10 suggestions for Food trucks

I currently work in a place that is frequented by food trucks.  If you don't know what a food truck is, that's too bad, they are kind of fun.  They are portable food kitchens.  They drive up and open a window and suddenly you have some different fast food.  In dealing with food trucks there are doing do's and don'ts. Some things are obvious.  These are just things I've observed with the recent food trucks I've encountered.

- Simple pricing - Don't confuse people with the price of your food.  That end everything with 99 that you learned in school only works on stuff that you buy all the time.  In the case of infrequent and convenience pricing it's all about making the transaction easy.  Accept all kinds of payment and do what you can to make the price even.  If your food is around 8 dollars.  make it 8 dollars including tax.  If you can figure out how to make all of the items in your menu the same price, it makes peoples choice about what you are offering, not what is most cost effective.  Remember, whatever your pricing is, make sure it includes enough food that your customers end up FULL.  If your food is too fancy to have one serving fill you up, you need to add something that makes the meal.

- If you pretend there is competition there never will be - Even if you have no competition, you ALWAYS have competition.  This is the same for any business but when it comes to food trucks, there are some that seem to get all the action and others that don't.  Well if you are the only food truck that happened to show up at a place, that's the time to make your customer service SHINE.  People notice customer service particularly when there is no reason to treat your customer well because you have a micro monopoly on your service.

- Keep your ingredients in stock - If you offer menu items regularly on your truck, you need to keep that food available.  If you are famous for your doughnut bacon burger then make sure you have the donuts, the bacon, and the burger.  You don't want to be known as the truck that's pretty good if they have all their stuff.  That's not a reason to go out to your truck and buy food;  That's a reason to look at the truck and say 'I wonder if they have what I want to try'.  You don't want your truck creating that response.

- Be aware of your surroundings - If you are a pizza truck, don't set up next to a pizza storefront unless your pizza is both better and cheaper.  Burger trucks had better be ready for the BEST burger ever made by anyone.  large and worthwhile.  why?  Because you are competing with all the burger joints from here to Poughkeepsie.   I don't really understand a pizza OR burger truck.  We already HAVE THESE!  If you are building a truck make sure it's something exotic or unique to begin with.  There is no reason to compete with brick and mortar restaurants because you can be anything.  P.S. Sliders are just tiny hamburgers.

- Don't be afraid to use technology - Pulling up to a building, get a website and drape it on your truck before you are open for business and take advance orders. Keep your menu up to date on your website.  There is no reason you can't bring a couple of helpers to run food to the lobby or up to the floor of a building for an extra dollar.  Yes it's hard to get used to at first if you aren't adept at computers etc, but if you roll up and unfurl your banner with your website and it's got all of the information that people want you can actually see who is interested and who doesn't quite make it.  see what your retention is and it will help you serve your customers.

- Simple choices -  Anyone said that variety was the spice of life was absolutely correct.  the SPICE.  In fact I've often said, variety is the spice of life, but consistency is the meat.  We like what we like and we don't stray too far from that no matter what we say.  I've noticed a trend lately to 'embrace change'  I'm telling you to embrace consistency.  It's what will save you in the food truck industry.  If you have 2 things that tend to be your best sellers, don't mess with them, people love them.  You have 2 others that do ok sometimes but you have your personal favorites.  It's your grandmas favorite recipe for pickled possum tongue and you always loved it.  It's time to move on to some other things.  Always have an option that is your laboratory for your new best flavor.

- Some change is good, most isn't - If you have a food item like donuts that lend themselves well to different flavors, change those flavors often.  I know I just said not to change too much, but if we take the humble doughnut, the reason people buy doughnuts is because they enjoy fried sweet bread.  That's what they are coming for.  There is no reason to keep the same flavors all the time because they will encourage people to try new stuff.  This is best tried with dessert items and if you are a dessert specialty truck.  The formula is similar,  Keep your 2 best flavors and rotate others.

- Don't name your truck while drunk - Food trucks seem to have all gone to the Barbershop Quartet school of naming.  Clever puns and strange visuals don't sell like your food sells.  If you name your truck try to name it simple and easy to remember that's good enough.

- Remember the country you are selling in - build your truck right.  I've seen food trucks that have to go against traffic to bring their truck window to the side walk.  I can't believe I would even have to say this.  Unless of course you are buying a food truck bound for England when the buyer skipped on his purchase and they are giving it away for a great price.  Then bully for you.

