The food truck from D.C. restaurateur Jose Andres will be giving away sandwiches when it stops in Bethesda Row next week.

A Facebook announcement this afternoon from the Pepe Food Truck said the first 100 sandwiches will be free when the truck stops near the Equinox gym (4905 Elm St.) on Tuesday, Feb. 26 from 11:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. Equinox is partnering in the promotion.

Sandwiches include shredded beef, eggplant, fried chicken, Spanish pulled pork and the Futbol Club Barcelona, or club sandwich. The menu also includes chicken noodle soup, spinach and garbanzo bean salad, chips and patatas bravas.

One of Andres’ Jaleo tapas restaurants is on Bethesda Row (7271 Woodmont Ave.) and the chef credited with popularizing tapas in the U.S. lives in Bethesda.

Flickr photo by justgrimes

 http://www.bethesdanow.com/2013/02/21/pepe-food-truck-bringing-free-sandwiches-to-bethesda-row/

The Brown Bag’s new food truck debuted on Woodmont Friday. Credit Erin Donaghue

Bethesda-based restaurant chainlet the Brown Bag is taking its lunch offerings to the streets.

The Brown Bag’s new food truck debuted on Woodmont today, offering up hot lunch options to patrons shivering in today’s frigid temperatures.

Each day, the truck will offer up four different grilled paninis, two soups and three salads, according to Food Truck Fiesta.

The Brown Bag opened a storefront location in Bethesda in 2002 and has quickly expanded throughout the Washington, D.C. region. The chain now boasts five locations in Washington, D.C. and Northern Virginia, including the Bethesda location.

Last year, Brown Bag took over concessions at Glen Echo Park.

With a tagline of “honest food,” The Brown Bag offers options like made-to-order sandwiches, soups and gourmet salads, and focuses on fresh ingredients, according to Brown Bag founder Erich Fuldner.

 “Our salads are a different – they’re more gourmet. We have items like edamame and goat cheese, which you don’t find in regular sandwich shop,” Fuldner told Patch last year. “Our dressing is made from scratch – with our cilantro-lime dressing, we use fresh-squeezed lime. People wonder why it tastes so good – we just use the real product.”

To track the truck’s location, follow Brown Bag on Twitter, Facebook or the eatery’s website.

http://potomac.patch.com/articles/brown-bag-s-new-food-truck-debuts-in-bethesda#photo-13210181

 Tiger Mullen, owner of Bethesda’s Haven Pizzeria Napoletana, is taking his pizza business mobile.

Haven, which opened on Wisconsin Avenue last February, is starting a catering business called Tomato Flyer Pizza Co., which has already booked 17 events starting April 1.

Mullen has spent more than $100,000 to buy and restore a 1947 International Harvester truck, turning it into a mobile pizzeria. He has two more trucks that will be ready next fall. All of the trucks were found in North Carolina, and are being updated and customized by Rob Sunde of Silver Spring.

The trucks, 22-by-8-by-9 feet high, are being equipped with coal-fired brick ovens, refrigerators, freezers, sinks, cappuccino machines and serving stations.

Mullen is a pizza nut whose day job is running a boutique accounting firm, just a few steps from Haven Pizzeria. He said the catering trucks seemed a logical extension of Haven.

“I am working with the coal ovens and making all of the ingredients for this operation every day — dough, salads, homemade mozzarella and artisan gelato — the infrastructure and artisan pizziaoli are all there to help support Tomato Flyer.”

http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/capitalbusiness/capital-buzz-bethesda-pizzamaker-ready-to-hit-the-road/2012/11/21/96366afa-3361-11e2-bfd5-e202b6d7b501_story.html

Steve Markham, the owner of One3Five Cuisine

So what does a 57-year-old chef laid off from his job do for his next gig? In the case of Steve Markham—a Chevy Chase resident who last worked as general manager of the Arts Club of Washington—it was to open a food truck called One3Five Cuisine.

After a year of planning, Markham just set up shop Wednesday, December 7, in the space vacated by the former Ali Baba’s Falafel in the Montgomery Farm Women’s Cooperative parking lot on Wisconsin Avenue.

There’s no falafel being served up from Markham’s truck—but there are other appealing offerings. The name of his business (One3Five) comes from what’s on the menu—one soup and one appetizer, three salads and three “famous city” sandwiches, plus five specialty sandwiches and five side dishes.

