Jenks, OK - Delicious food and colorful trucks helped make the Jenks Food Truck Festival a success last weekend for organizers.

 Both organizers and city leaders are calling the first ever Jenks, America Food Truck Festival a success in getting the word out about downtown. The event took place back on May 3 with four trucks selling out of food.

 KTUL’s community newspaper partner, the Jenks Journal reported that leaders have long worked to make Jenks a point of destination for tourists in an effort to generate sales tax revenue that is the lifeblood of municipal governments in Oklahoma. Some of those points include The Oklahoma Aquarium, an antique district and a planned arts district.

Chamber of Commerce President Josh Driskell said the food truck festival was an opportunity to target a new demographic.

 “I looked around the food truck festival and I was happy to see how few people I actually knew,” he said.

 Organizers estimated between 1,500 and 2,000 people attended the festival Saturday despite rain, sleet and blustery weather.

“The antique market and the businesses we have here have a built in customer base,” Driskell said. “In addition to advertising and word of mouth we also have these special events to bring in what I call non-traditional consumers to Jenks. In this case we we able to reach into midtown and some of the downtown crowd who follow these food trucks and bring them to Jenks.”

Some of the trucks at the festival last weekend included Andolini’s Pizza and Lone Wolf Banh Mi.

Driskell told councilors during his report Monday the Chamber and other organizations are already in talks with the food truck vendors about returning to Jenks several times throughout the year.

You can read more about the festival or other topics affecting Jenks by going to their website.

http://www.ktul.com/story/22195480/jenks-food-festival-success-for-organizers-downtown

JENKS – Downtown Jenks held its first Food Truck Festival Saturday

The Jenks America Food Truck Festival featured a number of Tulsa food vendors and live music that encompassed two blocks of the city’s downtown area.

Thousands came to get a taste of Smoke, The Local Table, Andolini’s, Lone Wolf Bahn Mi, Kona Ice and many more.

Even with the rainy, cold weather, the crowds made their way out to the event.

“Despite the weather the turn outs have been great, said Josh Driskell, Jenks Chamber of Commerce president. “This morning we were a little concerned it was raining and actually sleeting on us. Once about 10:30, 10:45 hit, the rain disappeared and the crowd starting pouring in.”

The event was sponsored by the Jenks Chamber of Commerce, who worked with the Downtown Jenks Merchant Association to make the festival possible.

City officials plan on making the festival an annual event.

http://www.kjrh.com/dpp/news/local_news/jenks/chamber-of-commerce-brings–inaugural-jenks-america-food-truck-festival-vendors-to-downtown-area

Editor’s note: Behind the Scene is an occasional series meant to take readers places they might not otherwise see. This week, Jason Ashley Wright spends a day inside a popular food truck.

It was fitting that Philip Phillips had Patsy Cline’s “If You’ve Got Leavin’ on Your Mind” on his.

He pointed out the irony while stuck a few blocks from Guthrie Green, where he was supposed to be at 10:15 a.m. Thursday.

His food truck had broken down. Again.

On the bright side, these experiences have allowed Philip, owner of Lone Wolf Banh Mi, to learn a new skill set.

“I’ve definitely turned into a mechanic,” he told us while his truck was stuck south of the railroad tracks on Elgin Avenue near First Street. “I’ve had to.”

No doubt, there was a little stress involved that morning as Philip waited on his wife, Danielle, to bring back a distributor coil from an auto parts store so they could make it to the Green’s Food Truck Wednesday event – the first of what organizers hope will become a summer tradition.

Despite the Lone Wolf truck’s setback – and a second trip for another auto part – Philip, Danielle and cook Jeff Crow maintained a light attitude peppered with the occasional random song lyric.

Usually, the three of them – or four, if it’s a busy event – arrive at least an hour early to calmly clean and set up for lunch or dinner service. But their 10:15 arrival time was going to be pushed until at least 11 a.m. on this day, giving them 30 minutes.

You’d think he might take his frustration out on the truck. But no tools were thrown, no doors slammed.

In fact, he even praised the truck.

