Latin Farmer

Update: no longer in operation.

Puerto Rican native Wilfredo Manzano aims to bring a healthier version of Latin foods to the streets of Philadelphia with his lime green Latin Farmer food truck. We found him parked at Headhouse Square Farmers' Market on a recent Sunday, but he also pulls up to Love Park, Norris Square Farmer's Market, and Temple. Like most mobile eateries, it's best to follow their whereabouts on Twitter.
Using local foods when possible, Latin Farmer's menu is comprised of empanadas, bocadillos, collard wraps, hummus, and usually at least one dessert and special drink. Any truck in Philly that sells empanadas seems to sell out fast, and the same is true for Latin Farmer.

As a vegetarian, I would like to see one of the two empanadas, and one of the two bocadillos offered be vegetarian, but with such a short menu, I guess we're lucky that Latin Farmer offers a vegan collard wrap and hummus. And, that vegan collard wrap is excellent! Supple collard leaves envelope mofungo, a traditional Puerto Rican dish of mashed plantains and garlic, for a unique and healthy lunch. The sweet sugarcane stewed onions, and lively tomato chimichurri and citrus mojo really add a pleasant punch of flavor, elevating the plantain mash to a remarkable meal. Had I known a dollop of hummus and baked plantain chips came with the collard wrap, I would not have ordered . . .a side of hummus and plantain chips. While the side of hummus and plantain chips that comes with the collard wrap is just enough to satisfy the need for a little something extra with lunch, the side that you can order separately is probably best shared with another person.

Latin Farmer's hummus flavors change, and this day they had lima bean and saffron hummus hinting at a little spice and garlic, but, for my taste, was a tad too salty. It's nice to see healthier baked plantains, instead of greasy fried plantains.While I couldn't order a vegetarian savory empanada from Latin Farmer, I did get a pastelillo, which is essentially a sweet empanada. The tamarind and cream cheese pastelillo with orange-coriander crema and dulce de leche had so many flavors in the description, but all I could distinguish was cream cheese and dulce del leche. The pastry was perfectly crisped, but the overflowing pocket of cream cheese was just too much — another texture than goo filling the pastelillo would have been nice. The dulce de leche, while delicious, was flawed with gritty grains of sugar running throughout the sauce.

That mofungo collard wrap is quite marvelous, and I'd be eager to try a different version of their pastelillo the next time Latin Farmer rolls to a stop with their healthy Latin eats.

The Latin Farmer
@LatinFarmer

Portland: Food Carts

When most people think about Portland's food scene, they probably think of the city's plethora of food carts clustered together downtown and in surrounding neighborhood, wrapping around an entire block in some cases.



With about 20 or more in number, these Portland food cart "pods" (the name given to groups of food trucks) are wildly popular, even though they the locals are so over the hype. In fact, while we were in Portland this June, a local weekly rag, the Portland Mercury, could not help but have a cover story on Portland's food cart pods, even though they admitted that the entire city is tired of hearing about the subject.



Those who are looking for a good resource on Portland's food carts should check out the sites Food Carts Portland and Portland Food Cart Directory. I particularly found the Google Map made by Food Carts Portland very helpful (saved it to "my places" and accessed it through my phone) in locating pods.

The first pod we hit up was one of the larger pods downtown at 5th and Oak. The downtown pods cater to the downtown worker lunch crowd, and are disproportionately heavy on Asian and Mexican cuisine, compared to the pods in outlying neighborhoods which try to curate their food truck tenants to be more varied and "gourmet." First up in our food cart adventures was a Korean tofu taco from the Korean Twist - Boolkogi Taco cart at the 5th and Oak pod. Ugh, uncooked and unseasoned tofu! It doesn't matter how much slaw and spicy sauce you pile on bland tofu, it's just not tasty. Besides being bland, and also watery, this taco was instantly forgettable. Later, we heard from our friend that the burrito is the way to go. Oh, well. We then walked a few blocks over to the 9th and Alder pod, where I had my eye on Choza's Peruvian Food, because how often do you run across a food cart serving Peruvian street food?

