I’m not talking about Roach Coaches, folks. Over the past few months I’ve seen stories about “Gourmet Food Trucks” on various Food Network programs. If you haven’t heard, they are generally run by former restaurant chefs, or even by accomplished home cooks who were done with their cubicles, who kissed their day jobs goodbye and took a chance on starting a new business on wheels. Mostly seen along the West Coast or in NYC, they all take a particular cuisine and serve it with a lot of heart from what look like delivery trucks with built-in kitchens. There is a Chowdermobile, Magic Curry Kart, Dessert Truck, and many more.
Well my friends, we have one in the Cleveland area! Dim and Den Sum is run by Chefs Chris Hodgson and Jeremy Esterly. They had the idea to bring Gourmet Food Trucks to our area, quit their jobs and went for it! (Not without serious thought and consideration, but still…wow…) They partnered up to start the process February 2010, and after dealing with some technical truck and griddle issues, got on the road early this month. They are very active on Facebook, so I highly recommend following them there for all the latest information on where they are parking.
Lucky for me, they came to Solon!!! They were at the Cleveland Clinic branch at Harper & Bainbridge Roads.
- Approaching Dim and Den Sum via Harper Road.
Usually the “supercooltrendyCleveland” things don’t venture out this far east, so I was a happy camper! In spite of the fact that I was working from home today recuperating from a bad case of strep throat, the antibiotics kicked in enough, and I was stir crazy enough, to hop into my car and have a taste! I had expected to find a parking lot filled with doctors and nurses from the clinic, but instead found it filled with chefs from the Nestle Plant next door. I guess I shouldn’t have been surprised.
- Not a great pic, but you see all the white chef coats to the right…
I would love to bring them back this way, either to my company’s parking lot, or better yet my husband’s office lot as he is on a busier end of the street. If that happens, I’ll happily volunteer to contact as many offices, warehouses, etc. down Harper/Cochran as possible. There are a lot of people hiding out in these big, windowless buildings here. They just need a heads up!
Cuisine? They focus on creating dishes from locally sourced food (they specifically mentioned West Side Market), but they do seek out unique ingredients from places around the country. Chef Esterly mentioned a special miso mix for cole slaw he gets from a friend, but as I mentioned I’m all filled with antibiotics and such, so without a notepad, any details sadly slipped out of my head. After reviewing their menu today, I would call it super fresh, unique approaches to comfort food. The dishes at first glance are very familiar (BLT, cole slaw, hot dog, taco, tater tots), but they add creative twists that make them quite special. For example, they put mayo on their BLT, but it’s sriracha mayo, and the old school tater tots are served with Amish cheese curds. Here was today’s menu:
PBLT- Local pulled pork, thick cut bacon, sriracha mayo, tomato, local lettuce – $6
JJang Dawg – Local dawg, vinegar slaw, smashed tots (meaning tater tots), bbq, pulled pork – $5
Chick-wich – Chicken confit, bacon/horsey sauce, caramelized onions, Maytag blue cheese– $6
Shortrib Taco – Local shorty, corn relish, teriyaki glaze – $2.50
Fish Taco – Seasonal fish, sweet corn succotash, slaw – $2.50
Salad o’ the Day – Goat cheese vinaigrette, local asparagus, local tomatoes, market greens, almonds – $5
Tots – tater tots with Amish cheese curds, truffle salt – $2.50
I had the PBLT and it was wonderful!
- PBLT YUM!
The pulled pork was different than I am used to. It wasn’t shredded, and was not saturated in any sort of barbecue or vinegar sauce. It was slow-cooked tender, and looked to have only been gently pulled from the bone as there were more sliced pieces than shreds. I’m guessing there was a savory dry rub involved rather than a marinade. The bacon was crisp and very thick cut.
Lettuce on a sandwich for me (and I think to restaurants) is usually a throw-away option. If it slides off, it slides off, and often I’d rather it not be there at all. But in this case it was crunchy, dark green lettuce that tasted like it was fresh from someone’s garden. And I would like to know where the heck they got such flavorful tomato slices this time of year. All was piled on a soft, sesame bun with the sriracha mayo that offered some tang and a just enough heat to satisfy my spicy food neurons. I had an upset stomach today and was a little worried about taking on something so complex, but I think it just tasted so good that my mouth told my stomach to just shut up.
Tonight they are going to be at the Flying Monkey in Tremont from 10:30 a.m. to 2 a.m. I have a feeling that is going to be a wonderfully busy spot for them. If I felt better, that would be dinner. But I think I’m back to ginger ale and crackers for the moment.
xo
en