NoVA’s Mobile Kitchens

Curbside Cooking Near You

by Mai Nguyen

Beach Fries Food Truck

If you feel like the food trucks cruising by your office window have been multiplying like bunnies, you may be right. We counted 17 food trucks that have been released into the jungle that is Northern Virginia for hungry foodies to prey on since January, including:

@gotbeachfries Very few people make big decisions from a television show, but that is exactly what Eddie Crosslin did after watching Food Network’s “The Great Food Truck Race.” With the help of his wife, Kim Crosslin, the couple founded Beach Fries, LLC, a bright orange food truck busily crisscrossing Fredericksburg that specializes in Southern cuisine. Their most popular dish is “Capt. Sid’s Crab Cake Sandwich,” a grilled crab cake made from lump and back fin crab meat, topped with lettuce, tomato and red onion, wedged between two hearty buns and served with Eddie Crosslin’s homemade spicy and addictive remoulade sauce.

@sinplicity1 Seven years after their original ice cream café closed, chef Leland Atkinson and his partner, Alex Schriefer, have launched the Sinplicity Ice Cream Truck (a spin-off of Sinplicity Catering). Atkinson makes all the gourmet ice creams and sorbets that the truck dispenses from scratch. One of the truck’s most innovative treats is the “Sinwich,” a wheel of ice cream or gelato encased between two large macaroon cookies. Atkinson hopes to use the “Sinmobile” to experiment with new flavors as well as scout a possible brick-and-mortar location for a dedicated ice cream shop.

@SweetFleet LLC Having fallen in love with their wedding cake, John and Tiffany Cox decided to hire seasoned baker Jason Reaves—a Culinary Institute of America grad, Market Salamander alumnus and ex-”Food Network Challenge” contestant—to help with their food truck. Reaves bakes red velvet and carrot cake cupcakes for the pink truck daily, but he also mixes it up with special limited flavors. At the end of the day, Sweet Fleet, LLC donates all unsold cupcakes to the Arlington Food Assistance Center.

Food Truck Timeline

MARCH 2011
Maple Ave Express resumes service (@maple_ave_147)
Top Dog Truck debuts (@topdogtruck)

APRIL 2011
Beach Fries, LLC
debuts (@gotbeachfries)
Doug the Food Dude debuts (@dougthefooddude)
Dylan’s Downhome Food Truck debuts (@dylansfoodtruck)

MAY 2011
Scoops2u debuts (@scoops2u)
Sweet Fleet, LLC debuts (@SweetFleetLLC)

JUNE 2011
BBQ Bandidos goes AWOL (@bbqbandidos)
Capital Empanadas debuts (@capempanadas)
La Petite France cart debuts (@lilfrenchcart)
Pure Pasty cart debuts (@purepasty)
Shit Truck goes AWOL (@Shit_Truck)
Sinplicity truck debuts (@sinplicity1)
Solar Crepes retires (@solarcrepes)
The Bratwurst King 2.0 debuts (@bratwurstking)
Tortuga Truck debuts (@tortugatruck)

JULY 2011
Red Hook Lobster Pound
enters NoVA (@LobstertruckDC)

Coming Soon
Seoul Food (@SeoulFoodDC)
Willie’s Po Boy (@WilliesPoBoy)

(September 2011)