“I will definitely keep this truck forever,” Philip said while waiting on Danielle to return. He might get a better truck eventually (multiple ones, if he follows his dream); but this is the original Lone Wolf.

That name comes from doing things his own way, Philip said. He’s operated Lone Wolf about seven months, and out of about 100 times he’s worked it, he’s sold out of food 97 times.

While they waited on the side of Elgin, a car stopped by the truck.

” ‘We were on our way to eat you,’ ” Philip quoted them. ‘ “When you gonna be there?’ “

A little later, another guy in a white truck parked on the opposite side of the street, walked over, saw that the food truck wasn’t open and walked back, looking disappointed.

Close to 11:30 a.m., when other vendors like Andolini’s, Local Table and Lola’s had already started serving at the Green, that second part was installed on Lone Wolf.

“In the words of James Brown, ‘Please, Please, Please,’ ” Philip said. Seconds later, it started, and they let out a little celebratory Lone Wolf cry.

Minutes later, with Lone Wolf driving behind us, people spotted the food truck as it turned onto Brady near the Green and started clapping.

The truck looped around the park and settled in a space on the east side. They had barely parked when more than 20 people formed a line.

“I’m so sorry,” Philip told the crowd, letting them know forces beyond his control made them late – and would make the line wait an extra 30 minutes.

“It’s worth it,” one woman shouted back, smiling.

They plugged in the generator and started setting up. Philip started by cleaning the kitchen surfaces, then sliced 60 loaves of Antoinette Baking Co. baguettes open for his banh mi sandwiches, a French-Vietnamese delight of spicy pork, cilantro, cucumber, carrots, jalapeno, pickled daikon radish and aioli.

Their accelerated prep time was like watching choreography in the tightest, best-smelling space imaginable. Philip washed and cut the cilantro while Jeff started cooking meat on the grill. After Danielle tore pieces of tape and adhered them to a shelf (a timesaver when wrapping banh mi orders in paper), she wrote the menu on the outside window.

“By the time we’re ready to open, I’ll be ready to pass out,” Philip said, laughing.

He told Jeff that they’d start serving as soon as the pork was done. More folks were getting in line, and Philip knew they all needed to get back to work.

“OK, we’re open, yay!” Danielle said out the window to the first customer.

People ordered banh mi, picking the kind of aioli they wanted and saying they liked this on it or that left off. They ordered kimchi fries, too, with candied bacon and extra cilantro, or no cilantro and an egg on top.

“The bay is full, and this order’s done,” Philip told Danielle.

“Got it,” she replied, then looked at a customer: “I’m going to get these orders out, and I’ll be right with you.”

They made multitasking look as if it could be a style of dance, greeting customers, jotting down their orders, taking cash, handing them food, wrapping sandwiches – and smiling the entire time.

“I should’ve eaten breakfast,” Philip said, echoing our own sentiments as he squirted sauce on orders of kimchi fries, his plastic gloves stained yellow-green at the finger tips from stuffing cilantro in banh mi. “I just want a slice of pizza from Andolini’s.”

Close to 1:30 p.m., Philip called for a bread count.

“We have seven banh mi left,” he said. “We might have exactly what we need to finish.”

Most folks who ordered banh mi got it, but they did run out – they almost always do. But the last few customers were quite content with kimchi fries.

“Even though Lone Wolf showed up late, it was definitely worth it,” said fan Philip Jaques, who ordered kimchi fries. “Two words: Candied. Bacon.”

Lone Wolf’s Philip, smiling after the last order was placed, seemed happy with how the day went.

At one point during the thick of things, Danielle started singing Neil Diamond’s “Sweet Caroline.” Apparently, it’s a “mission” for each of them to say or sing a lyric that gets stuck in the others’ heads, Philip said.

“Thank you!” he exclaimed. “I’ve had ‘If You’ve Got Leaving on Your Mind’ in my head for hours.”

“You’re welcome,” she said with a smile.

Journey to Lone Wolf began with Mom

Philip Phillips’ foray into food didn’t start with banh mi sandwiches and kimchi fries.

It all started with potato soup.

“Right when I moved away for college, I realized I didn’t like living off fast food,” said Phillips, who grew up in Cleveland and went to junior and high schools in Sand Springs. “I called Mom and had her teach me how to make all her recipes I grew up on.”