- Products come before marketing - I knew 2 different food trucks.  One was called the Party Wagon and was colorfully painted and had a great screen painting job along with a punched out Mexican hat and maracas.  The food was something i could make in the microwave with some Lynn Wilson tortillas and some left over meat and cilantro.   The other was called the red food truck.  it was red.  It had one of the best beef sandwiches I've tasted.  It's a truck that I look out for and will go to every time it shows up.  I'm not sure how much it costs to make a Party Wagon, but I'm pretty sure it's more than what it costs to make a red trailer.

Just some of my observations with wild food trucks I have known.  Thanks for reading!

10 ways to get the best/most food at mass eatings.

As I get older I've found more and more that I am very tired of all of these diet ads and diet sites and food evangelists preaching to me about all of the evils I might be participating in just by eating what I like.  The is also the sense of propriety and etiquette that is for a more genteel set of people that you don't know and don't really want to associate with.   Since there seems to be no END of these fun killing sites, I offer an alternative.

10.  First in the Buffet line - Sure, this one seems obvious.  You get in first. You can get the first choice of everything.  Don't waste this precious gift.  You select the very biggest and best of each item.  You are breaking the food seal on each choice you make and you only have so much plate space to deal with.  You also have the benefit of finishing your food first so you can go back and get 2nd crack at 2nds.  Why second you may ask?  Read on McDuff.

9.  Last in the Buffet Line - This is a strategic move when you've come too late to vie for first.  You hang back and wait for all to go by.  This gives you a strange advantage because you may well get the next chaffing dish of food as many of them will likely be out.  Also, since everyone else has already taken their food and are merrily eating, you are at your liberty to take seconds during your firsts.  You also gain a very important advantage in the quality race because you can immediately see the things nobody else has touched v.s. The new items brought in implying that they are in fact the best choices to be made.  The only thing you risk is losing out in the quality battle on limited quantity.

8.  ALWAYS take the largest - When choosing cookies or any other single serving treat, your mom told you that you don't have to take the smallest, but you should take something in the middle.  This is a mistake. Take the biggest.  The next person that chooses will still have a biggest and a smallest to choose from.  In fact, by choosing the middle sized item, you are depriving some middle sized cookies the chance to feel like the big Kahuna on the plate.  Instead leaving the large cookie to dominate the cookie platter.  The only cookie that doesn't have a chance to be the biggest on the plate is the smallest one on the plate, unless it's the last on the plate.  That's pretty long odds knowing how many moms there are out there, but it's possible I suppose.

7.  Go for the corner edge! - You've got a pan of brownies that are being offered to you.  Brownies are a high density food so quantity is usually not an issue as you will be pretty full after just one.  When quantity isn't the point, then always go for quality.  The best of any non crusted pastry is on the edge of the pan, the corner preferably.  That piece has the perfect combination of chewy crunch, while the middle pieces usually suffer from being either under-cooked or just plain inferior to the edge piece.  Once you can identify the edge, grab it and don't apologize, you are in a group and SOMEONE had to get the corner piece, it should be you.  You deserve it.

6.  Bullseye! - In the world of sweet/cinnamon rolls, the rules are reversed.  Any time there is a frosted confection, the ones in the center are your obvious choice.  Now some would say that they don't like too much frosting.  This is the talk of the milquetoast.  Frosting, being one of natures perfect foods, can be used on any number of things to enhance the overall experience.  You grab the roll the most in the center of the arrangement because it will have the most frosting and it will be the most evenly cooked bread in the pan. You can skim off the frosting you don't need, and use it on something else, or not at all, it's all about options. An edge roll will likely not have sufficient frosting to cover it and you will end up with 1/2 cinnamon roll and 1/2 bread.  Nobody eats bread for dessert.  It just isn't done.

5.  Deep Ladle/Dragging the lake - Soup serving can be tricky, but if you know what you are doing you can dredge up a bowl of Chili for yourself while leaving your compatriots with salt water.  Without disturbing the surface of the soup pot, gently glide your ladle into the edge of the vat without unsettling the murky broth.  Slowly advance your ladle to the bottom and dig/drag a ladle full of soup bits up to the surface.  You will have a bowl full of all the stuff that makes soup great.  If it's some kind of creamy soup, there is no advantage to be gained.  if it's a simple broth, move along.

4.  Remember your 4 tasty additions - Sugar, Cream, Sour cream, Cheese.  One of these four horsemen of the Diet Apocalypse will make whatever you are eating more satisfying.  Always know where they are in the buffet layout as they will turn any dish into something better.

