TRAVELERS REST, S.C. – The city of Travelers Rest will host a “Food TRuck Rodeo” on Friday, May 3 and Saturday, May 4 on S. Main Street along the GHS Swamp Rabbit Trail.

The event will feature local mobile food vendorsAsada, Chocolate Moose, Neue Southern, and Pies R Squared.

A goal of the Food TRuck Rodeo is to position downtown Travelers Rest as a destination for dining and recreation, according to organizers.

“The city is always eager to welcome new visitors to experience Travelers Rest,” said City Administrator Dianna Turner. ”This is a great opportunity to have people come check out the food truck trend and us at the same time.”

Vendors will be located at the municipal parking lot at the corner of S. Main and Church Street. Event hours will be from 5 to 9 p.m. on May 3 and from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. on May 4.

http://www.trtribune.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=6098:travelers-rest-to-host-food-truck-rodeo&catid=42:rokstories&Itemid=219

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Spring is finally here. We know this not because it’s warm and the pollen has our noses running and eyes watering, but because the Charleston Farmers Market returns. In addition to farmers selling herbs, produce, and flowers, the market has more than 30 food vendors, selling everything from Vietnamese tacos (Street Hero) and produce smoothies (the Foodie Truck) to fried chicken (Yardbirds) and baguettes (Baguette Magic). So prepare to eat early and often. We called some vendors to find out what they have on tap for Saturday. Read ‘em and drool.

Outta My Huevos is a favorite food truck because they serve breakfast fare and know how to make a killer plate of huevos rancheros. Local slow-cooked farm eggs are served with a crispy tortilla, truck-made chorizo, red peas, saffron rice, salsa fresca, and cilantro lime crema ($8). For tomorrow’s opening, they’re also featuring a from-scratch English muffin crammed full of the best breakfast sandwich ingredients, like house-cured Canadian bacon, sunny Sea Island Eggs, and American cheese ($5). Besides that, they always have a vegetarian option. Sometimes it’s empanadas, and sometimes it’s a frittata, but it’s always made with local veggies from Ambrose Farms.

If it’s something to drink you’re craving, Cannonborough Beverage Company will have their famous sodas made fresh from local produce. This Saturday, they’re offering three flavors: cucumber ginger, honey basil, and grapefruit elderflower. You can snag a 12 oz. soda for $3, or get really serious with a 32 oz. growler. It’s $4 to buy the container, and $10 to fill it.

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Charleston Gourmet Burger Co. returns to the market with their fresh burgers

Charleston Gourmet Burger Company will be grilling up made-to-order burgers and selling bottles of their all-natural, gluten-free burger marinade ($8). One bottle makes 24 burgers. Their Signature Charleston Gourmet Burger is made from either grass-fed Colorado beef or farm-raised turkey with cheddar cheese ($5). Make it a combo, and get a bag of chips and church tea, a mixture of tea and fruit juices, on the side ($7).

Cajun Café Tippeneaux serves traditional New Orleans fare, and they’re bringing back the catfish po’ boy made with Mississippi-style, buttermilk-soaked fried catfish. It’s topped with lettuce, tomato, and remoulade sauce, and served with Zapps potato chips in true Louisiana fashion. They also serve shrimp, oyster, and roast beef po’ boys, and they’re all $8. If you’re wanting breakfast, they can hook you up with beignets and a cup of Community Coffee’s Chicory New Orleans blend for $5. They’ve also got a cold press to serve your coffee iced.

And here’s a new vendor that’s sure to become popular: Dottie’s Amish Inspired Whoopie Pies. Chef Angela Harshbarger was raised in Pennsylvania’s Amish country where the whoopie pie originated. She’s using her grandma’s recipe to bring the sweet treat to the Lowcountry. Traditional chocolate, red velvet, and chocolate chip will be offered Saturday ($4). Look for seasonal flavors in the near future, because we’ve heard she’ll be using local produce to serve up blueberry and pumpkin whoopie pies, too.

http://www.charlestoncitypaper.com/charleston/eat-this-tonight-huevos-rancheros-po-boys-and-whoopie-pies/Content?oid=4607173

Gorilla Fabrication specializes in building out Custom Food Trucks. Mobile Eateries, Catering Trucks and Beer Trucks. Check out the masterpiece below that was built for Coastal Crust based out of Mt. Pleasant, SC in the Charleston area. Whether you want to outfit your food truck with a full commercial kitchen or you need to add on to an existing food truck, Gorilla Fabrication has you covered. Tons of options that can make your custom food truck dream come to life! We’ll get you on the road in style with all the comforts of your own restaurant. If you are thinking about joining the food truck phenomenon that is sweeping the country, you have found the perfect company to build your custom food truck and mobile eatery. We have recently built trucks for the likes of Jim ‘N Nick’s BBQ and Kickin Chicken. If you’re ready, fill out the quote form here.

http://gorillafabrication.com/commercial-food-trucks/

Tanger Outlet Center in North Charleston will feature a food truck event April 13-14.

