Catch the Chef

Moveable feast: Chasing the food trucks

Food trucks offer some of the most creative and culturally diverse cuisine in town—but they can be elusive. Stumbling upon one is often a happy accident—a bonus while attending a festival or visiting a vineyard. We wanted to see if we could turn that on its head and provide a guide to finding your favorite food trucks—to make discovering them more intentional. We invited about 30 to send us their fall schedules. Fewer than half responded, and many told us they’re mostly booked for private events. It’s good to know that food trucks are flourishing here, even if it means we’re not always on the guest list (sniff). In any case, here’s our well-intentioned but noncomprehensive guide to grabbing food on the go through the end of November.

106 Food Trucks

In 2016, owner/chef Will Cooper rolled out his flagship truck, 106 Street Food, with a mission to shake up the sandwich world with creative variations on traditional favorites (falafel with provolone, pork schnitzel with lemon aioli, and Angus burger with smoked gouda, bacon, and fried egg, to name a few). Since then, Cooper has expanded his fleet to three trucks, each with a different style. 106-street-food.business.site

106 Street Food

American cuisine with international influences—falafel pitas, pork schnitzels, and big burgers.

Saturday, October 19, noon-9pm Bold Rock Hard Cider

Sunday, October 20, 1-7pm, Bald Top Brewing Co.

Wednesday, October 23, noon-6pm, King Family Vineyards

Friday, November 1, 5-11pm, Tomtoberfest

106 Grilled

Pressed sandwiches and paninis, like Cuban and caprese.

Saturday, October 19, noon-9pm, Bold Rock Hard Cider

Friday, October 25, 5-8pm, Starr Hill Brewery

Saturday, October. 26, 11am-9pm, Bold Rock Hard Cider

106 Eastview

Traditional and fusion Japanese fare like okonomiyaki and moco loco.

Saturday, October 19, noon-5pm, DuCard Vineyards

Tuesday, October 23, 5-8pm, Starr Hill Brewery

Friday, October 25, 4-11pm, Bald Top Brewing Co.

Sunday, October 27, noon-6pm, Chisholm Vineyards

Angelic’s Mobile Kitchen

Angelic Jenkins has been satisfying customers’ cravings for Southern cooking for five years. Her specialty is fried fish, but her soul food repertoire is complete. You can often find her on weekdays on Pantops Mountain, at 1538 E. High St. Call ahead to see if she’s there. angelicskitchen.com

Saturday, October 26, noon-6pm, Eden Ministries Fall Festival

Tuesday, October 29, 11am-1pm, Dairy Market apartments groundbreaking

Saturday, November 23, 9am-2pm, Cornucopia Festival

The Bavarian Chef

The Bavarian Chef has been serving traditional German schnitzel—both veal and pork—in Madison since 1974. Between the home base and the food truck, the restaurant dishes up about 500 schnitzels a week. The food truck menu also includes snacks such as a pretzel with beer cheese and mustard dips, pommes frites, potato pancakes with sour cream, and homemade applesauce—and sausages, lots of sausages! thebavarianchef.com

Saturday, October 26, noon-5pm, Chisholm Vineyards

Saturday, November 2, 9am-6pm, Montpelier Races

Wednesday, November 13, 6-8:30pm, Bald Top Brewing Co.

Carpe Donut

“Tender and steamy on the inside, slightly crisped on the outside.” That’s how Carpe Donut describes its apple cider donuts, and it’s on the money. For the better part of 12 years, the family-run business owned by Matt Rohdie and Jen Downie has churned out that singularly delectable donut, offered plain or sprinkled with cinnamon and sugar. But about a year ago, they expanded their offerings to include flavors like toasted coconut and double blueberry. (Carpe Donuts’ brick-and-mortar shop, in the McIntire Shopping Plaza, is open 8am-1pm weekdays.) carpedonut.org

Saturdays, 8am-1pm, at City Market

Wednesday, October 23, 6-10pm, Elvis Costello, Sprint Pavilion

Saturday, November 2, 10am-5pm, Vintage Virginia Apples Annual Harvest Festival

Friday, November 8, 6-10pm, Wilco, Sprint Pavilion

Chef Tyler Berry is famous for his cheeseburgers, Philly cheesesteaks, Boom Boom Shrimp, and fries with five distinctive toppings (the Baconator, for example). You can often catch Berry’s trucks—he also has a mobile “deli” that features wraps and sandwiches—in the Lowe’s parking lot in Ruckersville. Facebook @catchthechef

