location for at least another 60 minutes from the time of departure or relocation.

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So after following the Twitterverse for new food trucks, I came across Marked5, which fires up “Japanese Style Burgers.” I sent them an email to get the inside flip. The photo above is of Marked5’s general manager, David Ly. Answers were provided by the company’s marketing guy, Wayne Chang.

1) What’s Marked 5 all about? How’d it get started? And what does the name mean? Who is behind it and what’s with the Japanese-ish burgers?

Marked 5 is a gourmet food truck with the mission of creating high quality burger/sandwiches with innovation and care. By focusing on three very important key points, quality, innovation, and convenience, we strive to provide the best experience for all of our patrons.

The name Marked5 actually is a literally description when a person is experiencing our burger, the rice patty imprints all five fingers as the patron making his or her own mark/claim on the burger!

David Ly is the founder of Marked5, who traveled extensively in Asia and decided to come up with this burger concept with a spin on our Asian American heritage and started his own Burger Revolution. In fact, the only Japanese-ish influence is showcased by the Katsu Pork Sandwich, and you will find that all four of our main items are really awesome in their own rights.

2) What’s the most expensive thing on the menu? How did you determine what’s on the menu?

All four main items are priced at $5 each, and we created the menu with the thought of being able to offer something for everyone! In experimenting with the menu, we had three criteria; unique, withstands the test of time, and transcend between all borders. We hired a chef consultant to come up with all our sauce. We didn’t want any store brought sauce. Everything is from scratch. We started with the (Torraku Beef) angus beef which we thought to be the most symbolic of the asian and american. Then we had (torraku) veggie which is a tofu patty mixed with egg, cheese and veggies. We had to do a Katsu pork. Lastly was our Chicken Curry which turns out be one of our best sellers. We do have occasional specials (burgers) ham & egg, Torraku Salmon and Spicy Tuna. Special prices varies.

3) How much of an influence was Kogi or other existing taco trucks? How long did it take you to get from concept to road?

Marked5 is really the only few trucks on the road that is completely original in its food offerings, you will not find any tacos near our truck Its all about the Burger Revolution!!

The pain staking process of developing Marked5 was a six-month journey from concept to road, and we have been officially in business for a little over three months. We are still actively searching for new ways to improve our items, and we will not rest until perfection is achieved; unlike most of the trucks out there we also operate out of a central kitchen to ensure the quality of our food.

4) What is your route and how did you determine it? What did you have to do to convert an existing truck to the Marked5? Did anything surprise you about this process?

Routes were a trial and learn process. It took a long time to figure out which location works. And some locations works sometimes and not others. We are still in the process of figuring that out. If you or anyone else have any suggestions on additional routes, PLEASE email me. We had to do so much to convert the truck. When we first saw the truck, it had no engine (it was just being tune, i didn’t know you had to remove it to do that). We had to add a fryer and fix the compressor. But riding on it, brings a sense of history. We are reminded everyday, of what this truck use to sell and how long it has come to be Marked5. we appreciate and give it a little kiss goodnight every morning before we head home for four hour sleep, then back to the kitchen to prepare for the day.

5) Asahi or Sapporo?

Asahi

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Move over Dennis Ross, and meet Los Angeles Councilmember for District 13, and City Council President, Eric Garcetti.

The Eastsider blog points out what may be the world’s first case of taco truck diplomacy as mediated by local public officials.

Here’s the issue: The Tacos Arizas taco truck has apparently been parked at the corner of Sunset Blvd. and Logan St. for years. Each night it welcomes all kinds of folks who want to get their taco on. However, the local residents say that many of these people don’t seem to know how to keep the noise down, nor how to adequately dispose of their basura. Before, when the City of Los Angeles had a one-hour parking limit, the cops could just hit them with tickets all the time. But that law was struck down in June, making it impossible to compel the truck to move.

Garcetti set up a meeting between the Loncheros Association, the LAPD, and his own Council District 13.

The result? The Eastsider reports:

After the discussions, the owners of Arizas agreed to move the truck about a block north to the other side of Sunset Boulevard next to the Sav-A-Lot market and away from apartments and homes. “This was the first time we worked with a taco truck to have them voluntarily move to a location to address concerns of local residents,” said Garcetti’s spokeswoman, Julie Wong.

The taco truck owners are happy with the new location - and not having to contest $158 parking tickets, said Magallenes. “It was a good approach,” he said of the negotiations with the city. “We got good results.”

However, the Arizas truck is now closer to some restaurants but merchants were not involved in the negotiations over the new location, Magallenes said. One resident, who lives nearby, has also noticed that the Arizas truck sometimes parks closer to Sunset Boulevard than called for in the deal with the city.

Hrm. Maybe the new residents can be bought off with free pastor?

[via LA Daily blog]

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Elina Shatkin is the LA Times’ content producer for The Guide. Most importantly, she’s been keeping close tabs on what she calls “nouveau food trucks,” the likes of which we’ve been covering here on the blog.

