{"id":12200,"date":"2017-08-17T08:59:09","date_gmt":"2017-08-17T12:59:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.beverly-hanks.com\/blog\/?p=12200"},"modified":"2017-08-17T08:59:09","modified_gmt":"2017-08-17T12:59:09","slug":"asheville-food-trucks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.naibeverly-hanks.com\/blog\/asheville-food-trucks\/","title":{"rendered":"Asheville\u2019s Food Truck Frenzy: Meals on Wheels"},"content":{"rendered":"

It all started with 12 lunches.
\n\u201cI was painting trim underneath this desk in this office building,\u201d Jeremiah Jackson said. \u201cAnd the secretary was complaining about how they couldn\u2019t get 12 meals made and delivered there. So, I popped my head up and said, \u2018I can do it.\u2019\u201d
\nAnd it was this simple interaction in 2013 that led to Jackson creating the Farm-to-Fender food truck<\/a> in Asheville. Jackson, with an extensive culinary background as an executive chef, was working construction and landscaping to pay the bills. He wasn\u2019t finding his ideal outlet for his passion of food and cooking. But, with that small start of 12 lunches, his orders and customers spiraled out from there. Now he has two food trucks, the catering company, and a cafe\u0301 of the same name.
\n\u201cAfter that, I\u2019d get another gig, and from those events, I\u2019d book more jobs,\u201d Jackson said. \u201cEvery time we were feeding people, the people wanted more. And that\u2019s when we decided to start the food truck.\u201d
\n <\/p>\n

\n

\u201cThis is an eccentric area with all kinds of different people interested in different things, and food trucks provide that kind of atmosphere.\u201d \u2014Chris Cogswell <\/i><\/h2>\n<\/blockquote>\n

 
\nOver the last few years, dozens of food trucks have sprung up in Asheville and greater Western North Carolina. Parked at local breweries, sporting events, outdoor music venues, or simply at some open lot around the corner, these mobile hotspots are a growing trend in the culinary scene, one that seemingly has no end in sight.
\n\u201cIt\u2019s putting high-quality, restaurant-style food out of a tin can,\u201d said Chris Cogswell, co-owner of the Appalachian Chic food truck<\/a>. \u201cThis is an eccentric area with all kinds of different people interested in different things, and food trucks provide that kind of atmosphere\u2014from deli sandwiches to carnival food to every kind of ethnic cuisine you could imagine.\u201d
\n\u201cEvery truck has their own personality,\u201d Jackson added. \u201cYou\u2019re tasting the personality of that chef and of the distinct and delicious cuisines.\u201d
\nCogswell estimated that since he launched his truck almost two years ago, there have been about 20 or so new vehicles on the scene. And with a city as welcoming and collaborative as Asheville, the saying \u201cthe more, the merrier\u201d really does ring true, especially in terms of the farm-to-table movement.
\n\u201cAll of our ingredients are locally sourced, with everything made from scratch,\u201d Cogswell said. \u201cThe influences with our sandwiches are southern-rooted, with our meats and veggies coming from farms around the area.\u201d
\nWith a name like Farm-to-Fender, Jackson also procures his ingredients (milk, cream, peppers, meats, potatoes, etc.) from local farms and producers.<\/p>\n

\"Asheville\u2019s<\/p>\n

El Kimchi co-owner Don Lee (right) and his food truck crew, which includes his wife (left).<\/span> <\/i><\/p>\n

\u201cWhen you\u2019re talking to me or any other of these executive chefs in these food trucks, you\u2019re learning about that farmer and their products that we directly talk with,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd with that, you\u2019re only three steps away from where your food comes from, and not thousands of miles away and shipped here in a freezer container.\u201d
\nA mainstay in the Asheville food truck scene is El Kimchi<\/a>, which is Korean-style barbecue with a Mexican flair (tacos, burritos, quesadillas). Bouncing around the city almost everyday, El Kimchi is in demand, and probably somewhere nearby.
\n\u201cOur mission is that the customers like what we\u2019re doing, that maybe it\u2019s something new that they\u2019ve never tried before,\u201d said El Kimchi co-owner Don Lee. \u201cPeople here are interested in trying new things, and they like it, which makes us very happy.\u201d
\nLee moved to Asheville from Seoul, South Korea, 11 years ago. His daughter had been an international exchange student in Western North Carolina, and Lee and his wife fell in love with the area.
\n\u201cWe just found the mountains here such a beautiful place,\u201d Lee said. \u201cMy wife was a chef back in Seoul, and I also worked in restaurants. When we came to Asheville, we decided to open the food truck and bring our favorite Korean foods to the people here.\u201d
\nThough Cogswell grew up just down the road in Brevard, Jackson found his way to Asheville from a whirlwind culinary excursion around the world that included stops in Charleston, SC, and New Zealand.
\n\u201cI like that I\u2019m taking ingredients from my backyard and making food that people enjoy. It\u2019s about sharing that love and passion with others,\u201d Jackson said. \u201cFor all of us food truck owners and chefs, every day is an adventure. Those mornings you hit the road with the mountains right in front of you\u2014it\u2019s living your dream.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Meals to-go from Farm-to-Fender (left) and Appalachian Chic (right).<\/span> <\/i><\/p>\n

 
\nThis post is adapted from our annual <\/i>Welcome to Western North Carolina magazine.<\/i> Click here<\/i><\/a> to read more online, or<\/i> click here<\/i><\/a> to order your own free copy.<\/i>
\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It all started with 12 lunches. \u201cI was painting trim underneath this desk in this office building,\u201d Jeremiah Jackson said. \u201cAnd the secretary was complaining about how they couldn\u2019t get 12 meals made and delivered there. So, I popped my head up and said, \u2018I can do it.\u2019\u201d And it was this simple interaction in… Read more »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":12201,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[28,2],"tags":[12,3,42,95,7],"class_list":["post-12200","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-buy-local","category-commercial","tag-asheville","tag-commercial","tag-local-food","tag-welcome-magazine","tag-wnc-businesses"],"acf":[],"featured_image":null,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.naibeverly-hanks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12200","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.naibeverly-hanks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.naibeverly-hanks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.naibeverly-hanks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.naibeverly-hanks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12200"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.naibeverly-hanks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12200\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.naibeverly-hanks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.naibeverly-hanks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12200"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.naibeverly-hanks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12200"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.naibeverly-hanks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12200"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}