Introducing, THE FOOD TRUCK SHOW

It has been a few months now, and it seems so far away already.
Right before Debi and I started shooting Extra Virgin, while Network negotiations were ongoing, I needed something to get myself distracted with: something fun, something to get me out of the house, possibly related to food.
Then one day I brought my kids to the beach, it was a nice Saturday morning in Venice Beach… that fantastic early bird hour that is exclusively family owned: some dudes are riding waves, but for the rest everybody is still sleeping. We parked the car and went playing for a few hours on the sand… As the day started heating up and the crowd started flowing in our direction we decided that it was time to retreat; “Maybe a nice brunch in the garden at home, girls?” I tossed the ball in their court with ease. “But Babbo, we are hungry NOW!”. I shivered, as walking through the parking lot I could clearly see masses in line at any given food joint available on the line of my horizon… I was ready to unleash a very Italian stereotypical sequence of insults and as I start picking through the saints of the calendar and pairing them with unfair adjectives, I found myself in the shade of a big black truck with a lizard painted over it. “This surfer dudes are really cool…” I am telling myself, already envious of the vehicle and its cool looks… And that’s when I smelled food!
The girls and I walked around what turned out to be the “Komodo Food Truck“, and with no intent we found ourselves in line behind about three or four people, discussing the menu and almost hypnotized but the mechanics of the operations.
I could spot four guys working inside the truck, three in the “kitchen” and one taking and delivering orders through a tiny window above the crowd of patrons.

“This is very Rock ‘n’ Roll!” I remember telling myself, I got hooked right away by the easiness of use, the tranquil smiles of the crew and the overall feel that finally I encountered something different, “Worth investigating further… if the food is good!”. I ate my first “Komodo Fish and Grapes“, a little taco with lightly fried cod and a grape/lettuce salad dressed with some sour cream and pickled onions. And so did the daughters, that in all their braveness decided to order the same food that Babbo likes. Then Evelina, my 8 years old that already knows a few (too many) things of life said “Look Babbo, they do Twitter too, like you and Mami!”. The girls and I then sat on the curb, iPhone at hand, downloading specific applications designed to help track down your favorite food trucks while you’re hungry and on the road. As we started messing around with truck names, different menus and multiple locations we all agreed that it all looked very similar to a “treasure map”: find your favorite street vendor via Twitter updates or even via GPS. And it finally hit me, “I will hunt them all down and film them”!
I have so far shot 7 episodes of The Food Truck Show, and I will be releasing them on blip.tv which has been my video host/hub since the beginning of The Tuscan Gun… I will release them as soon as I can edit them, maybe every other week? Maybe faster?
However I am not planning in shooting more food trucks until next year, there is a lot on our plate right now and the holiday season will soon become a priority.
Therefore all these videos are up for grabs: share, embed, re-post. I know there is a very cool hungry crowd out there that is incredibly enjoying the food truck phenomenon, and this effort I dedicate it to them! I sincerely hope to get back to this project eventually.

Conclusions and Some References – Food trucks are cool for your community, especially in a city like Los Angeles. They have been bringing people on the street, in a city that never walks anywhere.

- Food trucks are fun and colorful, and in most cases their food is really good and always on a budget.
- Food trucks all smell the same when you are driving behind them, even if they all serve different kind of food. Get Over It!
- Food trucks are working their social network a lot. Use their Twitter feeds and blog updates to learn more about their kitchen and their philosophy.
- Food trucks SHOULD HAVE GRADES LIKE ANY OTHER RESTAURANT!!! As some of them are truly excellent, but a few of them are dirty and you might end up wishing you could drink a bottle of Drano to digest, and that’s not fun at all!
- You can find the best Cupcakes ever on Food Trucks.
- The Vesuvio Food Truck is my personal Pick!
- You can download Applications to track down your favorite trucks at theiTunes store (I am sure there are also apps for Droid, but I am loyal to Steve Jobs).
- Here a few Blogs/Websites of Food Truck Maniacs: I Love Street Eats (my personal favorite), Mobile Cravings, Mobile Food News, I Love Food Trucks, LA Weekly Food Trucks Blog, TruxMap.

Get Hungry, Get Driving!

STREET EATS is the official application of THE FOOD TRUCK SHOW!

Have fun and Buon Appetito. Gabriele