His “culinary journey” started at Kokoa Chocolatier with chef Steven Howard. Then, he trained under Geoffrey van Glabbeek at the late Lava Noshery.

He’s also been a wok cook at Keo and a sushi chef at the late Tsunami.

After that, while cooking a little more than a year at Whole Foods, Phillips worked toward having his own food truck, Lone Wolf, which had its first service in September 2012.

Popular as his Vietnamese-French fusion offerings are, he and his wife, Danielle, aren’t necessarily eating that at home.

“(We) always cook this five-hour, slow-roasted whole chicken stuffed with Anaheim or hatch green chilies,” he said. “The pan gravy from this bird is like heaven. Best leftovers ever.”

You can find Lone Wolf most weeks from 6 p.m. until “sell out” Wednesdays through Saturdays at Soundpony, 409 N. Main St. Their schedule changes, so Phillips advises checking outfacebook.com/lonewolftruck

http://www.tulsaworld.com/article.aspx/Lone_Wolf_food_truck_pleases_sell_out_crowd_at_Guthrie/20130428_43_D1_CUTLIN462488

TULSA, Oklahoma - Hundreds packed into downtown’s Guthrie Green Wednesday, but it wasn’t for a concert or a farmer’s market.

It was for the food trucks.

Lines sprawled out across the park, and the wait for sandwiches, pizza and cheese fries was as long as 30 minutes at the five food trucks that participated.

This was the first food truck Wednesday on the Guthrie Green that wasn’t called off due to weather.

Go here to see what else is coming up on the Guthrie Green

http://www.newson6.com/story/22069695/food-truck-wednesday-packs-downtown-tulsas-guthrie-green

Food trucks will line the streets of downtown Jenks on May 4 for the city’s first food truck festival.

The Jenks America Food Truck Festival, sponsored by the Jenks Chamber of Commerce, will occupy two blocks of Main Street and will feature many of Tulsa’s food truck vendors and additional merchants selling their products.

“We’ve been working with the Downtown Jenks Merchant Association on this project for several months,” Jenks Chamber President Josh Driskell said. “There is a very high level of enthusiasm in the community about this event. We expect all parties to have a good time.”

Food trucks that are participating include: Andolini’s, Teri Fermo’s Jezebel, Lone Wolf Banh Mi, Ali Gyro’s, Local Table, Smoke, Mr. Nice Guys and Lola’s.

Driskell said the spots for food vendors are full, but the chamber is still accepting applications for non-food vendors. The application can be found at tulsaworld.com/jenkschamber

The event is still in the planning stages, and a time has yet to be announced. Sponsorships are available. For details, call the chamber at 918-299-5005 or email callie.mccurdy@jenkschamber.com. Musical entertainment will include Chloe Johns, Jacob Tovar, Wink Burcham, John Moreland and Desi & Cody.

http://www.tulsaworld.com/article.aspx/Downtown_Jenks_to_host_food_truck_festival_May_4/20130410_39_D1_ULNSii93599

Jeff Gillen, owner of the Mangiamo near 34th Street and Yale Avenue, stands outside his food truck. CORY YOUNG / Tulsa World

People in New York’s Westchester County for decades knew that for Italian food, Scappy’s in Dobbs Ferry was a destination. In Manhattan, Richard’s Pasta Cafe near the Brooklyn Bridge has for years had diners proclaiming “bravissimo!”

Longtime family recipes inspiring those restaurants have now made their way to Tulsa via Jeff Gillen, a member of those families who becomes the fourth generation to offer meatballs and more through his new Italian cuisine food truck, Mangiamo, which translates to “Let’s eat.”

“I come from a family that always grew up eating together and cooking together, and I always thought it would be fun to bring that kind of food here,” said Gillen, a native Tulsan who has managed call centers in the past, but for whom food has always been a passion.

“The cooking has always been a family affair and a hobby, but there was a dream. Doing something like this was often in the back of my mind.”