Celebrity chef Curtis Stone will host a live cooking demonstration and sign autographs from 1-3 p.m. April 13 while gourmet food trucks will be set up 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. both days.

The Taste and Style event at 4840 Tanger Outlet Center Blvd. will feature live music both days, a cooking demonstration by Chef Miles Huff of the Culinary Institute of Charleston at noon April 13, kitchen collection demonstrations both days, spring fashion event at 2 p.m. April 14 and door prizes the same day.

Customers are also eligible to win a three-day and two-night trip to Los Angeles where the winner and guest will dine with Stone at the famed Beverly Hills restaurant, The Boulevard, in the Beverly Wilshire Hotel on May 20.

The winner will also receive a $1,000 shopping spree at Tanger Outlet. Entries for the sweepstakes can be submitted from Monday through April 28 on the Tanger Outlets website or at a Tanger Outlet Center.

For more details, go to http://www.tangeroutlet.com/charleston/events/4.

http://www.postandcourier.com/article/20130328/PC05/130329246/1268/tanger-outlet-to-offer-food-truck-event-april-13-14&source=RSS

City promises to work with public on proposed ordinance

GREENVILLE, S.C. —After announcing proposed food truck regulations that would essentially keep the vendors out of downtown Greenville, it appears the city’s stance is softening.

Despite chilly temperatures Wednesday night, hundreds of people were in The Owl restaurant and its parking lot, where Neue Southern, Asada and Chocolate Moose served from their food trucks.  The bricks-and-mortar restaurant hosted the rally to encourage the city to reconsider the proposed regulations.

Aaron Manter, co-owner and chef at The Owl, said, “The night was an absolute smashing success on every level. It bordered on becoming a full-on festival. All of the trucks sold out of food, and we had perhaps the best Wednesday we’ve ever had while ‘competing’ with the trucks directly in our lot. Some extremely talented chefs dropped everything on their plate and charged down from out of state to show support for the cause. They weren’t making a paycheck — they did it because we asked and they’re our friends. Much like us and the trucks. Symbiosis.”

The proposed ordinance that led to the rally would allow food trucks downtown, which until now was off limits. But the trucks would be restricted to parking only on private property and must stay at least 250 feet from stand-alone restaurants.

“Regulating a town that is supposedly going to be the new foodie town of the South doesn’t seem along the lines with everything the magazines have been saying lately,” said Kensey Boyd.

City leaders say they want to be clear they are pro-food trucks, and the ordinance is likely to change as the City Council gets more input from consumers and businesses.

“This is an evolving process, but we are thrilled about food trucks,” said Council member Amy Ryberg Doyle.

The city says it’s also looking at ways to promote food trucks, and encourage more to come to Greenville.

The city plans to hold a workshop on the food truck proposal and once it receives more feedback from the public, the Council will vote on a revised ordinance.  That’s expected to happen in late spring.

Manter said, “I just hope we raised public awareness and elevated some discourse on the topic of trucks. The task force says they studied other town’s laws, but most cities are in a perpetual war with trucks. I hope that Greenville can stop looking to sub-par models of truck regulations and be innovative enough to be the town that other cities emulate.”

http://www.wyff4.com/news/local-news/greenville-news/Hundreds-rally-City-now-says-food-truck-rules-likely-to-evolve/-/9654794/19308568/-/9m77q5z/-/index.html

GREENVILLE, S.C. - A Greenville restaurant has planned a “peaceful protest” Wednesday to support food trucks, in the wake of proposed regulations for the mobile businesses.  The Owl, located on Wade Hampton Boulevard, is calling the event the “Food Truck Revolution.”  Hundreds of people have accepted invitations to the event on the restaurants’s Facebook page.

