Again with the trucks
If 2010 has shown us anything, it’s that the food truck is not a flash-in-the-pan phenom.
Carrboro, which has enjoyed the mainly Latino fare offered for many years, has recently experienced the same kind of diversification of mobile eateries as Durham, a town where the occasional food truck rodeos draw scores of vendors of wide variety.
If you’ve been in downtown Carrboro lately, you may have noticed the lines growing longer at the latest addition to the local fleet – this one devoted to those mini-burgers known affectionately as sliders.
Slippin’ Sliders, a burger truck business run by Josie Shrum and Amy Davis, has been steadily developing a following since starting weekly visits to Carrboro this fall.
Davis, a 1998 graduate of Chapel Hill High who went through Alamance Community College’s culinary program, said business has been brisk at the truck whenever they open up at their regular weekend spot in the parking lot of Cliff’s Meat Market.
The pair buy all their meat from Cliff’s and their vegetarian fare from the State Farmers Market near the truck’s home commissary in Raleigh.
The menu is varied and includes occasional specials like shrimp po-boys along with a variety of sides for the sliders. Davis says the Carrboro crowd has been partial to the West Coast Burger, which is a combination of ground brisket and sirloin served with bacon and a Cajun remoulade, and the Diablo Burger, which features, among other things, caramelized jalapenos.
Davis and Shrum are scheduled to slide back into town this Friday, starting at the “Velveeta†art opening at Wootini Gallery and then heading over to Cliff’s for the duration of the evening.
As with many of the mobiles, you can keep up with Slippin’ Sliders’ schedule through Twitter, at twitter.com/slippinsliders
Border provocation
In the ongoing touting of the glaring food truck imbalance between Carrboro and it’s larger neighbor directly to the east, there’ll be another Food Truck Showcase in the parking lot of Al’s Garage in the border region between the two downtowns.
Featured at the Dec. 4 showcase will be Captain Ponchos Tacos, Parlez Vous Crepe, Carrboro Raw and an Indian food truck. The event runs from 4 to 7 p.m.
NYT hearts RTP (again)
Congrats to Sam Suchoff and Chapel Hill’s own The Pig for getting a big kiss of ink as part of the recent “Axis of Cool†article in the New York Times Magazine.
The article, one of the Gray Lady’s many recent nods to the food and arts cultures of the Triangle, also touts the awesome goodness of Only Burger, the much-loved mobile burger-and-fries operation that opened a stationary location in Hope Valley Square in mid-November.
Sausage wagoneers
Carrboro’s own Jennifer Curtis, who has been an organizer in the farm-to-fork movement, has started a new enterprise called Farmhand Foods, with the aim of connecting local livestock growers and food lovers of the Triangle.
And, yes, a food truck is involved, specifically a “Sausage Wagon†serving handcrafted sausages. The wagon makes its debut at 3 Cups on Dec. 9 from 5:30 to 8 p.m. serving sausages paired with seasonal wines. Visit farmhandfoods.com for more info.
Small farmers get a break
Put a parenthetical “maybe†after the above headline, but there’s at least some hope that the new food-safety legislation won’t be the nightmare for small growers that many have anticipated.
Sen. Kay Hagan’s office recently announced that the North Carolina Dem has been able to win approval for an amendment to the legislation, which aimed at strengthening the Food and Drug Administration’s ability to conduct food-safety inspections and conduct product recalls. Under the amendment, small producers will continue to be regulated at the state and local level. It applies to small producers who earn $500,000 or less in annual sales and sell most of their food directly to consumers, local restaurants or retailers within a 275-mile radius or within the same state.
The bill still has to be reconciled with a version passed the U.S. House early last year.