Get your passports ready because my Street Food Friday post (which was posted today – oops) this week is showcasing a truck from the lovely city of Vancouver.
During my Vancouver vacation in August, I was shocked at the number of food trucks in the downtown area. It seemed like one was on every other street corner! In fact, that’s how I found the food truck I’m showcasing today. I literally ran in to it while turning a corner (likely because I was so distracted by the line of people waiting for the fresh made food.
Unlike Chicago food trucks, Vancouver (and almost all others) prepare the food on-site so it’s fresh and hot. Yes, this is a drawback for Chicago trucks, whose food sits in warmers, but it’s better than nothing. And I was MORE than happy with my first authentic food truck experience. Here’s the lowdown.
Name: Fresh Local Wild
Twitter handle: @freshlocalwild
Website: http://www.freshlocalwild.com
What is it: Started by Chef Josh Wolfe, Fresh Local Wild is a carbon negative mobile restaurant. Yes, there is SEATING! The truck operates on a high efficiency diesel generator (instead of gas) using 100% vegetable oil. This supports it’s overall message of sourcing food as much locally as possible so customers know where their food is coming from and enjoy the variety of great local seafood available to them.
What I ate: To be fair, I wasn’t looking for food when I stumbled up on this truck. I just ate lunch and another food truck (which will be featured at another time) and was full. But when I saw the awesomeness of this truck, I had a second lunch. And then I was REALLY stuffed. Although everything looked good, I kept it simple, salmon fish and chips.
It was recommended by Chef Wolfe and combined two things I love, different takes on traditional foods and memories of Friday fish fries in Wisconsin. Traditionally, the fish and chips I’ve had is white fish but with Chef Wolfe’s strong recommendation, salmon it was, with some fresh cut fries.
What else is on the menu: Because the proteins are sourced locally, the menu changes, but when I visited, there was a great variety of fried seafood, salads and sandwiches. Here’s what was on the menu when I visited.
No lie, I was really bummed I missed the oyster sandwich. I mean, come on, that sounds amazing.
Verdict: This was some of the best street food I’ve had, in any city I’ve been in (sorry Chicago). The salmon was perfectly cooked, fries were delish and it tasted amazingly fresh, just what I wanted. Now that I’ve had salmon fish and chips, I don’t think I can look at it with whitefish again. The breading wasn’t heavy but the crunch with the salmon was nice and since I was getting a little homesick, it was nice to have something that I traditionally eat at home and really enjoy.
I waited it out for a seat at the small dining area too, which gives perfect view in to the kitchen. The cooks were really nice and talked to me for an hour about food, the food truck scene in Vancouver vs. Chicago and great meals that we’ve had. Chef Wolfe joined me for a bit too and talking to him about food was a lot of fun.
I’m bummed that I won’t be able to visit the truck again for a while but it recently recorded a segment for Diners, Drive Ins and Dives which may air in December. I will definitely be watching for that.
Update 10/11: I’m so daft, I completely forgot to tell everyone, check you the other Street Food Friday posts from Doni (Portland), Gretchen (Austin) and Lacey (New York).