The slick black Mangiamo food truck can often be found serving lunch in a parking lot at 3310 S. Yale Ave. (look for the sign with the giant yellow smiley face). A weekend night is likely to find Gillen serving up hot dishes outside Empire Bar, 1516 S. Peoria Ave., or maybe at Hodges Bend cafe and bar, 823 E. Third St.

This Saturday the man in the truck can be found outside of Shrine, 112 E. 18th St., to feed concertgoers. To find him anytime, check Facebook, Twitter and Google Plus for mangiamotruck and his schedule.

… serving at Mangiamo?

We’re serving meatballs, with pasta and a red sauce in a bowl or in a meatball sandwich. That’s been our No. 1 seller. Then there’s the penne alla vodka (tube-shaped pasta with a tomato-basil cream sauce, with vodka added in during the cooking process to change the acidity of the tomato) that has also been a favorite. We have sausage and peppers with a red wine sauce, with red and orange peppers and mushrooms and onions. There are lasagna rolls and baked ziti, and we’ve got sausages for sandwiches.

… using for your recipes to create the dishes?

They range from four generations old when it comes to the meatballs to a recipe that’s only a couple of years old when it comes to the penne alla vodka sauce. But they all have an origin going back to my mother’s family back East. She’s retired in Florida now.

… finding to be the advantages of operating a food truck?

I’m finding this to be a neat way for a person to provide a good product to the public in a more economical way. The start-up costs are more affordable (than opening a restaurant) to offer something that is “fast food,” but food that is more of a restaurant quality. On my truck, everything I serve is made from scratch.

… seeing from a customer standpoint, as to the curiosity of food truck service?

Younger people just come right up and order. They are just so used to seeing food trucks; it’s become part of the culture. With an older crowd, they ask more questions, and some of them leave and come back later. It’s interesting.

… finding to be the challenges of operating a food truck?

So far it’s trying to determine how much food to have on hand for a lunch crowd. The good thing is that I can eat Italian food constantly. No worries there. If there’s too much left over, I know that I’m going to eat well.

… doing when you want a cold adult beverage?

Oh, I go to the Empire. We’re a bit of a soccer-obsessed family (his three children play, and so does Gillen with Tulsa Hotspur Football Club), and Empire is a great place to watch soccer, which is kind of rare for Tulsa. It’s a soccer-friendly bar, and I like that.

… eating when you don’t cook at home?

El Rancho Grande over on 11th is where the kids send us. My wife and I love the Wild Fork. Love the lamb chops, and if we’re there in the morning, I love the breakfast hash.

http://www.tulsaworld.com/scene/article.aspx?subjectid=455&articleid=20130328_455_WK3_CUTLIN943842

There will be four food trucks serving lunch and dinner at the Bass Bash Street Fair at Third Street outside the BOK Center.

The downtown fair opens at 11 a.m. Friday through Sunday.

But the food trucks – Dog House, Lone Wolf, Mr. Nice Guys Tacos and Rib Crib – will open for lunch at 11:30 a.m. Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

The same trucks will be open at 6:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday, said organizer Justin Orcutt.

Okie Tone Records will have a stage at this years Bassmaster Classic featuring 10 of the regions top local bands and solo artists Friday and Saturday in a heated tent outside the BOK center.

http://www.tulsaworld.com/blogs/post.aspx?Four_food_trucks_team_up_for_the_Bass_Bash_Street_Fair_/22-19142

 Saturday: Food truck festival

The Eat Street Food Truck Festival will be in the Blue Dome District from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Saturday. The event is being hosted by Arnie’s Bar and The Dog House at Second Street and Elgin Avenue.

The trucks will offer foods ranging from Mexican to Vietnamese, Greek and Japanese cuisines, and other favorite street food fare such as hot dogs, pizza, tacos and tamales.

Live music, kids activities, a small farmers market and local art vendors will also be part of the event.

Saturday, Sunday: Guns and more

Wanenmacher’s Tulsa Arms Show will be at the QuikTrip Center at Expo Square from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday and 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday.

More than 4,100 exhibits of firearms, knives, swords and accessories will be on display and for sale. General-interest exhibits will include wildlife and Western art, bronze work and jewelry. Actor and artist Buck Taylor will be the event’s celebrity guest.