The protest comes in light of a new proposal that would allow the trucks in Greenville’s downtown area, but keep them at least 250 feet away from existing restaurants.  The proposal was made by a committee, formed by the city several months ago to look at the new industry.  “We’re excited they’re here,” says city council member Amy Ryberg Doyle.  “But at the same time we need to be fair to those restaurants who have made an investment downtown, and need to protect that investment.”

Scott Lariviere, who just opened up his own restaurant downtown, can understand the concern.  “It’s a tough business,” he says.  “I have absolutely no problem with people trying to make their money, but I don’t want them to do it at my front door.”

Lauren Zanardelli, who is co-owner of the Neue Southern food truck, believes there’s room for everyone.  “It’s one of the reasons we came to Greenville, because we saw so much potential here,” she says.  “We have no problem with regulations, but just believe everyone should be involved in the conversation.  And there should be some middle ground.”

The food truck fight is nothing new.  The city of Asheville faced the same debate more than a year ago, and finally agreed to allow the mobile eateries, but only inside a private parking lot.  City commission member Michael McDonough says Asheville did not even consider a “distance rule” like Greenville because it might have been “too tough to enforce.”  The plan has worked out so well, the city is now considering allowing removing the cap on how many food trucks they’ll allow, so more can move in.

Doyle says Greenville’s rules are far from set in stone.  The food truck committee will consider the proposed regulations, craft an ordinance, then hopefully present it to city council by late spring.  “We are confident this can work,” says Doyle.

Zanardelli is hopeful too.  “We would really like to expand, and hope downtown can be part of that.”

The protest will be held at the Owl, at 728 Wade Hampton Boulevard, from 5:30 to 10:30 Wednesday.

http://www.wspa.com/story/21632336/protest-planned-to-cook-up-support-for-greenville-food-trucks

Food trucks are relatively new to Greenville, but these mobile restaurants have been adding flavor and vibrancy to other cities for years. They could do the same for Greenville if the city can find a reasonable way to let them coexist with existing restaurants.

As Greenville fine-tunes a set of proposed rules for food trucks, it should look for ways to let the Upstate’s small — but, we hope, increasing — number of food trucks operate in harmony with the varied and dynamic downtown restaurant scene.

The proposed rules come from a city task force and they were just recently presented to City Council at a recent work session. It’s likely the proposal would undergo some revision as the council debates them and comes up with a final ordinance governing food trucks. As City Council members do so, they should keep in mind that part of downtown’s success is its diversity, and allowing food trucks to operate more freely near the central business district could add to the flavor that variety has created.

Local restaurants compete with one another all the time. Food truck owners convincingly argue that they, too, have made a substantial investment in their operations. The owners of the Neue Southern food truck recently mentioned in an interview, and in a video you’ll find with this editorial at GreenvilleOnline.com, that they had invested significant amounts of their own money in their operation. The city should be careful not to enact restrictions that would inhibit food trucks’ opportunity to succeed as legitimate businesses.

Competition between food trucks and brick-and-mortar restaurants should be allowed to occur with some limitations. That’s especially true given the logistical problems of having food trucks parked on Main Street that is relatively narrow and carries a large volume of traffic that moves slowly during peak times.

But rules should not be overly restrictive. And some in the task force’s proposal would be.

For instance, one proposed rule would prohibit food trucks on private property from being any closer than 250 feet from an existing restaurant. That would all but bar the trucks from downtown. Also, prohibiting the trucks from any public property except during special events when they have special permission could be a bit too restrictive.

Downtown Greenville is an inviting and exciting urban landscape. The latest trend of gourmet food trucks could offer another food option to the many people who roam downtown during the weekday lunch hours and on the weekends. Again, having a food truck parked on Main Street could pose a traffic obstruction, but what about one of the streets that intersects Main or runs parallel with it? How about considering a food truck parking area on a street that’s near the central business district where these trucks can do business during lunch hours?

Greenville has spent a lot of time and taken much care in creating a downtown that has become the gathering place of the Upstate and is nationally revered as a successful city center with one of the South’s best restaurant scenes. That success needs to be protected. If competition is a concern for some of the restaurants that have made downtown successful, the city could consider limiting the number of permitted food trucks so the market is not over-saturated. That would be preferable to saying the trucks do not have place in our vibrant downtown. But there should be ample evidence about the how much intersection there even is between food trucks and established brick-and-mortar restaurants.

As they debate these rules City Council should listen closely to what the food truck operators have to say and carefully balance it with the concerns of the established downtown restaurant owners.