Saturday, October 19, noon-3pm, Keswick Vineyards

Sunday, October 20, noon-5pm, Chisholm Vineyards

Saturday, October 26, noon-8pm, Wilderness Run Vineyards

Sunday, October 27, noon-3pm, Keswick Vineyards

Farmacy

Wholesome, organic, Mexican-inspired fare by owner Jessica Hogan and her partner/chef Gabino Lino, whose local food experience includes working at Feast! and Beer Run. Our favorite is the Super-Naan Taco (pork al pastor with shredded lettuce and kale, onion, cilantro, feta, and guac, served on garlic naan topped with sour cream and a side of salsa). farmacy.guru

Saturday, October 19, 10am-5pm, Liberty Mills Farm

Friday, October 25, 5-8pm, Pollak Vineyards

Saturday, November 2, 10am-5pm, Albemarle Cider Festival

Saturday, November 16, 11am-5pm, Thomas Jefferson Wine Festival

Friday, November 22, 5-8pm, Glass House Winery

Firefly on the Fly

The mobile wing of the restaurant takes its chefs, servers, and menu offerings on the road. And, if the truck’s Facebook feed is any indication, the crew seems to have a lot of fun on these field trips. Daily specials and menu items reflect Firefly’s emphasis on providing vegan, vegetarian, and gluten-free options as well as bestsellers like the grass-fed Virginia beef burger. fireflycville.com

Friday, October 18, 5-8pm, The Fralin Museum of Art

Saturday, October 19, noon-4pm, Blenheim Vineyards

Sunday, October 20, noon-4pm, Liberty Mills Farm

Saturday, October 26, 5-8pm, Knight’s Gambit Vineyard

Sunday, October 27, noon-4pm, Liberty Mills Farm

Wednesday, October 30, 5-8pm, King Family Vineyards

Saturday, November 2, 10:30am-5:30pm, ARTCHO

Sunday, November 3, time TBD, Blenheim Vineyards

Good Waffles & Co.

Serves just what the name suggests, plus a few things you might not expect. Chicken-N-Waffles? Yes, of course. But also loaded waffle fries, waffle pudding, seasonal soups, and daily specials, and the signature bubble waffles with toppings savory or sweet. Fall desserts include bourbon apple pie—a waffle topped with housemade brown butter bourbon truffle ice cream, sliced apples, caramel sauce, and whipped cream. goodwafflesco.com

Wednesday, October 23, 5-8pm, King Family Vineyards

Saturday, November 2, 10:30am-5:30pm, ARTCHO

Wednesday, November 20, 5-8pm, King Family Vineyards

Little Manila

A lot of folks are hungry for the Filipino food Jessica and Fernando Dizon cook up in their truck. Nearly every weekday, you can find them at a lunchtime spot with people lined up for platters of pork or chicken barbecue served with rice, pancit noodles, or lumpia (fried spring roll). Facebook and Instagram @littlemanilacville

Saturday, October 19 and 26, 8am-1pm, City Market

Wednesday, October 23, 6-10pm, Elvis Costello, Sprint Pavilion

Friday, November 1, 5-11pm, Tomtoberfest

Saturday, November 2, 9, 16, 23, and 30, 8am-1pm, City Market

The SpiceSea Gourmet

Chef Whitney Matthews’ award-winning food truck is rolling out a cold-weather menu that includes she-crab soup (a secret family recipe), New England clam chowder, soft shell crab po’ boys, and fried lobster mac ‘n’ cheese. spiceseagourmet.com

Friday, October 18, 5:30-8pm, Grace Estate Winery

Saturday, October 19, noon-4pm, Valley Road Vineyards

Friday, October 25, 5-8pm, Decipher Brewing

Saturday, October 26, 5:30-8pm, Grace Estate Winery

Friday, November 1, 5-8pm, Decipher Brewing

Wonderment Bakeshop & Creamery

Founder Stephanie Taylor calls herself a “dessert enthusiast,” and credits her parents with encouraging both her sweet tooth and her love of baking from a young age. The goodies she dispenses from her adorable teal blue truck—artisan ice cream sandwiches and homemade pop-tarts—might make you think she’s never grown up. Not that we’re judging. In fact, we’re happy to indulge our inner child—especially with ice cream. Our seasonal favorite is her pumpkin pie in pop-tart form, with flaky crust, perfectly spiced filling, and that familiar brown sugar frosting. Taylor makes everything from scratch: ice cream, cookies, pastry crusts, and fillings. cvillewonderment.com