Admission is $10 for adults and $3 for children, or free with a new NRA membership.

For more information, visit tulsaworld.com/armsshow.

Saturday, Sunday: Hafli fundraiser

Hafli, the annual fundraiser at St. Antony Orthodox Christian Church, continues through Sunday. The event includes a Lebanese dinner, bake sale and deli. Hours are 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Saturday and noon to 3 p.m. Sunday.

The church is at 2645 E. Sixth St., west of the University of Tulsa, at Sixth Street and Columbia Avenue.

Meals are $15 for adults and $5 for children 12 and younger.

Saturday-Monday: Veterans Day activities

Several events are scheduled throughout the weekend in honor of Veterans Day, which falls on Sunday.

On Saturday, Tulsans are invited to attend a fly-in from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Tulsa Technology Center’s Riverside Campus, 801 E. 91st St. The fly-in will feature World War II veterans in war-era planes.

At 7 p.m. Sunday, the Tulsa Praise Orchestra will hold a concert at Kirk of the Hills, 4102 E. 61st St.

Tulsa will hold its 94th annual Veterans Day parade at 11 a.m. Monday in downtown Tulsa.

Saturday: College football

All three local teams play conference games and two play at home. Tulsa, however, is on the road as the Hurricane looks to remain unbeaten in C-USA play, battling Houston at 4 p.m. The game can be seen on CBSSN-249 and can be heard on KRMG am740 and fm102.3. The Sooners host Baylor at 2:30 p.m. on FSOK-27. Radio broadcast is on KMOD fm97.5 and KTBZ am1430.

The Cowboys welcome West Virginia at 2:30 p.m. The game can be seen at KTUL-8 and heard on KFAQ am1170.

Saturday: Philbrook

The Philbrook Museum of Art’s Second Saturday runs from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. this weekend at 2727 S. Rockford Road.

The museum schedules the free event the second Saturday of every month and schedules a host of family-friendly activities, tours and scavenger hunts.

On display right now at the museum is the Models & Muses exhibit, which runs through Feb. 3. The exhibition showcases American modernist Max Weber’s work in figure painting and is the first solo museum show on the artist in two decades.

For more information, call 918-749-7941.

Saturday: Jackson Browne

Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee Jackson Browne will perform 8 p.m. Saturday at The Joint inside the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Tulsa, 777 W. Cherokee St., Catoosa. Doors open at 7 p.m.

Tickets are $60-$70, available at tulsaworld.com/hardrockcasino, the venue box office or by calling 918-384-ROCK (7625). All patrons must be at least 21 years old.

The singer-songwriter is well-known for hits dating back to the 1970s, including “These Days,” “The Pretender,” “Running on Empty,” “Take it Easy” and “Somebody’s Baby.”

Sunday: College basketball

The Danny Manning era at the University of Tulsa begins Sunday, and Oklahoma is also at home. The Hurricane opens its season at 7:05 p.m. against LSU-Shreveport at the Reynolds Center. Tickets and concessions are half-price and fans will receive a TU basketball T-shirt. Call 918-631-4688 for tickets.

The Sooners host Louisiana-Monroe at 2 p.m. at the Lloyd Noble Center. For tickets, call 800-456-4668. The game can be seen on FSOK-27.

http://www.tulsaworld.com/scene/article.aspx?subjectid=668&articleid=20121110_11_A2_CUTLIN770152

The regulars approach the gaping window of the truck-turned-traveling kitchen and order with confidence.

But the curious first-timers linger back a few feet, close enough to read the menu, yet far enough to avoid immediate contact. “I didn’t even know this was here,” they say, while looking at the food truck like it’s an alien space craft.

Yes, food trucks have landed in Tulsa. And there are signs of a growing invasion.

Tulsa’s first food truck festival rolls out in September.

Local restaurant veterans Lola Palazzo and Teri Fermo have joined the food truck phenomenon, dishing out their upscale offerings. Andolini’s Pizzeria will hit the streets with its truck in the fall.

Paella. Gourmet hot dogs. Bahn Mi. Oh, my.

