Missing the WOW factor: Cupcakes from Trailercakes are ok

Trailercakes - 3*s

I was psyched about going to this rummage sale at The Gypsy Wagon that happened the weekend of Friday, August 19. Let's be honest. I was more excited about the cupcakes from Trailercakes that they would be selling during the sale. An article in the Dallas Observer's "Side Dish" blog made the Peanut Butter and Jelly cupcake sound ethereal. I admit it. I was planning to try it at the Food Truck Festival. But I thought back to these cupcakes and thought.. meh. I do have to say the trailer, or food truck, they had out at the Food Truck Fetsival was very cute. It was silver, had bubbles painted on it, and there was a bubble machine outside the truck. I give them credit for their packaging.

On that note, I have to say the best thing about these cupcakes was their packaging (and I give them credit for that). They were absolutely adorable. The Slap Your Mother Chocolate cupcake had a piece of chocolate stuck in the frosting, the Strawberry Fields cupcake had a mini poptart (I think?), and the Cookie Monster cupcake had an oreo. I also appreciated the small sizes. As much as I love food, I'd prefer that my body not announce that fact. I bought 3 for $4. Really a pretty good price. They also gave me new ones when I smashed mine on the floor. No charge. Awesome!

Ok I admit it. These pictures make me salivate a little.

Food Truck Festival... Fail.

An article in the Dallas Morning News  this morning by Katherine Unmuth motivated me to get off my ass and write something about the DFW Food Truck Festival I attended last night. Those writers do post their articles quickly..

I will agree (with Ms. Unmuth) that there is a food truck revolution happening in Dallas. It is also quite a recent one. The way it seems to work in Dallas is that people stalk the food trucks on twitter and drive out to their locations, which vary quite a bit, for lunch or dinner. Of course, the part of town will have an effect on the traffic. A visit to Gandolpho's, which I reviewed earlier here http://bananadallas.blogspot.com/2011/08/gandolfos-new-york-delicatessen-mobile.html#more, in the industrial part of town had hardly any customers in attendance. On the other hand, a visit to Nammi at Flora and McKinney had a good amount of people. In places like New York or Austin, they just seem to be floating around. People go to them when they see them rather than following their twitter feeds. Perhaps if our food truck community gets large enough, we will get to that point.

After glancing at an article by Scott Reitz about how crowded this festival would be, and how bad parking would be, I was planning to get there early. I think he posted it on the Dallas Observer, I found the post from twitter, but I don't see it any more. He suggested arriving at 5 PM, that most of the trucks should be setting up by then. However, my state of mind interfered. I had run off to this Chocolate Conference that morning with no coffee. I had the idea the chocolate would give me energy. But that so didn't work. I need more caffeine than that. By the time I got home, I was beyond stuffed and exhausted. I had a cup of espresso and was trying to wait till I had more energy. I also wanted to wait till I was a little less stuffed before we left. We got into the lot with the food trucks around 6:45 PM.

I know it was the first of it's kind, and I was later than I should have been, but the lines were ridiculous, the heat was ridiculous, and I just thought it was a miserable time. My friend Zeena wanted grilled cheese from Ruthie's Rolling Cafe, so that's where we started. We waited on line for a little while and filled out pieces of paper to select the kind of grilled cheese we desired. I chose San Francisco sourdough bread, sharp cheddar, mozzarella, bacon, roasted tomatoes, and pesto. However.. I actually never got to try this sandwich. I thought after we got to the cashier, we would get our food. But no. They informed us there would be a 30 minute wait for our orders. Ok fine. More than an hour later, we were still waiting. At this point, we decided to cancel our orders and get our money back. I, on the other hand, exchanged my order for a t-shirt since I thought it was adorable.

I do think their mascot is adorable!

Gandolfo's New York Delicatessen - Mobile NY Deli [FOOD TRUCKS!!] Side Dish Food Truck Schedule Added

Gandolfo's NY Deli - 4.5 *s

I read about Gandolfo's, along with several other food trucks in Dallas, last night as I was binge reading to catch up on restaurant reviews. I've actually been meaning to go to the Nammi Vietnamese food truck in Dallas for a month or so. There is something deliciously intriguing about food trucks. Greenwich Village used to have a Dessert food truck I visited every time I was in New York. It was delicious... bread puddings, ganaches, and so on. I think they eventually moved to one of those silly brick and mortar locations.

There was chatter around the truck about other food trucks. The consensus seemed to be that the Nammi food truck was good, but Jack's Chowhound, a truck with comfort food like sandwiches and burgers, not so good. I will pass my own judgment later.

When I read there was a New York deli good truck, I knew it was right up my alley. I've spent a good amount of time in New York, my parent are from Long Island, and like any good Jew I love my Deli meats and lox. In fact, the reception at my parents' wedding consisted of a bagel spread.

 The pastrami in our sandwiches was amazing, deliciously salty, and fresh. Next time I would get a sandwich without the cheese or mayo, so that I could focus on the best part - the meat. Randy Wolken, the regional franchisee and one of the 2 men who prepared our sandwiches, told me that they get their meats cured in Utah and shipped here.

He told us that he isn't from New York (I could already tell from his voice). He grew up in Texas, but was a stockbroker in New York for a while. This truck is his retirement.

My sandwich and pastrami, mmm.

This is my sandwich again! The Knuckle Sandwich. It came with a
very sour pickle. Not bad. Just more sour than I'm used to.

My companion's Gandy's Coney Island Dog: 1/4 lb. all-beef
(it makes a difference!) Nathan's hot dog with sauerkraut, onion,
and spicy mustard. Again, the bread, or the hero, didn't impress.

He has an appetite. He also got the King of Queens: Pastrami,
no Swiss, tomato, cole slaw he had many kind words about,
and Russian dressing. Nuked.