It’s a bit lame as far as concepts go (and what if he wants to add an item or two?), but as far as the cooking goes, Markham seems to be on to something good.

The one appetizer, a satay of beef or chicken (I had both), is marinated overnight in a blend of coconut milk and spices and served with two sauces: a vinegary mixture with slices of Asian cucumber and red onion, and a creamy peanut dip with a kick.

I’d opt for the chicken over the beef, but both meats are assertively seasoned and accompanied with lots of fresh cilantro, lettuce and spring onions. Either would make for a nice light lunch.

I also tried the banh mi, the Vietnamese sub that Markham packs with marinated pork loin, daikon radishes, shredded carrots, cucumber spears, cilantro, scallions, red onion and sliced jalapenos.

Mine was sparse on the promised lime/garlic/ginger aioli and fish sauce—which it needed for lubrication—but the ingredients were all top-notch.

In fact, Steve Lorberbaum, who works across the street at MCM Capital, was so enamored with the banh mi he had on Wednesday, the miserably rainy day Markham opened, that he was back again today for lunch—this time for the Turkeylicious, consisting of roast turkey, bacon, Swiss, cucumber, romaine, avocado and cranberry mayonnaise on a brioche roll.

One3Five also sells a lobster roll, burger, cheese steak and muffuletta, as well as a sandwich I’d like to try next called “Gaucho’s Delight,”—marinated flank steak on a ciabatta roll with a potato and onion mixture, tomato and olive salsa and chimichurri sauce.

The Knot Kosher also sounds interesting—challah layered with thin slices of roast pork, pepper jack cheese, red onion, house slaw and chipotle mayo.

Prices for the salads and sandwiches range from $5.99 to $14.99, with most being $6.99 or $7.99. For $9.99, you can get a combo meal, which includes a beverage, any sandwich, plus your choice of soup, side dish or a small house salad.

The truck will be open a lot—Monday through Saturday from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m., and Sundays from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.

“I told my wife, I’d see her in the spring,” joked Markham.

www.one3fivecuisine.com 301-801-2823.

Addendum: Jimmy John’s, a chain sub shop a short distance from One3Five at 4710 Bethesda Avenue, is also now open. I peeked my head inside, intrigued by a neon sign on the window that said “Free Smells.” The only thing it smelled like was a new store. But at least it was free…

http://www.bethesdamagazine.com/Blogs/Table-Talk/November-December-2011/New-food-truck-replaces-Ali-Babas-Falafel/

By this point, most people are familiar with the DC Food Truck scene. Names like Red Hook Lobster Pound, Takorean, Fojol Bros., and CapMac bring to mind a great food truck renaissance in DC. What you may not know is that over the last few months, several great food trucks have started up in Montgomery County.

In the last few weeks, I’ve had the pleasure of trying out food from GoFish! and Carmen’s Italian Ice. We have also heard great things about Suburban Bros, Tops American Food Company, and the upcoming Corned Beef King . All of these trucks primarily serve Montgomery County, and I have consistently looked out for them whenever they come to Bethesda. I should also mention that Red Hook Lobster Pound has made several appearances since acquiring their MoCo permit, and when they do roll into town, it becomes the highlight of my day. Can’t beat that lobster roll, but I digress.

GoFish! operates as a food truck during daytime hours while offering home delivery to residents in the DC area, Tuesday through Saturday. The menu includes items such as jumbo lump crab cake sandwiches, colossal crab rolls, crawfish rolls, blackened shrimp Caesar salad/wraps, as well as market items to take home by the pound like crab cake mix and crawfish salad.

They made their first trip to Bethesda recently so I had to try their crab cake. It was essentially all crabmeat and no filler, huge, and a great deal at $10. I was curious to try the colossal crab roll which consisted of lump crabmeat, scallions, old bay, and mayo, but a co-worker said it didn’t have enough seasoning to it. I’ll definitely check them out again and maybe try something else next time like one of their specials. I’m always a fan of fresh fish and their delivery model seems intriguing as well.

Another new truck to hit the streets of Bethesda is Carmen’s Italian Ice. They have had a stand-alone store, Carmen’s Italian Ice & Café, in Rockville since 2001. In additional to gourmet Italian Ice, they also serve frozen custard and gelato. Carmen’s has carts and food trucks that roam throughout Montgomery County, and the truck can now often been seen in downtown Bethesda.

