The truck stops here: secret gathering of gourmet vendors Friday

The hot food story of the summer is the success of the gourmet food trucks and carts, which we predicted in our June 3 cover story. So far, we've seen trucks from Steuben's, Deluxe, Paris on the Platte, WaterCourse Foods and the Denver Biscuit Company, in addition to such gourmet...

By Patricia Calhoun

July 28, 2010

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The hot food story of the summer is the success of the gourmet food trucks and carts, which we predicted in our June 3 cover story. So far, we've seen trucks from Steuben's, Deluxe, Paris on the Platte, WaterCourse Foods and the Denver Biscuit Company, in addition to such gourmet carts as Biker Jim's, the Gastro Cart, Comida, Streat Chefs and Pinche Tacos. And the Cupcake Truck, of course.

Although the trend was slow to arrive in Denver, it's taken off quickly in the last few weeks. "If I had more time on my hands, I'd be building trucks," confesses Josh Wolkon, the driving force behind the Steuben's truck. "It's happening."

And it will really be happening on Friday, when many of these enterprises will converge in a still-secret spot. "Almost all the trucks and high-end vendors are working together at least for a launch event," says Wolkon. "We're all going to pop up at the same place at the same time. It will be our own version of the Portland pod."

Portland, Oregon, is one of the real hot-spots in the mobile-food world, with official pods of vendors popping up around town. In Denver, where most of the organized action has been confined to farmers' markets, we'd be happy to see just one such mobile mashups.

For details of the Friday event, stay tuned to the Twitter and Facebook accounts of your favorite trucks/carts. And to the Cafe Society, of course.

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Patricia Calhoun is editor-in-chief of Westword, the alt-weekly she co-founded in September 1977. She’s been inducted into the Colorado Press Association Hall of Fame, the Association of Alternative Newsmedia Hall of Fame and the Colorado Restaurant Association Hall of Fame. She’s also received dozens of local, state and national awards for writing, including first place for feature writing and first place for column writing with the Society of Professional Journalists. Patricia is a weekly commentator on Colorado Inside Out, PBS 12's public affairs roundtable, which has won two Emmys.

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