These are not our fathers’ food trucks; they’re not hot dog carts or ice cream wagons. They represent a hip new urbanism that appeals to younger workers and is associated with cosmopolitan cities such as what Greenville is successfully striving to be. Food trucks are increasingly prevalent in many cities, and Greenville should find a place for them.

The rules that were proposed by the task force would require food trucks to have a city business license, proof of liability insurance and a DHEC food inspection report, according to a recent story ineGreenville by reporter Lillia Callum-Penso. Those are reasonable requirements given that the food trucks are legitimate food service businesses.

But city leaders should ease up on the other proposed requirements. City Council should find a way to let the food trucks serve customers in downtown Greenville. Restaurant owners often welcome the synergy that is created by clusters of establishments in an area — it’s part of the recipe for the success of downtown Greenville’s restaurants. Providing yet dining option for city residents and visitors — especially a hip one like food trucks — would seem to augment that synergy rather than detract from the fine restaurants we already have.

http://www.greenvilleonline.com/article/20130312/OPINION/303120005/Editorial-Give-food-trucks-place-city

Background image courtesy TimothyJ, flickrContr

GREENVILLE, S.C. —An event hosted by an avant-garde Greenville restaurant in support of food trucks is expected to draw hundreds of people and will feature guests chefs from out of state.

The Owl restaurant on Wade Hampton is hosting what they describe as the “peaceful protest against the new food truck regulations.”  The event was planned after the Greenville City Council made public plans to prevent food trucks from parking within 250 feet of existing restaurants, essentially banning them from the downtown Central Business District.

The event has picked up momentum since The Owl posted an open invitation on Facebook.  By Tuesday afternoon, nearly 300 people had posted that they plan to attend.

The Neue Southern and Asada trucks will be at The Owl at 728 Wade Hampton Blvd. from 5:30-10:30 p.m. Wednesday.

Elliott Moss, chef at The Admiral in As heville, N.C., and Nate Allen, chef at Knife and Fork in Spruce Pine, NC., will be in The Owl’s kitchen with co-executive chefs Aaron Manter and Joey Fazio the night of the event.

The Owl will be selling from inside, but owners say “everything will be in our recyclable clamshell to-go containers and solo cups to encourage everyone to mingle. The one stipulation is liquor cocktails — those have to be consumed in the building by law.”

Those organizing the rally say the new food truck regulations are too restrictive and that no one currently involved with the trucks was asked for input or comments.

As things stand, Greenville Mayor Pro Tem David Sudduth says the city staff will share the proposed food truck regulations “with restaurant owners (particularly downtown), and then an ordinance would be considered by council requiring two readings,” so time for input from the community is running out.

For more information about The Owl, call 864-252-7015, or visit the restaurant’s Facebook page.

http://www.wyff4.com/news/local-news/greenville-news/Hundreds-expected-at-food-truck-rally-Guest-chefs-join-in/-/9654794/19286648/-/rbmjon/-/index.html

Lauren Zanardelli and Graham Foster are the owners of Neue Southern.

Restaurants may have customers, but food trucks have groupies. And no wonder: Gourmet food on the move, from sustainable local sources, and at reasonable prices? Bring it on. These mobile eateries — with their niche menus, tech-savvy chefs and an urban vibe — have hit the streets from coast to coast, in New York and Los Angeles as well as cities such as Atlanta and Charlotte. Now Greenville has its own growing mobile food culture, thanks to two gourmet food trucks that rolled in six months ago.

Chefs Lauren Zanardelli and Graham Foster opened their gourmet food truck, Neue Southern, in September, and often “dock” their truck in the parking lot near Community Tap at Stone’s Point. Neue Southern (Neue is German for “new”) specializes in European/Southern fusion. Zanardelli, who grew up in Pittsburgh, and Foster, a Greenville native, met at Johnson and Wales culinary school in 2011. Both interned in Michelin-star-rated restaurants in New York City, experiences Zanardelli describes as valuable but “brutal.”

After some soul searching at the conclusion of their internships, she says they had an epiphany: “If we’re going to spend 12-hour days, six days a week in kitchens, we wanted it to be our own. Especially when we already have our own ideas.” Foster noticed the streets in their East Village neighborhood were lined with food trucks offering some of the best food he’d tasted. Why not open a food truck?

While they’re fully mobile—and required to be driven to a commissary for cleaning and storage at the end of each workday — the low overhead of food trucks appeals to many chefs who want to run their own kitchens. “We looked at a lot of cities,” Foster says. “We considered Asheville and Charleston, but … found there were no food trucks in Greenville at the time.”