I ordered the vegetarian Lomo Saltado, which is a classic Peruvian dish of sautéd vegetables, and French fries served over rice. Thank goodness for the garlicy green sauce in the little container to pour over this large container of mishmashed food, because there was nothing compelling about the sauteed vegetables (they were cooked well and fresh, though). The French fries were limp, soggy and grainy. Throw out the French fries (or top with good, crisp, handmade fries) and this dish would have been doable, but as it was, I only ate a few bites. I was saving room in my belly for banana pudding at A Little Bit of Smoke, a cart at 9th and Alder serving Carolina barbecue and sides.

Hot dang! We finally hit a winner. This was real-deal banana pudding made with homemade vanilla pudding, layers of banana slices and Nilla Wafers. Unfortunately, the whipped cream on the top was deflated by the time I was served this premade dessert, but A Little Bit of Smoke knew enough about banana pudding that you had to top it with Nilla Wafers right before serving so you can enjoy both soggy wafers (ones layered in the pudding) and crunchy wafers (ones on top). Couldn't have made it better myself!The next day, we did lunch north of the city at the Mississippi Marketplace food cart pod. This is one of the more carefully curated and "gourmet" pods with ten or so carts, which also happens to have a large tent (it often rains in Portland!) and dining area adjacent to the German pub, Prost!.One of the carts at the Mississippi Marketplace we decided to try was Garden State, a chrome trailer serving Sicilian-style street food.

Garden State's chickpea sandwich is a beast with a fried chickpea patty, roasted zucchini, lettuce, shredded carrots, and lemon aioli on a chewy ciabatta roll. The chickpea patty was too greasy for me, but this was the boy's meal and he could deal. Hot out of the fryer, the saffron risotto, mozzarella, and vegetable arancini was delectable. I had heard good things about Native Bowl, a cart at Mississippi Marketplace by blogger and cookbook author, Julie Hasson, that makes various types of vegan fusion rice bowls, so I knew I was eating here.

Oh man, am I a sucker for barbecue sauce and coleslaw! Native Bowl's Mississippi Bowl with barbecue Soy Curls, barbecue sauce, coleslaw, scallions and jasmine rice had my name written all over it. And I loved it! So much so, that when I got home I made a similar rice bowl.



You probably need a few years and some serious dedication to eat your way around Portland's food carts. I so dearly wanted to hit up Wiffies for their fried hand pies, as well as stop at the Potato Champion cart for their vegan poutine, and make it to one of the three FlavourSpot carts for a veggie sausage and maple syrup waffle sandwich. Unfortunately, I only had two days and a small stomach. Look's like I'll just have to visit Portland again!

Little Baby's Ice Cream

I'm screaming! Are you screaming?

Caught up with Little Baby's Ice Cream, one of Philly's newest mobile food purveyors — tricycle is how they roll — on their first day of business this past weekend at the Trenton Avenue Arts Festival. It was a busy weekend, as they then triked it on over to the Punk Rock Flea Market the next day.Little Baby's Ice Cream hand makes some tasty and eclectic ice cream flavors that make my frozen custard lovin' heart go pitter-pat. Flavors like cardamom caramel, balsamic banana, earl grey sriracha, bourbon bourbon vanilla, birch beer vanilla bean. They even make a vegan ice cream so all the kids can scream!!
I sampled a scoop each of cardamom caramel and vegan coconut tea. Oh, am I going to steal Little Baby's idea of cardamom ice cream with caramel ribbons running throughout! Creamy and dreamy. And the vegan coconut tea ice cream made with coconut milk was just as good and rich, albeit not as creamy, but that's just how ice cream without cream goes.To find out where Little Baby's Ice Cream is going to show up next, follow them on Facebook and Twitter.

La Copine

We dropped by the grand opening day of La Copine, a new food cart serving up brunch foods on the weekend in the corner patio lot of 2nd and Poplar Streets. La Copine is run by Nikki Hill (former sous chef at Barbuzzo) and Claire Wadsworth.