I checked in with her for a fiver, and she replies:

“Let me just state up front, that these are strictly my personal opinions. I don’t claim to speak for anyone but myself. I don’t claim to be an expert about food or about taco trucks. I’m just someone who like to eat. A lot.”

With that aside, here we go:

1) So, what’s with your obsession with new LA food trucks? How do you find out about new ones? Why is LA obsessed with them all of a sudden?

1. When I moved to L.A. from the sheltered suburb of my youth and discovered street meat, I was in love. It was probably my one experience with love at first sight. I find out about new food trucks the same way most people do: from friends and food blogs. I have the added bonus of receiving tips and press releases because I write about food.

I think there are probably lots of reasons L.A. is currently so obsessed with what I call the Nouveau Food Trucks. They’re new. They’re inexpensive as compared with even the cheapest sit-down restaurant. (In a bad economy, they’re an affordable indulgence). Food and the discussion around it is a super-hot trend right now. (I suspect that desire was latent in the gen pop for a long time, but it’s been fueled by review sites like Yelp & Citysearch, by food blogs, by Twitter and other social networking apps. Basically, all of these avenues give “ordinary people” an avenue to express and argue their opinions.) And, not to be underestimated, NFTs represent a cultural fusion that’s a perfect fit for L.A.

2) Do you worry about the hipsterization/gentrification of taco trucks at all?

2. Nope. There are about 2 dozen Nouveau Food Trucks roaming L.A. In contrast, there are roughly 7,000 taco trucks in the city of L.A. (This number comes from Erin Glenn, CEO of the Asociación de Loncheros L.A. Familia Unida de California. I interviewed but didn’t quote her in my story about L.A. food trucks. She warns that this is a VERY rough estimate. The actual numbers may be much higher.) It’s not like these two dozen Nouveau Food Trucks are pushing out the thousands of traditional taco trucks. If anything, these Nouveau Food Trucks are really competing against each other for the same market segment.

Cultural influence is very fluid and hard to track, but it rarely occurs in a linear fashion. Rather, it’s an octopus-like creature that reaches out in all direction, sucking in and expelling matter. (Is that what octopi do? I wish I was a cephalopod expert so I’d know if my analogy was apt.)

Territorialism is another issue, but I haven’t seen the kind of food truck vs. food truck turf wars in L.A. that have occurred in N.Y. That may yet come to pass.

Continue reading »

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Oh man, as soon as I heard about Lomo Arigato, I knew there had to be some awesome background to this Japanese-Peruvian fantastic food truck. I pinged owner Eric Nakata for the deets.

1) What is Japanese-style Peruvian food? Did you create this, or is this something that exists amongst the Japanese people of Peru? Are you Japanese-Peruvian? Do you speak both Spanish and Japanese? What’s your background?

My name is Eric Nakata, born in the South Bay, raised in West L.A., and a life-long Angelino. I am fully Japanese-American with family from Japan to Peru. I speak both English and Japanese fluently.

2) What gave you the idea of creating this? Does such a thing exist in Peru? How big of an influence were existing taco trucks, and/or Kogi? How do you feel about this sudden trendy-ness of LA mobile food vendors?

Peruvian cuisine is known for the fusion of its many immigrating cultures. Japanese and Chinese have major influence on some of the most well-known Peruvian dishes. Actually, I’ve had this idea for some time, since my last trip to Japan in early 2008. On almost every corner, the Japanese street food vendors dished out their own unique creations that attracted happy crowds. L.A. has the happy crowds, and night life, but are thirsty for more.

The L.A. mobile food movement has not only spawned great creativity in the food it offers, but has also provided a window of networking among our tech-obsessed culture.

As for Peru, their street food vendors are as common as they are in Japan.

3) What customizations have you had to make on the truck? How much has it cost you in order to get it up and running? When/where will you be launching?

Unlike other traditional trucks, we installed large glass windows, and moved the kitchen to the street side, fusing the open-kitchen concept to this truck. This will allow customers and passersby to see the action. Like any starting business, it costs a pretty penny.

My routes will run from Downtown to the West side, and will definitely make a few South Bay stops. Check out lomoarigato.com for weekly stops. If everything goes as scheduled, we are looking towards mid-August for the grand opening!

4) What does Lomo Arigato mean?

4. Lomo Arigato = Lomo Saltado + Domo Arigato

Lomo Saltado is our signature dish which is sauteed strips of tri-tip seasoned and tossed with onions, tomatoes, cilantro, french fries, red wine, and soy sauce.

Domo Arigato is Japanese for “Thank you very much!”

5) How insanely spicy is the insanely spicy green sauce? What best does it go with?

5. Currently, I am working on two types of green sauce: “weak sauce” for the norm, and “kichigai” for the strong. (kichigai = insane >_< )

Both sauces compliment any and every dish!

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