This Sunday, bring a group of friends to the last gathering of the clans
Ive focused plenty on the transition to Fall in recent columns, trying as I might to soften the psychological blow of summers end by counting our many autumnal food and drink blessings. Its a straightforward enough task on paper, but the weather has not been very cooperative. Were now a week into the new season and yet here we still are, likely sitting in various states of undress on patios and decks sipping delicate whites and strong margaritas with few orange or yellowing leaves in sight. Summer, it seems, is raging against the dying of the light.
This was nowhere more evident than in the back parking lot of East Hastings Waldorf Hotel this past Sunday. There, as with many Sundays previous, a dozen or so food trucks had arranged themselves in a laager, all of them circled around crammed communal tables in the open air. It was Food Cart Fest, and it was packed with like-minded Fall-phobics pretending that summer hadnt officially come to an end a few days earlier whilst cramming their faces with all manner of deliciously strange and wonderful things.
The weekly celebration of our local food truck culture was a dependable mainstay during the summer, something to look forward to every Sunday afternoon. If you missed it, or you dread many months in a row ahead without it, take heart. There is one more left on the calendar. This Sunday, September 30 is the very last of them, and you should go.
While it would be tempting to treat it as the last vestige of summer (especially if its nice out), the real draw is the food. The variety is daunting, so for best results you should show up with three hungry friends. Make a plan of attack. Divide your force. Each person should return to the table with two different items to share with the table. There might be some doubling up, but chances are youll sit down to taste eight dishes, each from a different truck.
Which street carts might be there? It varies from week to week, but most of my favourites have been making consistent appearances. That means that you and your three friends could potentially meet back at the communal table with one of La Brasseries awesome bunwiches loaded up with tender rotisserie chicken, deep fried onion strings and salty gravy; a classic pulled pork sandwich from Re-Up; a mesquite grilled shrimp burrito stuffed with corn, rice, beans, cheese, and salsa from Raging Bull; some panko-crusted red snapper and thick-cut French fries with coleslaw and tartar sauce from Feastro; a deep fried katsu cutlet sandwich from Mogu (my personal favourite, especially when saddled with tangy chicken karaage); a kimchi-heavy bulgogi rib-eye taco with extra cilantro from Cartel; a sandwich of pepper jack cheese, double smoked bacon, red onion and tomato on sourdough from Moms Grilled Cheese; and some of the seasoned beef and potato perogies with fresh pico de gallo and Mexican sour cream at Holy Perogy. (Should one or more of your party be a vegetarian, the options are many but aim for the roasted yam and black bean tacos from Off The Wagon so good!)
That collection of indulgences, as Im sure you can well imagine, would leave one rather thirsty. If the Juice Truck is in place (it has been before), try to balance out all the artery-clogging deep fried action with a blueberry matcha smoothie or The Pineapple (pressed pineapple with orange, spinach, mint, lemon, coconut water, aloe vera and himalayan rock salt). If you want to take the self-indulgence to the next level, the Waldorf Hotel has handily provided a little outdoor beer garden for your purposes.
As far as desserts are concerned, they take predictably inventive and excessive turns. Go for the bacon, bourbon and caramel bites from the aptly named Pig On The Street (an early 80s VW Westfalia campervan converted into a kitchen) and if you see a mobile freezer with a sign that says Earnest Ice Cream, pounce, especially if theyre offering their whisky with butter salted caramel flavour. If youre lucky, there might be some To Die For banana bread, and who knows what else? I did see one person walking around with a huge ice cream and cola float (something I havent had since I was a kid), so there are temptations lurking in the shadows.
I could recommend a lot more but your group will surely choose its own adventure, and thats the fun of it. What has made it such a great success and a magnet to local foodies is the incredible variety all crammed into a small outdoor space. The popular food truck pods of Portland are similar, but our Food Cart Fest with its live DJs, happy faces, superior food, and expanding bellies all enjoying the midday sun just feels significantly better.
See you for one last hurrah this Sunday from 12 to 5pm.
