On Food Trucks: Starry Kitchen LA

Do we need dedicated food trucks? Meaning, that is, do we need a truck that is 100% devoted to one business and one concept?

Food trucks have a lot more overhead than you might initially think--a tricked out modern truck can cost will north of $100K, sometimes as much as $200K or more. Plus there's gas, insurance--not to mention the actual food cost itself. Permitting is a little bit easier than a restaurant, but that's about it.

And competition is steeper, not only because you're competing with dozens of other high-end trucks, you're competing against the myriad lonchero trucks and street corner food stands. With most high-end trucks serving food in the $7-$10 range, they're also competing with hole-in-the-wall restaurants offering a sit-down experience for the same price. You're better off saving a bit more money, picking a good spot and opening up a brick and mortar restaurant. The food truck bubble will burst and it will burst soon.

So what, then, is the appropriate role of high-end food trucks in our ever-changing food world?

I think the Mandoline Truck and Starry Kitchen are on to something. Starry Kitchen, the modern Vietnamese restaurant that started as an illegal underground restaurant and has now gone semi-legit on Bunker Hill in Downtown LA, is taking a "residency" in Mandoline's slick Vietnamese food wagon for a few weeks. They're cruising around LA, slinging their specialties and promoting the hell out of their business.

A brick and mortar restaurant using food trucks as a promotional tool is genius, I think. If the restaurant is in business then the truck just needs to break even and if it brings even one new diner to the restaurant, it's a success. There's money to be made in someone investing in a small fleet of food trucks that he or she then leases out to restaurants and/or pop-up chefs (think Ludo) for short or medium term leases. Bring the restaurant to the people, promote your business and gather new customers.

The Starry Kitchen has some rockstar food and its food truck model was excellent. Like most successful trucks, they offer limited options in a couple different combinations. At the truck you have the choice of pork belly, curry chicken or fried tofu balls served either in a banh mi (Vietnamese baguette sandwich) or over coconut rice. And unlike almost every other food truck, the food came up very quickly.

I had the pork belly banh mi. The meat was delicious, flavorful, sweet and spicy, and sliced thin. The vegetables were interesting: sauteed more fajita-like than the fresh veggies I've had on past sandwiches. The only hiccup was the baguette, which was a little stale. I was envious of the chicken curry banh mi eaters dipping their sandwiches in the curry sauce. I also had an a la carte side of tofu balls. They're on to something here-- the balls are formed pretty small and then fried so they're crispy all the way through, not soggy in the middle like larger pieces of fried tofu.

I enjoyed the food quite a bit and the vibe even better--the Starry Kitchen team has a lot of fun and doesn't take itself to seriously--and I'll make a point to check out the restaurant itself. I guess you'd call that food truck a success.

LA only needs about 20 non-lonchero food trucks and just let a couple hundred restaurants use them over the course of a year. Those that do well can keep leasing them, those that do really well can buy their own, and those that only do okay will at least have gained a little extra business.

Starry Kitchen
350 S. Grand Ave.
Los Angeles, Ca 90071
www.starrykitchen.com
Twitter: @StarryKitchen