Meet the Organizers: Katherine Tam

We’re nearly ready to announce the details of our first event of the season, but in the mean time, we’re happy to say that our What the Truck?! team has expanded! We’ve welcomed three new faces to our organizing committee, and over the next few weeks, we will be introducing each of them.

First up, Katherine Tam:

Katherine

1. My day job is…

I work for a couple of trucking companies doing the accounting and helping run the offices.

2. Why did you decide to get involved in What the Truck?!

I have been a fan of What the Truck for awhile and absolutely love the energy it brings to Edmonton and wanted to be a part of it.

3. What is one of your favourite local food truck items?

Drift’s pork belly sandwich! I tried it at Taste of Edmonton a few years ago and starting following them everywhere which eventually lead me to a What’s the Truck event so you can say it was my “gateway” food truck item.

4. What is one type of food truck cuisine you’d like to see served curbside in Edmonton?

Dim Sum!

5. What about the food truck scene are you most looking forward to in 2015?

Looking forward to all the new trucks.

Meet the Trucks: Phat Tony’s

I hope everyone is just as excited as we are for the 2015 Food Truck season to kick off! While there are already a few trucks out and about, our first official What The Truck?! event is just weeks away! (More details to come)

In the meantime, we want to feature some new faces/trucks to What The Truck?! each week leading up to our first event. We’ve sent out some questions to get to know a little more about these trucks. First up, Phat Tony’s!

Why did you start a food truck?
I have a passion for cooking and making people happy through new tastes and new ideas. I have owned several restaurants over my life time and decided that I would like to take the food to the customer rather than having them come to you. There is also the social aspect of meeting customers from all over the city and province that may never come to my restaurant cause it isn’t in their neighborhood or city.

What kind of food do you serve?
Our food can only be described as comfort food. We serve everything from homemade pot pies to ooey gooey gourmet grilled cheese sandwiches and scratch made Cream of Tomato Soup. This year we will be featuring daily and a weekly specials to give our customers a chance to try our new and exciting dishes.

Who can we see on the truck?
Well you will definitely see Anthony our chef and most times he will be accompanied by his family at the window or prepping behind the scenes. Having a large family allows for us all to work together to make this a true family adventure.

Where will you be serving?
We will be serving in all areas of Edmonton with our main spot being along Jasper Avenue. Hopefully you will be able to catch us at some of the great upcoming festivals that Edmonton offers each year and also our local Farmer’s Markets.

What makes your truck unique?
What makes us unique from some of the other trucks in Edmonton is we are a fully family run business. Everyone helps, from my young 8 year old boy to my partner’s 15 year old girl. We also strive to use as many local ingredients and products as possible in the preparation of our food.

What is your favourite item on another food truck that is not your own?
My favorite item came last year from the Swich Truck at What the Truck. It was a Root Beer Braised Pork Sandwich. I have to give honourable mention to the Little Village Food Truck for their incredible Eat More Bar.

Country that inspires you the most (in terms of food)?
Italy!! Their use of simple fresh ingredients produces someof the best food in the world. Everything from fresh pasta to crispy pizza pies always tends to make my mouth water.

What do you hope to see or get out of the 2015 season?
I hope to see lots of customers (LOL). Truthfully, being new to the Food Truck community I hope to get to know the other owners and learn from them what it takes to be successful in the Food Truck culture in Edmonton.

IMAG0378

What the Truck?! is Recruiting!

If you love food trucks and attending food events and have thought about getting involved to become more than an attendee, then you might be interested in joining the What the Truck?! organizing committee!

What the Truck?! at Churchill Square

We’re looking for a few additional members to pitch in with the coordination of our 2015 season and beyond. Some of the responsibilities include:

  • Liaising with food vendors
  • Event planning
  • Assisting with event promotion, primarily through social media
  • Day-of site setup, troubleshooting and clean-up
  • Management of online presence
  • Coordinating volunteers
  • Working with partners and sponsors
  • Financial management

While the festival season for us runs May through September, we’re already in planning mode. The time commitment is approximately 5-10 hours per month in February to April and 15-20 hours during festival season.

If you’re interested, please send us an e-mail by March 4, 2015 with answers to the following questions:

  1. Why do you want to join the What the Truck?! organizing committee?
  2. What skills and experiences can you offer the team?
  3. Have you ever been to a What the Truck?! event? What suggestions do you have for us?

Someone will be in touch with you after March 4.

Thanks for your interest!

Recap: September 12, 2014 – What The Truck?!

We’d like to thank everyone who made it out to our last and biggest event of 2014! Despite the gloomy weather, it was great to see many people enjoying themselves.

15072386788_cf9ea09843_z

For our final event this year, we decided to go big or go home. With the closure of 99 Street, we were able to include eight more trucks along that street. This really helped to ease any lineups and increased options for the attendees.

15072263700_086e2560a0_z

With so many trucks to choose from, we created a site map with all the trucks’ menus for patrons to print and bring to the event. It was great to see many people taking advantage of this!

15255916321_17d03aa95a_z

This was the first big event for many trucks new to What The Truck?! this year: Funky Mango, Dedo’s, Jackie O’s, Moose on the Run, One Cool Cookie, and Jimmy Poblano’s to name a few.

15258970685_2a3c70fe42_z 15255884451_8e4678cb3d_z 15072167999_130574e36e_z

We’d like to sent a BIG thank you to everyone who helped make this event happen:

For past and present What The Truck?! attendees, we’d like to hear your feedback! Please fill out our survey so we can continue planning and creating more enjoyable events for you.

That’s a wrap for 2014. See you all next summer!

September 12, 2014 What the Truck?! Final Details

Our final event of the season takes place in mere hours! With 25 trucks, the most we’ve ever had in the history of What The Truck?!, we hope you’re planning to come hungry.

What: What the Truck?! at Churchill Square
Where: Sir Winston Churchill Square Edmonton
When: Friday, September 12, 2014
Time: 4-8pm

RSVP on Facebook!

You may have already looked at the menu post, but we know that’s a lot of information to digest. To make it easier to scan what’s available and to find the trucks in and around the square, we’ve put together a downloadable menu and sitemap!

wttsept12menuTo make the most of your time at What the Truck?!, have a look at our FAQs and our Tips & Tricks.

You can enjoy all the great games and other activities in the square, and DJs Thomas Culture, Chesterfield and The Hugonaut will be on hand that night to set the tone – get ready to party!

Be sure to tag your photos on Twitter or Instagram using #whatthetruck and follow us at @whatthetruckyeg.

We hope to see you there!