They soon discovered fellow food truck pioneers Roberto Cortez and Gina Petti had come to a similar conclusion. Cortez and Petti, who moved to Greenville from California, opened their food truck, Asada, in August 2012. Spanish for “grilled,” Asada specializes in gourmet Latin American food from San Francisco’s Mission District, where Cortez and Petti met.

When the couple visited Cortez’s brother, an airline pilot living in Greenville, “we loved it. We went back to our cramped San Francisco apartment and decided we wanted to move here,” Petti says. A fine artist and graphic designer, Cortez designed the food truck’s logo, website and branding. They started out small, Petti says, preparing their Latin fusion specialties in booths at Upstate food festivals. “People kept asking us where our restaurant was,” she says. A property owner in the Pendleton Arts District agreed to let them park their food truck on his parking lot across from Village Studios, where they now serve lunch or dinner several times a week.

They love being surrounded by art galleries and studios, Cortez says, and serve dinner on “First Fridays,” a gallery crawl when dozens of galleries open their doors to the public on the first Friday of every month. Street performers sometimes show up, Cortez says.

The chefs from both food trucks regularly collaborate, arranging certain dates to join forces for what’s known as a “rodeo.” Teaming up, Foster says, draws more diners who appreciate the opportunity to order from both menus. Like most gourmet food trucks nationwide, Neue Southern and Asada rely on social media to announce such events as well as their weekly locations and specials.

Neue Southern’s menu changes with the availability of local ingredients, and includes such dishes as sustainably wild caught North Carolina flounder fillet with collard greens and pommes frites tossed in a smoked pimento BBQ rub. When the couple traveled in January to Asia, “we basically ate our way through Vietnam, Japan and Hong Kong,” Foster says. They came back with ideas for dishes to add to the menu.

Both couples say they would like one day to open brick-and-mortar restaurants but will keep their food trucks rolling. After all, in addition to made-to-order meals, food trucks are known for bringing something else to their customers: a sense of community. The friends they’ve met though the order window, and who meet each other, are what makes their 12-hour days worthwhile, the chefs say. “I love that we have such a variety of customers,” Petti says. “Men in suits and ties, nurses, artists, families.” Cortez adds how pleased he is to see diners network: “I see them eating lunch and exchanging business cards.”

Zanardelli says she’ll never forget one of Neue Southern’s most rewarding nights: “We had 12 gentlemen who chose us for their monthly sit-down dinner. They set up a dining room table with a tablecloth right there in the parking lot. I was so tickled. It was the best.”

http://www.greenvilleonline.com/article/20130307/ENT/303080006/Food-truck-scene-finds-unique-vibe-arts-craft-beer-fans

Owners of Neue Southern Lauren Zanardelli and Graham Foster, along with employee Jared Crane, serve up lunch in the parking lot in front of Community Tap on Wade Hampton Boulevard on Tuesday, October 23, 2012. / MYKAL McELDOWNEY/Staff

How to regulate food trucks and how to balance food truck owners’ needs with those of owners of brick-and-mortar restaurants remains a much talked about issue in Greenville.

Greenville City Council revisited its November 2012 initiative to examine local food truck rules at a work session this week, where the task force developed to examine the issue presented some recommendations. The group of business leaders, City leaders and restaurant representatives kept most things the same – prohibited from any public space unless part of a permitted event.

New proposed regulations include no alcohol service, a City business license, proof of liability insurance and DHEC food inspection report and a requirement of a $500 annual permit fee.

Food trucks would not be allowed on City-owned property including parks and plazas unless approved as part of a permitted event.

On the issue of appeasing local restaurateurs, the task force recommended a 250-foot distance between a food truck and the door of a lawfully licensed restaurant during business hours. The number was based on regulations in other cities in the region, said Beth Rusch, Greenville special events manager.

Also important will be communicating with food truck owners about any new regulations that are passed, said Angie Prosser, the city’s director of public information and events.

“What we discovered through all the research is there is a lot of miscommunication out there about what is allowed and what is not allowed,” Prosser said. “So what we hope to do once we pass the ordinance is make sure the new potential food truck vendors know what they can’t do”.

The next step is to take the regulations to local restaurant owners as well as food truck owners, Prosser said, before presenting an official ordinance later this year.

http://www.greenvilleonline.com/article/20130305/BUSINESS/303050070/Greenville-City-Council-presents-new-food-truck-regulations