“I think it’s easier to convince people to eat out at food trucks here than it used to be,” said Mitch Neely, owner of the Grub Truck and organizer of the upcoming festival. “My goal is to serve good food to people so it does not really matter if they are eating out of food truck or not.”

A city database shows 86 mobile food preparation trucks in Tulsa, according to Jeffrey Bollinger, licensing and revenue processing manger for the city.

About one-third of the trucks are mobile extensions of restaurants such as Billy Sims BBQ, Brownie’s hamburgers and Subway sandwiches, the database shows. The remainder are the more traditional free-roaming food trucks – a trend that started, in Tulsa, with taco vendors.

The Tulsa Health Department inspects the trucks, and the city licenses them and collects the revenue from the $145 annual fee that’s shared with the county, he said.

A 2011 task force tackled the legislative loose ends, including concerns about trucks that open regularly on private property. Their work resulted in Tulsa’s new food truck law published Nov. 21.

It was Tulsa’s first step toward becoming a food truck-friendly city.

Other cities – like Chicago – continue to try to find a balance with the established brick-and-mortar restaurants. The trucks can operate there, but chefs can’t cook and prepare food onboard.

Meanwhile, food trucks are flourishing in places like Austin, California and the Pacific northwest.

‘A rude awakening’

Country music filled the air around Teri Fermo’s purple custom-painted food truck, Jezebel, when Judy Driesel walked up to order. It was just after noon in downtown Tulsa, and Driesel was craving some of Fermo’s international cuisine with Latin, Asian and French influences.

“Normally I don’t eat at these places,” said Driesel, who works nearby. “But I come here at least once a week. I am excited. I wish she had a permanent place here. Her food is awesome.”

Fermo, owner of Bohemia, Movable Feast Caters, sharpened her chef skills at the Culinary Institute of America. Watching Fermo work with several cooktop burners blazing in Jezebel’s kitchen is like having a seat at the chef’s table in a trendy restaurant – without the seat.

“Every time I put on Motown, people flock,” Fermo said, adding that she also cooks to Latin music and “old-school jazz.”

Last year, Fermo moved to Norman with the hopes that feeding the hungry fans at football games would make food trucks as popular there as they are in Austin, another college town.

“On game day, we sat for 10 hours and made $139. It did not even cover the gas,” Fermo said. “That was a rude awakening. And we were right there a block from the stadium.”

In contrast, Fermo does quite well at the Cherry Street Farmers Market on Saturday mornings. That’s where she catches up with the clientele she’s cultivated in 20 years of restaurant business in Tulsa.

Her food is catching on downtown, where a steady stream of customers have found her on Third Street near Boston Avenue about two days a week. Some of her specialties include sweet potato fries with Parmesan cheese and truffle oil, Drambuie-marinated brisket tacos, and fried grilled cheese.

“With food trucks, everybody does it. They buy one thinking they are going to make a million, but there are so many things that you have got to do,” Fermo said. “We have been going downtown for three months now, and it just started taking off.

“You can’t just go somewhere a couple of times and expect people to flock. If you say you are going to be there, be there.”

From her experience, she thinks Tulsa is more food truck-friendly than Cleveland County, where they had more restrictions and requirements. But she also understands the need for communities to regulate this new food frontier.

“I don’t think that they knew what to do before,” Fermo said. “It wasn’t established. It was something new.”

‘Easier to find us’

Mitch Neely’s Grub Truck is one of the newcomers to Tulsa’s food truck scene. When he is not dishing out chorizo tacos, Champagne onion rings and linguine mac, Neely has taken a leading role to encourage the growing food truck community.

Neely is organizing the food truck festival at the Tulsa Air and Space Museum on Sept. 29-30. He also administers the Tulsa Food Truck Facebook page, a place where he hopes trucks can connect with one another and their customers.

“What is one more thing on my plate if it helps my business?” he said. “I just hope that it attracts more and more people and they are looking at it and know what is out there.”

At this stage, Tulsa’s food truckers seem to be pulling together for the common goal, he said. Suggested gatherings, such as the festival or a rumored food truck court, have been well-received.