Brilliantly, they were parked right next to Red Hook and while people were waiting for their lobster rolls, they gave out samples of their Italian Ice. I tried the mango, and it was so refreshing that I knew I had to get more for a post-roll dessert. I decided to try their strawberry-lemon mini ice, which basically tasted like strawberry lemonade. For $1.50, the mini was a perfect size and inexpensive afternoon treat.

We hope that this is just the start of more trucks in Montgomery County, and we will continue to look out for more trucks to try and write about. Given that I work and live in Bethesda, I’m always looking for new food options to add some variety to our dining routine.

http://www.dmvdining.com/2011/08/food-truckin-in-bethesda/

Carmen's Italian Ice & Cafe employee Nick Swearingen and manager Tom Pretl serve treats to campers and employees of the Barrie School camp in Silver Spring. Carmen’s recently started offering online coupons to draw customers. Tess Colwell/The Gazette

From salons and furniture stores to Italian ice vendors, more retailers are testing the social-marketing waters

Steve Appel knew he was taking a gamble when he turned to deep discounts to promote his design furniture store’s relocation in Baltimore.

But instead of offering his $200 gift certificates at $50 each through conventional advertising, Appel sought the growing influence of new media and the online social marketing site Groupon.

By the time the promotion was over, Appel had sold 769 discount packages for Nouveau Contemporary Goods, with 90 percent bought by new customers.

“The response was overwhelming,” he said. “It’s a force to be reckoned with.”

Throughout the state and nation, hordes of businesses are joining sites such as Groupon of Chicago and LivingSocial of Washington, D.C., offering a discount for the chance to reach a wider audience and build their customer base. Most of the focus in this region is on the sites’ Washington and Baltimore coverage areas.

“It’s a gamble,” Appel said. “You realize some [customers] might not come back.”

The advertisers that benefit most are those that can entice customers to buy non-discounted items or services once they are in the door, he said.

The number of consumers who subscribe to online coupon sites has risen to 88.2 million in 2011 from 77.4 million in 2009, according to industry research company eMarketer. That’s expected to reach 96.8 million in 2013.

“The economy currently lends itself to people looking for value, and that is what these sites seem to provide,” said Cindy Feldman, owner of Progression Salon Spa Services in Rockville.

The 27-year-old business has used LivingSocial three times and sees it as a way of rewarding loyal customers, as well as introducing new ones to the salon. She said Progression has retained a good percentage of Groupon guests, who have also brought in their children and friends.

Most coupon sites require businesses to offer half-off promotions and then split a portion of the coupon sales. Groupon takes about half, while LivingSocial’s cut is about 40 percent. Some sites also provide client lists and data for advertisers to track the online popularity of their deals.

Feldman said these additions — particularly the client lists, which can be converted into mailing lists — are the key to businesses making the most of the sites. Progression also uses Bloomspot of San Francisco, preferring to stick with the higher-end market.

“Maybe the customers won’t come in right away, but now you have them in your database and can continue to connect with them,” she said.

‘Lasting relationships’

“The pioneer of the collective buying space, Groupon creates a unique way for local merchants to reach new customers and drive business like never before,” Groupon spokeswoman Kelsey O’Neill said in an email to The Gazette. “As a result of Groupon, local merchants have the opportunity to create lasting relationships with an expansive new customer base for their business.”

LivingSocial did not respond to requests for comment.

Many merchants decide to advertise on these sites after trying them out as customers themselves.

Lucia Simmons, marketing director at Linganore Winecellars, did just that before running the Mount Airy winery’s own deals through Groupon.

Linganore is using the site to promote its Coon Beats n’ The Summer Heat Wine Festival this weekend and has sold 230 tickets. A separate deal for wine and cheese tastings has landed the 35-year-old company 675 more customers.

“You can always shop in your backyard for customers, so why not spread out?” Simmons asked. “I love social media. You have to love it — it’s everywhere.”

Linganore is involved in many facets of social media and seeks to treat all its promotional customers “as VIPs” to encourage their return, she said.

“It’s great exposure,” Simmons said.

Some of the businesses seeing the greatest returns through these sites are those in the food industry, said Patrick Donoho, president of the Maryland Retailers Association.

Dorian Brown of Neopol Savory Smokey restaurant in Baltimore attested to the value of procuring new customers through its $10 dinner deal, but he also cautioned that restaurants are at the greatest risk for selling beyond their means.

