Eating as Escapism

Sometimes, the mundanities of life can be so overwhelming that you question if you are ever going to get out of that rut.  Critical bosses, relationship issues, looming budget cuts... times like this can be such a drag that everything just seems bland... redundant... fruitless!  For one of my buddies, Leadville Mike, life's sure been trying in that way lately: last minute required travel led to heavy money spent on a plane ticket, which led to a 2 hour delay on the tarmac due to weather in Colorado, which led to a missed connection, which led to a lost bag and misplaced phone... one of those crappy days for sure.  Then, upon returning back to San Diego, he was welcomed back to work with complaints, mounting requests by coworkers, client issues... all during an incredibly busy hump day, when he was working his butt off to get his monthly billing up.  As my mom used to say, he "just can't win for losing."

Needing an escape, Leadville and I decided to grab some grub after the work day, looking for something unusual to perk up his evening.  Lucky for us, Wednesday in the parking lot of Chula Vista's Archway Lounge marks the arrival of the Tabe BBQ truck! Now, Mike has always enjoyed new eating experiences and has never tried the Tabe (pronounced Tah-bay) menu, which presents a kind of "Asian/Mexican fusion mobile cuisine," so what better way to try and break free of the blahs than to make the trek over right after work.

Pulling up to the Archway lot, I have to admit I was getting pretty hungry.  The crowd seemed to be of moderate size, so luckily we didn't have to wait too long to put in our order.  I recommended to Mike that he try the OMG burrito, one of the "off menu" items at the truck.  Similar to a California burrito, it features one of their meat selections (a Korean-style marinated BBQ beef, a spicy marinated pork, or chicken in the housemade teriyaki sauce) or their portobello mushroom and onion veggie option mixed in with a heap of their 5 spice fries.  Also, they include their homemade Tabe salsa and their spicy mayo in the mix, which really brings out a bright flavor.  We ordered one for each of us, and added an order of the Tabe Asada fries, with the spicy pork.  A lot of food... sure.  But we were going to need a larger dose of "food medication" if we were going to serve that knockout blow to Mike's woes.


What really sets this truck apart for me, helping to make it more like a food "vacation" than just regular dinner, is the fact that the guys working there are always friendly, welcoming and happy to see you.  Unlike some similar trucks (with similar Asian/Mexican style food up in the LA/OC area), the service here is awesome and really adds to the experience.  Leadville noticed it, too, which was a nice surprise for him.  The food took awhile, thanks to a group ahead of us ordering six or seven containers of food, but the guys still checked on us to let us know that they hadn't forgotten us.  Besides, it allowed Mike and me to "process" some of those work stresses mentioned earlier and allowed us to enjoy the cool breeze of the early evening.

Once the food was ready, they handed us a couple foam containers: one was pretty heavy, containing the two burritos, and the other had a decent portion of those 5 spice fries, covered with spicy pork, melted cheese, and both the spicy mayo and the Tabe salsa.  I decided to cut to the chase and bite into the burrito while Mike handled some of the fries.  One of the things I appreciate about the burrito is the fact that it has such a unique, sweet flavor.  The beef is marinated in a sweeter, Korean style, and the Tabe salsa is actually not all that "salsa-y", since it is more of a sweet experience than a spicy one.  For those who don't appreciate the sweetness so much, this might not be their choice for them; but for me, after adding some of the spicy sambal they also offer on the truck to help kick it up, I think the OMG is one of my favorite mobile treats!  Mike seemed to agree, and you could see by the smile on his face that he was feeling the escape.  The fries were also very good, with the 5 spice on the fries adding that little extra complexity to whole thing.  And these were drenched in that wonderful mix of sauces, which added to the decadence of the whole meal.  Again, as with the OMG, Tabe asada fries can be a sweeter experience, even with the pork, but both Leadville and I had to agree that they sure did round things out well tonight.  Washing it down with a Cherry Fanta I picked up at a 7-11 on the way over, I couldn't help but notice that Mike looked like the cat that swallowed the Korean marinaded canary...

So, in the end, the trip to Tabe BBQ provided us with a unique opportunity to relax and take an epicurean adventure that delivered us from the pains of the day... kind of like edible Calgon, taking us away.  And I think Leadville said it best, mentioning that although it was only a brief respite, and we have to return the grind again tomorrow, this sure was a great way to escape from a hell of a day.

http://twitter.com/#!/tabebbq

Acting (and eating) your age...

Today was one of those days when eating reminded me of my age... Specifically that I can't eat like I used to eat.  I remember back to high school days... one evening in particular, actually... when my buddy Rodav and I stopped by the EZ Take Out Burger on Foothill Blvd. (THE In-N-Out clone of the Inland Empire back in the 80's) and each had this 5 patty monster called the Grand Slam with an order of fries.  It was tasty, of course, but did not satisfy the "urge" 100 percent.  So we did the logical thing (in the teenage mind, anyway) and drove down the street to In-N-Out so we could have a double-double, animal style, to really set things right.