Saturday, October 19 and 26, 8am-1pm, City Market

Saturday, October 26, noon-6pm, Bold Rock Fall Foliage Festival

Saturday, November 2 and 9, 8am-1pm, City Market

Events & Festivals

Eden Ministries Fall Festival

Saturday, October 26, 11am-6pm, Keswick. eden-ministries.com

Bold Rock Fall Foliage Festival

Saturday, October 26, 11am-9pm, Nellysford. boldrock.com

Tomtoberfest

Friday, November 1, IX Art Park. tomtomfest.com

ARTCHO

Saturday, November 2, 10:30am-5:30pm, IX Art Park. artcho.org

Montpelier Races

Saturday, November 2, 9am-6pm, James Madison’s Montpelier, Montpelier Station. montpelier.org

Vintage Virginia Apples Annual Harvest Festival

Saturday, November 2, 10am-5pm, Albemarle CiderWorks, North Garden. albemarleciderworks.com

Thomas Jefferson Wine Festival

Saturday, November 16, 11am-5pm, Thomas Jefferson’s Poplar Forest, Forest. poplarforest.org

Cornucopia Festival

Saturday, November 23, 9am-2pm, Louisa. Search for “cornucopia” on eventbrite.com

Kebabish sizzles with fusion dishes

By Erin O’Hare and Sam Padgett

Kebabish Sizzling and Fire Grille, a new restaurant that fuses Turkish, Indian, Nepali and Mediterranean cuisines, is now open at 111 W. Water St. downtown, in the space most recently occupied by Downtown Thai.

The restaurant, owned by Uzzwal Khadka (who also owns Taste of India located at 310 E. Main St. on the Downtown Mall), promises fast, fresh, authentic food. Kebabish offers a wide range of dishes, including chicken, lamb and vegetable gyros (a gyro is a dish made from meat cooked on a vertical rotisserie and sliced and wrapped in pita with tomato, onion and tzatziki sauce); mo-mo, a spiced chicken dumpling that’s a popular street food in Tibet and Nepal; and shawarma, curry dishes, churrascaria kebabs and filets, fried noodles, fried rices and more. There’s also the “lovely meat ball” appetizer, a dish of chicken or lamb that, according to a member of our art department, is “kind of like a falafel, but with meat in it.”

All of Kebabish’s food, from the naan breads to the sauces, are made in-house. Additionally, Khadka says the restaurant has bought a lot of its fruit and vegetables from the City Market in an effort to ensure freshness while simultaneously supporting other local businesses.

Stout’s honor

When Hardywood Park Craft Brewery’s Gingerbread Stout beer burst onto the scene in November 2011, it received a rare perfect 100 score from BeerAdvocate magazine, which in 2012 declared the spiced stout “freagin’ Christmas in a bottle.” The brew also received bronze in the 2012 World Beer Cup herb and spice category. And earlier this month, six years after its initial release, The Beer Connoisseur named GBS the No. 1 Christmas and Holiday Beer. Made with baby ginger from Casselmonte Farm and wildflower honey from Bearer Farms, Hardywood Gingerbread Stout is the first commercially brewed gingerbread stout. Hardywood has brewed eight different GBS variants for the 2017 holiday season—the original GBS, bourbon barrel, Christmas Morning and Kentucky Christmas Morning, plus four found only at Hardywood breweries: rum barrel, apple brandy barrel, rye whiskey barrel and double barrel.

Eater’s digest

Every Wednesday from 4pm to midnight at Graduate Charlottesville’s Heirloom Rooftop and Bar, chef Frank Paris dishes out ramen specials. Paris is the former chef and owner of Miso Sweet Ramen + Donut Shop, which closed its doors on the Downtown Mall earlier this year. “I definitely miss Miso Sweet and it was tough to close,” says Paris. “We made a lot of friends and fans in the short two years [Miso Sweet was open], and as we were closing, we were constantly asked if we were going to do ramen at our new location. When we were brainstorming ideas for Heirloom, ramen was a no-brainer. It’s the perfect weather for it, and it gives me a chance to reconnect with fans of Miso Sweet and hopefully make some new fans here at Heirloom.”

CAVA, a fast-casual Mediterranean chain restaurant, will open a Charlottesville location in summer 2018. It’s one of two restaurants planned for Emmet Street Station. Located at 1200 Emmet Street N. (across from the Barracks Road Shopping Center, in the empty lot that once held an Exxon station), Emmet Street Station is currently under construction.

Downtown Mall denizens may have noticed that the popular Catch the Chef food cart took a recent hiatus from the Third Street SE/Downtown Mall junction (it was back on Monday), and that’s because Catch the Chef has grown into full-fledged food truck zipping to a different location daily. Check the truck’s Facebook page for more info.