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The Sweets truck (Owned by Molly Taylor.) A sweet day at Santa Anita Park, how appropriate!
Santa Anita Park where the 1st gourmet food truck fest was held at this great venue was the collaboration of Josh Hiller of Road Stoves and Chris Quinn of Santa Anita Park, is a thoroughbred racetrack in Arcadia, California, United States. It offers some of the prominent racing events in the United States during the winter and in spring, which include, the Sunshine Millions, a day of competition with $3.6 million in stakes races between horses bred in the State of Florida and those bred in the State of California.
Opened on December 25, 1934 and is the oldest racetrack in Southern California. It was designed in the art deco style by architect Gordon B. Kaufman. Under the leadership of Doc Strub, Santa Anita initiated many innovations that are standard in today's thoroughbred horse racing such as the use of starting gates and photo finishes for every race. Its hosted Champion thoroughbred horses such as "Seabiscuit" a Grandsire of Famed Man o' War. Enjoy the Awesome Videos and Pics below of the days fun!
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Hungry and eager fans await Crepe’n Around's delicous crepe creations.
It starts with talent like Jamie Radzik's wife Eileen DeLeoz who brings her classically trained skills to work to bring the "Crepe" experience to the streets of Los Angeles! She has an impressive background: earning her Diplôme de Pâtisserie from Le Cordon Bleu Paris (yes, Paris, France) AND her AOS in Culinary Arts from the California Culinary Academy in San Francisco, California. Not only is she classically trained, she's also had an impressive resume, working for some of the most demanding current culinary icons such as Gordon Ramsay- to name a few. Helping Eileen is her sister Joann who has a background in Broadcast communications and marketing. This is a family owned business, and Jamie,"the owner" is the brawn, with Eileen's talent, and family supported truck staff - this is one great crêperie.
I had the opportunity to sample two wonderful crepe creations on their menu, the ever popular Chicken Pesto and the Maple Braised Pork with apple chutney. The crepes themselves have a mild hint of sweetness and compliments their great fillings very well. It's no surprise to me why these crepes are popular.
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Chicken Pesto Crepe: The Chicken Pesto was packed full of well seasoned chicken breast meat, a delicious bend of mixed greens, red onion, and provolone cheese with a creamy pesto mayonnaise.
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Maple Braised Pork Crepe: The Maple Braised Pork had a robust filling with a "sweet n heat" combo going on: filled with pork, an apple chutney that had a hint of heat, toasted walnuts, those delicious mixed greens brought together by a mild honey dijon sauce. Not overly sweet and a good portion of pulled pork, this crepe is a winner!
See more of their menu, by checking their site: Crepe'n Around
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Dante's Fried Chicken "Ride or Fry" Truck; Sam Wils, Operations Mgr. We will catch up with Owner Dante Gonzales on our next visit.
WARNING: this is not your typical store bought chicken! No offense to the people that like it plain, sorry KFC fans.(nothing wrong with that). BUT this chicken has BIG! Flavor written ALL over it with hints of Cajun and Caribbean spice, Latin and European influences. Chef Dante keeps taste buds waiting with the question "What's next?".
Chef Dante has an interesting past: starting in New York, he would hold Fried Chicken Parties- cooking for the likes of Count Basie in underground artsy type parties. Now it's no surprise to me- but these Fried Chicken Parties became a hit, and Chef Dante decided to take them "across the pond", meandering through Europe - in London and Stockholm (yes, they love fried chicken too). And what's not to love? Dante's food is packed full of flavor.
I had an opportunity to try a sampling of some of their very tasty dishes. The Sock it to Me Chicken is without a doubt delicious (am I repeating myself? YES). Chef Dante uses organic and sustainable ingredients and this also applies to his chicken. It was flavorful, with well over 20+ herbs and spices (sorry Colonel Sanders) and crispy. There's a lot of love that goes into getting the chicken that way: the chicken is brined, first with kosher salt, then marinades in a buttermilk containing lemon rind, tea and spices for 24 hours. Its then dredged and ready for frying in 100% peanut oil. All I can say is yummy in MY tummy.
The sides did not disappoint: what was served were the daily specials. The Cauliflower Cheese Grits had a special house blend of cheeses and cooked perfectly: smooth and delicious, this could have been a meal on it's own. The cornmeal biscuit had hints of cinnamon and was slightly sweet and tart from the added cranberries. The slaw was perfectly dressed with a wonderful crunch! See Video interview for awesome sampler platter we tried.
More can be found on Chef Dante by visiting their website: RideorFry.
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After a long wait a Grilled Cheese Truck fan celebrates his love with melted cheese!
Life would be very boring if we only had one kind of grilled cheese. Michele Grant and Dave Danhi co-owners of the Grilled Cheese Truck have made sure we have options! They have also introduced some new offerings: the Pepperbelly Melt, a new Brie Melt and a new dessert melt: the S'more Melt.
The Pepperbelly Melt is on Cheddar and Jalapeno bread and features spicy Habinero Jack Cheese with home-made chili, Fritos, fire-roasted salsa with Cilantro Lime sour cream. This is a portable Frito pie with lots of ooey gooey cheese: comfort food revisited!
The Brie Melt is served on Black pepper potato bread. It features double cream Brie with homemade fig paste and for a nutty crunch, smokehouse Almonds. The brie, fig paste and smoked almonds combine for a really pleasurable eat. The Fig paste is not too sweet and adds a balanced contrast to the smokiness of the almonds. You can add smoked turkey or bacon if you'd like for an added Wow!
S'mores on the Grilled Cheese Truck? Really? REALLY! The S'mores sandwich is on a Sweet Brioche bread and filled with sweet Marshmallow cream, Nutella of course and crumbled graham crackers to top off this masterpiece. It is melty sweet gooey delicious and unexpected, but would you expect anything less from this great truck? I think not.
More about the Grilled Cheese Truck by visiting their website: thegrilledcheesetruck .
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Dominque (LF) BigTonyRagu (C) Brandon (C-RT) Tim Ferguson (RT)
When Beth Colla, Tim and Gary Ferguson talk ice cream, more and more people are starting to listen. This trucks manifesto states: "We don't just sell ice cream. We are dedicated artisans bringing you unique flavors in ice creams, gelatos, sorbets and the floats made thereof." They deliver. Where else would you find unique flavors such as Donut, Pancake Breakfast or Black Jack?
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Beth Colla (Front) Gary Ferguson (C with hat) Tim Ferguson (Back)
See the awesome video interview below we did with 2 of Lake Street Creamery's newest fans!
More about Lake St Creamery, by visiting their website lakestreetcreamery.com
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Two of the many satisfied customers enjoying NaanStop's Grand Opening.
Brothers Samir and Neal Idnani are co-owners of this new truck that made their 1st debuted at this venue. Customers snapped up delicious Naan'wiches: naan wrap stuffed with tandoori chicken, sauteed onions and peppers with yogurt dressing and a side of delicious samosas. NaanStop recipes were handed down from who else their mom. She should be proud the public embraced her recipes with cheers of joy!
NaanStop is working on their website, but can be followed on twitter: @NaanStop.