“So far, everyone has been pretty cool. Some have the mentality that if you get everyone in one spot, people will know where we are and it is easier to find us,” Neely said. Yet there are still challenges, he said.

“That is the only really negative thing I have come across, is some people wish there was more public parking for food trucks,” Neely said.

In cities where food trucks flourish, they have portal kitchens, Neely explained. They’re sort of like the mother ships where the food trucks go after hours for maintenance, cleaning and restocking.

“The food trucks come and pay rent and store their stuff there, wash dishes things like that,” Neely said. By law, the trucks must have a commissary kitchen for these purposes, but a centralized location would be helpful, he said.

‘Starting to come around’

Tiffany Poe plans to premiere her new food truck at the festival in September, yet it’s hard to imagine how the busy Pawhuska mother of three can squeeze another project into her schedule.

Poe owns her own food consulting and styling company, Tiffany Poe Culinary Services, with clients that include The Pioneer Woman, Food Network and Food Network Magazine. She just opened the historic Grandview Inn Bed and Breakfast in Pawhuska. And she’ll be writing a family-focused food column for the Tulsa World on Mondays, starting in September.

But, like many caterers, she looks at the food truck as a way to simplify her schedule.

“We do a lot of catering for the foods sets and for the Food Network crews,” Poe said. “So we thought that if we had a food truck our lives would be a whole lot easier.”

And her partner in the enterprise wants to cater to the late-night crowds at entertainment districts, providing Poe’s food that is influenced by French, Mediterranean and Vietnamese cooking.

Poe’s long-term goal is to bring a true, “pop-up” restaurant to Tulsa via food truck.

First and foremost, Poe considers herself an educator, having been a former chef instructor, most recently at Platt College. And it’s education that’s needed to draw customers to the trucks.

“Out in Los Angeles, there are food trucks on every corner from sushi to crepes, you name it,” Poe said. “And Oklahoma is often about 10 years behind. It takes some breaking out of the comfort zone, but people are starting to come around.”

Food truck tracking

Here’s how to follow some of the food truck vendors we talked to.

Facebook:
Bohemia: Moveable Feast Caterer
Grub Truck

Lola’s Caravan
TulsaFoodTrucks

Twitter
@GrubTruckTulsa
@ChefFermo

We want to know about your favorite food truck.

Email nicole.marshall@tulsaworld.com or call 918-581-8459 with locations.

Food truck festival

Inaugural event organized by Grub Truck owner Mitch Neely

When: Sept. 29-30

Where: Tulsa Air and Space Museum

Contact: grubtrucktulsa@gmail.com

For more information on the event or Tulsa’s food trucks scene, go to tulsaworld.com/foodtrucks

http://www.tulsaworld.com/scene/article.aspx?subjectid=39&articleid=20120823_39_WK1_CUTLIN355157

He can move wherever he wants to, but he says there are problems being mobile.

TULSA, Oklahoma — Can you change the way people eat by cooking out of a trailer on the street? Steven Plant believes he can, and he has some hefty credentials and a big dream to do just that.

Steven serves braised short ribs, chicken tacos, Asian wraps and more out of a food trailer. He is in the second year of his experiment operating out of a trailer, selling five star food on wheels.

“I went to Culinary Institute of America,” Steven said.

He seems over-qualified to be doing street food, but he says there’s a freedom to cook what he wants the way he wants to cook it.

“I’ve built a fan base that enjoys my food,” he said.

Breakfast tomorrow, short ribs for lunch. He can move wherever he wants to, but he says there are problems being mobile.

“There are so many variables that play into what’s going on with this,” Steven said.

If his generator quits he has no power. A flat tire – he misses his spot. The income is spotty because he has no regular location, people have to find him

“Is it exciting being young, and courageous enough to step out on your own to try to make a name for yourself? Yeah, it’s fun,” he said.

If there’s a dream beyond that, it’s to change the way people eat. If that means healthier, well prepared street food – I’m in.

Steven caters. He’ll bring his trailer to your party. He’ll teach cooking to you and your friends, and you can find him easily him on Facebook and Twitter.

http://www.newson6.com/story/15563266/tulsa-chef-serves-5-star-food-on-wheels