3.  Eat Strategically - Who doesn't like bread?  They say it's the staff of life.  Well it's a killer when you are trying to get the most bang out of your buffet dollar.  Always Always Always eat breads last, if at all.  You want to save the room in your stomach for the higher satisfaction index items like savory meats and sweet cream salads.  You can always make a sammich tomorrow.  This includes the all too tempting bread sticks and pizza crusts.  Unless the bread offerings are particularly delightful, your precious gut real estate deserves a higher class of occupant.

2.  But I don't want to feel too full - Quit being a PANSY!  You don't want to feel too full is the talk of LOSERS!  That full feeling is the feeling of victory!  You have an ally in the fight for gluttony.  Gum.  That's right gum.  One simple stick of gum after over eating will help quell those pangs of epicurean excess.  After you have eaten enough to wonder if you will choke sitting at the wrong angle, chewing on a lovely bit of gum will quell those feelings of satiety and you'll be just fine.

1.  By all means, TAKE THE LAST ONE - Whoever came up with this rule was just a food waster.  The idea that somehow taking the last piece of anything was bad is just silly.  If it's on a plate and looks good and you want it.  You are obligated to take it.  If you don't, someone else will.  Look at it this way.  By taking that last piece, you are sparing the rest of the crowd the ethical anguish of what to do with that last bit.




Now you are prepared to go forth to that Golden Corral, that Sizzler, that Neighborhood pot luck with confidence that YOU can be all you can be.  15 days away and I'll be here to play.

10 ways to utilize pancakes

I'm not a fan of Pancakes.  I am, on the other hand, a fan of crepes.  Pretentious?  possibly.  Elitist? Maybe.  For some reason I just don't like how puffy Pancakes are.  I can't eat more than 2.  Crepes on the other hand I could eat for a really long time.  YUMMMMM.  They are the same you say?  Clearly not.  But I don't mean to malign the poor pancake.  There are many uses for them.  Wait, I've got 10 right here!

10.  Concrete patch.  -  Yeah, the weather can be trouble.  Especially when you are in a temperate zone.  All that hot and cold going on really plays hob with the concrete and asphalt.  It's only a matter of time before potholes show up.  Whip up a batch of Pancakes and Bingo!  Smooooooth Drivin.

9.  Frisbee - How could this not happen?  Easy to throw, easy to catch, doesn't hurt if you miss and it hits you in the head.

8.  Simulated Eclipse - Hold up that bready breakfast against the sun and you can see the corona.  Perfect for picture taking.  Afterward add maple syrup and your corona block becomes a filling snack.













7.  Movie Manhole Cover - Remember in Superman II?  Those wierd disco clad goons from the negative zone broke out (thanks to an errant nuclear blast) to terrorize earth?  In one scene the bad chick (Ursula) chucked a manhole cover at Supes (The Late Christopher Reeves) and he got plowed.  Of course that cover wasn't real.  It was probably Styrofoam.  Well, pancakes are more biodegradable.

6. Invading Pancakes! - Speaking of movies.  apparently MOST sightings of UFO phenomenon are in fact linked to fraud.  GASP!  I really find that hard to believe.  But if you want to pile on.  Spray paint a pancake silver and chuck it while your friend takes a few pictures.  It will be so organic looking that all the fancy computerized analysis will not know what to think!  Congratulations, you have perpetrated the first flapjack based fraud.

5. Oil Spill?  No Problem - Have you noticed that pancakes don't let syrup pour over it until it is completely saturated?  I rest my case.  Those pancakes on TV don't count.  A.  that's not really syrup, B. Those aren't really pancakes. 

 
4. Coasters! - Unsightly rings on that coffee table be gone!  whip up a batch of smallish pancakes and laminate em! Well I'm sure you could make something like that out of some resin.  But in a pinch...maybe?  I guess not.

3.Cheap dinner meal.  -  So you've got a bunch of people coming over?  Whip up a batch of pancakes and bang.  They will be full in moments and you will not have to part with much green.  Unless of course you are offering REAL maple syrup.  YIKES that is some expensive stuff.  Of course you could just go with the traditional pancake for dinner...pizza!




2. Makeup for those fearing age.  - Everyone talks about pancake makeup.  I've never actually been exposed to much makeup.  So after doing some research, a pancake makeup is a foundation that covers like a coat of paint and is used for covering blemishes and more importantly Tattoos!  consequently it is completely NOT edible. 


1.  A serving plate for Bacon - Bacon is one of the great meats ever to be found in nature.  I'll probably come up with a bacon themed blog.  Many times pancakes are the bridesmaid to this meaty bride, and ever would it be so.  so how about a plate that looks like a pancake that you put your bacon on?  Perfect.




It has become obvious that this blog is getting harder to write.

See ya in 15.