This corner lot and former spot of the shuttered Arbol Cafe is now home to Garden Variety, an open air market featuring food carts (weekend brunch by La Copine, dinner by a yet to be named chef, and late night snacks by Dapper Dog), a monthly supper club by La Copine, artists' flea markets, concerts, and commissioned public art projects. Sounds exciting!
La Copine was running out of Dapper Dog's cart on opening day, but they hope to shortly be in their own cart, which was parked in the back corner of the tree-shaded patio. Tables, chairs and tents were brought out to give the lot a feel of a pop-up cafe, and lend a little comfort to cart dining.
The small menu has a few of breakfasty items: breakfast sandwich, hash browns, and banana bread; and a few lunchy items: flatbread, arugula salad, and slaw. According to their menu, all produce is locally sourced and/or organic, and the cage free eggs and pork for sausage comes from Meadow Run Farm.

Iced coffee, French press coffee, iced herbal tea, hot tea, fresh orange juice and local soda are your beverage choices.The $5 Englich muffin breakfast sandwich comes with scrambled eggs, cheddar, and tomato jam, but for $7 can be upgraded with sausage or veggie sausage. I think you know which one we chose!

For $10 you can get the "special," which is a breakfast sandwich, hash browns, and iced beverage.

This is a pretty classic breakfast sandwich with just a little jazz from tomato jam. The veggie patty is made with a blend of various grains, mushrooms, and onions, and has a great, peppery sausage flavor.The $8 flatbread, which I was imagining as a grilled pizza, not 5 or 6 very thin, cracker-like chips we were served, comes with bleu cheese, figs, prosciutto, lavender honey gastrique, and mache. Obviously, we skipped the prosciutto!

The flat bread tastes great — you just can't go wrong with the combination of pungent bleu cheese, sweet figs, and tart vinegar reduction — but for $8 I expect something a bit more filling, or at least a price reduction for omitting the prosciutto.The $3 side of carrot and cabbage coleslaw is studded with golden raisins, and dressed with a curry spiced Greek yogurt. All of the ingredients combine for a very pleasant coleslaw without screaming curry, or yogurt, or sweet, or tart.

La Copine is a great addition to the growing food cart scene, and in a great outdoor location. Also in La Copine's repertoire are roving supper clubs, catering service and a prepared-foods line.

La Copine
209 Poplar St., Philadelphia, PA 19123
Saturday and Sunday brunch

Tacos mi Pueblito

Have y'all seen the silver Mexican food truck that parks near the corner of Washington Ave. and 8th St? I don't think I've heard nary a peep or mention of the nondescript, silver box truck hawking Mexican fare from the Philly foodie community. The truck's name is Tacos mi Pueblito, but is written so tiny on an advertisement poster that it's hard to find.

What caught my eye when I noticed the truck's appearance last fall is that the handwritten poster board menu plastered to the side of the truck expressly listed a handful of items as vegetarian. Failed lunch attempts last fall, then a miserable winter where no one would dare eat on the street kept me away, but I finally got on over to Tacos mi Pueblito a couple of weeks ago.On our visit the poster board menu had recently been ripped off the side of the truck unbeknownst to the owners, so when we asked what was available, they just pointed to the side of the truck. I had to tell them that their menu was missing, which is a shame because, besides wanting to post a photo of the menu, without a menu or the name of their business plastered prominently, it's hard to tell what they're selling. A week later, a new food menu had not appeared that I could snap a pic of, so I'm going on with the post. Just know that they sell standard Mexican fare — tacos, quesadillas, tortas, horchata, and Mexican sodas.
Vegetarian tacos are a corn tortilla piled high with refried beans, seasoned rice, lettuce, tomatoes, avocado, queso fresco, and crema with radish slices and lime wedge on the side. One of these is pretty filling.The vegetarian torta has the exact same fillings as the vegetarian tacos, but in even larger quantities. The toasted, soft sandwich roll is monstrous. Order a torta if you are starving.

Green and red salsas are available, and the green is their mild. The green is pretty hot, so we haven't even sampled the red, yet.

