Lessons from Churchill Square

As you know, we saw record crowds at our 2015 Kickoff Event in Churchill Square on May 23. We’ve received a lot of response, both positive and negative, and wanted to take this opportunity to address some key concerns that were raised.

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Why was the event only one day, and four hours at that?

We usually plan our events to be on one specific day, and our standard operating hours are four hour increments. This allows us to have time to properly load the trucks into the space we’re using and get everyone set up, once the streets have been blocked off for our use. However, we heard from many of you that you’d like to see the event span over two separate days in the future, especially given the popularity of the first event of the season! The four hour event also allows the trucks to serve the food that they’ve prepped; anything longer would require a reload period which at this time, we’re unsure how to navigate without a break in the event. The trucks can only physically hold so much, so this issue is a constant challenge.

Continue reading “Lessons from Churchill Square”

June 14, 2015 What the Truck?! Does Brunch on the Boulevard

Some of the feedback we’ve received in previous seasons pointed to a desire for more themed What the Truck?! events. So we’re delivering, with Brunch on the Boulevard!

What: What the Truck?! at Capital Boulevard
Where: 108 Street & 99 Avenue
When: Sunday, June 14, 2015
Time:11am-3pm
RSVP on Facebook!

This will be an opportunity to not only explore some of the new features of Capital Boulevard/108 Street, but also to check out the new Centennial Plaza, behind the newly-renovated Federal Building. If we’re lucky, the fountains might even be on for us! The Legislature and Visitor Centre will also be open from 9am-5pm, with free tours offered during that time. Come for brunch and a history lesson!

Centennial PlazaPicture by Chris Vander Hoek

We’ll have fifteen trucks on hand that morning, all of which will be serving up at least one brunch-inspired item. The participating trucks are:

We’ll be releasing the menus next week, so stay tuned!

We’re also fortunate that DJs Thomas Culture and Polyesterday will be joining us that day! Check Thomas out on SoundCloud.

Meet the Trucks: Spice Rickshaw

Continuing with our Meet the Truck series, this week we are featuring a new Indian truck – Spice Rickshaw! You may have had the opportunity to try their delicious Indian food at our first even in May.

Why did you start a food truck?
We are a farmers’ market vendor selling frozen food. We are a permanent feature at most farmers’ markets around Edmonton area selling frozen Indian and Thai food. We have been inundated with requests from our lovely customers who want to enjoy our food warm and piping hot. After 3 years of doing farmers’ markets, we decided to take the plunge into serving hot food and filling the peoples’ appetite for tasty and delicious Indian street food.

What kind of food do you serve?
Indian street food: Not limited to Pao bhaji, Kabab parathas, chaat (also called Indian nachos by certain members of my family).

Who can we see on the truck?
Main person will be Renu, she is the big boss, food gourmand and the matriarch. She will most likely be accompanied by Connor, he recently named himself the Creator as he built Spice Rickshaw from ground up. We will also have our lovely support staff helping along the way.

Where will you be serving?
We are a brand new truck, we are hoping to stick to our roots and be found primarily at different farmers’ markets around Edmonton and different festivals as well.

What makes your truck unique?
Our whole team loves food, love to eat different foods, love to share food. In Indian culture, food is how people share love. We love to incorporate delicious Alberta ingredients with our creativity and tradition to bring memorable meals to peoples’ plates.

What is your favourite item from a food truck that is not your own?
Breakfast paninos from Dolce and Banana. We love to devour their Paninos every Saturday morning at the City Market. In our books, Ernesto’s paninos = perfect Saturday morning.

If you had to fuse to completely different cuisines together, what would they be?
Ukrainian and Indian: nothing tastes better than fluffy potatoes perishkes with butter chicken.

What do you hope to see or get out of the 2015 season?
At the WTT events, our goal is to introduce the complex flavours of Indian street to the Edmonton food scene. Indian food that is currently available in Edmonton is very monotone and just from one province from Indian, we hope to familiarize Edmontonians to delicious flavours that exist outside the realm of “curries”.

Upcoming What the Truck?! Dates

Some of you may have picked up postcards with our upcoming What the Truck?! dates when you were lining up at a truck on Saturday’s event. We have finalized the dates and locations of the remaining 4 What the Truck?! events of 2015. Join us for our next one at Capital Boulevard for Brunch!

  • Sunday, June 14 @ Capital Boulevard (108 St, 100-99 Ave) from 11AM-3PM 
  • Friday, July 10 @ Northlands from 5-10PM
  • Saturday, August 22 @ Telus Field from 4-8PM
  • Friday, September 11 @ Churchill Square from 4-8PM

Mark these on your calendar! Details for each event to come.