While Neopol placed a customer cap on its deal, Brown said it is easy for businesses to forget about the precaution and get inundated with coupon-bearing customers.

Another risk is customers who try to redeem coupons after the offer expires, Brown said, saying they can be “pretty aggressive.”

“I did it twice. Will I do it again? Probably, but not anytime soon,” he said. “I’ll probably wait for a slow period.”

‘It’s not for everyone’

Jason Mandler, owner of Carmen’s Italian Ice & Café in Rockville, had his own reservations about using the sites before running a promotion with LivingSocial in August, but said the response has been solid.

“It’s not for everyone. You have to be prepared for the influx,” he said, adding that his business supports a staff of 35 during the summer and can handle the numbers. “The phone’s been ringing off the hook with people asking how to get here.”

Mandler joked that his new addiction is watching the site to see how many coupons are being sold. His goal is a mix of current and new customers, whom he hopes will tell others.

Even grocers such as Santoni’s in Baltimore have tried out the sites, although owner Rob Santoni said they haven’t done much for business.

Santoni originally went with Groupon in hopes of having an exclusive presence in the market, but he said grocers do not have the sales margins needed to support Groupon’s type of deals.

“If you sold 400 half-off tickets, you’d need everyone to come in and buy $85 in groceries,” he said.

Some businesses try to cash in through their novelty in the social marketing arena.

Heather Hinkle fought for LivingSocial’s permission to include her two-year-old Grand Paws pet salon in Annapolis. By noon of the day’s posting, Hinkle had 100 sales and eventually ended the promotion with 238.

“They have a huge email base. I’m looking to get my name out in the most effective way,” she said. “Usually, people look at the price of what we do instead of what we do and don’t even try us.”

Grand Paws also advertised on a local marketing site before it shut down a month later.

Copycat sites tend to generate smaller results because they lack the branding and technology of their major competitors, said Sinan Kanatsiz, chairman of the Internet Marketing Association.

He added that while such sites as Groupon are impressive from a branding standpoint, they have yet to yield the same business benefits as more conventional media.

“Social media has not proven itself as that. … It’s still being worked out,” Kanatsiz said. “Psychologically, something is not motivating customers to return.”

Nevertheless, conventional media advertising revenues continue to dwindle, falling to $28.5 billion for newspapers in 2010 from $49.4 billion in 2005, according to eMarketer.

‘A certain amount of cachet’

The online sites are a potent new competitor to conventional media because of their novelty and ability to provide better customer data, said Rick Edmonds, media business analyst for the Poynter Institute, a Florida education nonprofit that tracks the media and owns the St. Petersburg Times.

Some newspaper chains such as McClatchy have responded by partnering with the sites to run an extra coupon in their pages. Others have purchased similar systems and designed their own online coupon offerings, he said.

The Gazette offers its own Gazette Daily Deal, which has met company expectations, said Shane Butcher, The Gazette’s director of technology/Internet. The Gazette tries to counter competition with greater accessibility to customers using the site for their business, he said.

“I don’t have a strong opinion about which strategy makes more sense,” Edmonds said, referring to newspapers either partnering with the more popular sites or creating their own online offerings. “Groupon has a certain amount of cachet.”

Kanatsiz said social marketing advertisers also have to watch out for potential mixed messaging of the sites, which might promote businesses to the wrong audience and alienate potential customers.

“The average Groupon customer is not educated on what this is all about,” Appel said. “You have to make sure to craft the deal to be beneficial to your business or it could put you out of it.”

While people should not expect to see online coupon sites profilerate a great deal, they will likely see increased usage, Kanatsiz said.

“Anyone who thinks the Internet is not going to take business away is stubborn,” he said. “You have to be proactive rather than reactive.”

lrobbins@gazette.net

What’s driving the interest?

In 2011, nearly half of all online consumers will redeem digital coupons online or in a store. Several factors account for the increased interest:

*During the Great Recession, online coupons became a key strategy for shoppers looking to stretch their dollars.

*Consumers are spending more time researching purchases online, and that has spurred the natural migration from print to digital coupons.

*Consumers are increasingly proficient at finding coupons from a variety of sources, including manufacturer sites, dedicated coupon sites and social networks.

*The popularity of daily deal sites such as Groupon and LivingSocial has created a new form of online deal-hunting.

Source: eMarketer

http://www.gazette.net/article/20110819/NEWS/708199673&template=gazette