Returning back to today, my experiences at the Fun and Food Truck Festival at Boomer's (or, as we older folks call it, the Family Fun Center...) in El Cajon point out just how long ago that experience with Rodav really was...  This event was a meetup of 10 of the "best" food trucks in LA and 10 of the "best" food trucks in SD, so it was like a food paradise for me with the many food options that were available.  However, no longer equipped with the gastronomic fortitude of my youth, I didn't have a chance at trying it all... and though I left nearly overloaded with grub and on the verge of going comatose due to the blood flow leaving my brain to help out my stomach, I don't think I regret a bit of the experience.

At long last (and after a failed attempt at the Boomer's in Clairemont the night before), Jess and I were able to finally sample the wares of the Grill 'em All truck out of Los Angeles, a gourmet burger truck that has quite the following up north and was made (in)famous thanks to their victory in the first Great Food Truck Race on the Food Network last year.  We got there early with our buddy Terry to make sure that what happened last night didn't happen again!  After waiting for an hour in the bright sun of El Cajon (thanks to the festival folks opening the gates about a half hour late due to waiting for some straggling trucks), we were making a bee line for another already forming line in front of the Grill 'em All truck.  By now, I was figuring I had this burger so built up in my head, there was no way it could meet expectations.  Lucky for all three of us, though... it totally hit the mark!  Jess and Terry ordered one each of their popular Behemoth, which is basically a 7oz bacon and cheddar cheese burger with pickles, beer soaked onions, and their BBQ sauce... oh, and the bun is actually 2 grilled cheese sandwiches.  Needless to say, these two sandwiches were sizeable.  I grabbed the Witte (pronounced Wit-E), which was the same patty with cream cheese, deep fried bacon, beer/Sriracha soaked onions, and malt vinegar aioli.  We decided to split an order of their pomme frites, tossed in truffle oil, and served with a choice of a number of dips.

After finding a seat and grabbing some drinks, we dug in excitedly.  The Witte was awesome... the patty was juicy, the onions tasty, and the bun was grilled crispy on the bottom.  The kicker though was that aioli mixed in with that cream cheese... fantastic!  The Behemoth was also very tasty, with the copious amount of cheese heightened by the mix of the pickle and sweet BBQ sauce.  And the fries... oh, man... SO good.  After finishing the Witte and a chunk of the fries, I was feeling pretty good.  After half of her Behemoth, Jess was getting pretty full, so I (fully considering that wasting food would somehow offend starving children half way around the world) proudly tackled the rest of that burg, too, in a move that would have made Rodav proud!

Now, this is about that time when I began to realize my true age again... and I began to realize that I was already feeling kind of (I still hate typing this...) FULL!  However, there were still so many trucks left in view.  Brazenly throwing caution to the wind, Terry and I decide to move to round 2.  Ter volunteered to brave the line at Frysmith, another popular LA gourmet truck, to grab us an order of Sweet Po fries.  These are not just another order of fries... these are more like a meal!  The Sweet Po consisted of free-range chicken cooked in a tomatillo-tamarind sauce served over sweet potato fries with Jack cheese and cashews.  As Ter set it down, I began to question if, as my mother used to say, my eyes were bigger than my stomach.  Maybe it was because of my fullness, I didn't find these fries quite fulfilling as the fries from the Grill 'em All truck.  The chicken was pretty much the highlight; tangy, tasty, and tender, it really was tasty with the cheese and sweet potato.  Ter pointed out that the cashews were a nice addition, and I agree that the crunch really brought something.  But the fries kind of washed out that great taste of the burgers, and I think that all that added starch was just about to push me over the edge!

After all of this, moving was not a priority (and Jess was nearly down for the count); but we needed something sweet to break the meat-sweats and we mustered the strength to visit the Tropical Shave Ice truck.  Now, I view shave ice like Ralphie's Old Man views turkey in A Christmas Story... It is one of those things I don't want to live without.  So waiting in line for this treat was rejuvenating... so much so that I was gearing myself up to get the fully loaded ice with beans and ice cream... the works!  Jess, in a moment of clarity, set me straight, and I decided to go with the more modest version: a shave ice with pineapple, orange and guava syrups with a "snow cap" of sweetened condensed milk and a sprinkling of Li Hing Mui powder.  Soft, fluffy shaved ice with that mix of sweet, creamy, salty and lightly sour.  Man, The Tropical Shave Ice sure topped things off in the right way!

Of course, there were still a number of trucks to conquer at this festival... but deciding to heed Shakespeare in this case, I chose discretion over valor and we decided to wrap up the day on the shave ice.  Maybe I can't handle the food like I did in the past, but I still feel I had a great time.  As Terry said at the end of the day, "That was awesome"; and I agreed!  And I can't help but think that Rodav is looking down proudly, saying "Job well done, 'old man'... job well done!"

http://www.grillemalltruck.com/
http://www.eatfrysmith.com/
http://www.tropicalshaveice.com