Tacos mi Pueblito is good, and they're certainly generous with their ingredients, but the food is pretty standard Mexican fare. With so many other traditional Mexican restaurants in that area along Washington Ave. and the Italian Market, I'm not sure I'd seek out Tacos mi Pueblito for a dining experience, but grab-and-go, on-the-street convenience is sometimes just what you want, especially if your main mission in the area is shopping the markets.

Also, Tacos mi Pueblito advertises some of their menu items as vegetarian (when there's a menu!), so that's something, although, I never 100% trust traditional Mexican restaurants on their vegetarian claims when refried beans and seasoned rice are involved.

Tacos mi Pueblito
Washington Ave. and 8th St.

Renaissance Sausage

Update: no longer in operation.
Update: Back in business with a smaller cart.

This past Sunday was opening day of Headhouse Farmers' Market, and while most of the vendors are welcome faces from last year, Resnassance Sausage, a mobile food truck vending sandwiches made with local and organic homemade sausages, is a newcomer on the scene.

In fact, Sunday at Headhouse was Renassance Sausage's first day of business. Owners Dan Semko and Bret Cavanaugh are not new to the food truck business, though; they got their start in Charleston, South Carolina, vending breakfast burritos and sandwiches from a VW bus before heading back North to grace us with their food.Country herb pork sausage, Mediterranean lamb and beef sausage, Asian chicken sausage, and vegetarian sausage are on the sandwich menu all day. If you make it there before 11am a sausage, egg and cheese sandwich, as well as a brie and fig jam melt can be yours. Sides include coleslaw, potato salad, and a wheat berry salad.Of course, I came for the vegetarian sausage, as well as a whole bunch of other people — the vegetarian sausage outsold the meat sausages during my early morning wait in line.

The veggie sausage is made with vegetables, spices, and wheat gluten, then grilled and split down the center before landing in a hoagie roll with cucumber spears and blue cheese dressing.Carrots and black beans are definitely players in Renaissance's mild and vegetal tasting sausage, but I wish they would up their flavors and spices a bit — or a whole lot. The fat, squat sausage left lots of dead bread space at either end, meaning I slid the sausage to one end and tore off a good two and a half inches of bread to dispose of.

The good news here is that this was Renaissance Sausage's first day, and sausage recipes can be changed (more spices, please), and veggie sausages can easily be shaped into a longer link to better fit a bun. Here's hoping they make those changes.

I also thought the toppings on the meat sausage sandwiches sounded more robust and flavorful, but there's an easy fix to that — just ask for those instead next time.

Thanks, Renaissance Sausage, for thoughtfully including vegetarians in your sausage fest. We really do appreciate it, as I'm sure you saw from all the veggie sausage sales made on your first day.

Renaissance Sausage
Headhouse Farmers' Market, 2nd &Lombard, every Sunday 10am-2pm
For more locations, follow on Twitter and Facebook

Buttercream Cupcake Truck

I was eagerly peering into Jefferson Square park this past Saturday, waiting for Kate Carrara and her Buttercream cupcake truck to appear at the Cupcake Bandit Film Festival. Once spotted, I was there with wallet in hand.

Kate, or 'the cupcake lady', is just as cute and friendly as could be! At this event, she was selling mini, regular, and jumbo cupcakes that she bakes at the Philly Kitchen Share kitchen and sells out of her roaming, cupcake-styled, remodeled mail truck.I grabbed two regular cupcakes ($2 ea): vanilla with chocolate frosting, and chocolate with peanut butter frosting. The cupcakes are made from scratch, but Kate has mastered the formula for baking up cakes with a moist, light, fluffy texture reminiscent of box mixes (admit it, you love cake from mixes). The chocolate frosting was the smoothest frosting I've ever had, and the peanut butter frosting was light and airy.

Fond memories of childhood bake sales (when parents actually made goodies, instead of picking up from the grocery bakery) danced in my head as I gobbled up the Buttercream cupcakes.Be on the lookout for the cupcake truck around town and at events. Location and cupcake updates are tweeted at @buttercreamphl. The Buttercream truck is your new bff!

Buttercream Truck
Philadelphia, PA
267-505-7486