Mark Baratelli sent me an e-mail letting me know that he had a framed “Best Of” award for the Mennello Museum mural that I did. He was hosting an Orlando Food Truck Bazaar at Fashion Square Mall and he said he would have the award with him. I of course would travel any distance for such a major award. The sun had set by the time I got to the Bazaar. About 35 food trucks were circled up, like western covered wagons. The first two trucks, Firehouse BBQ and Twisted Cuban were the brightest trucks in the bazaar with flashing lights and bright red paint. I sat down in the middle of the “coral” and started sketching.
Unfortunately, by the time I was finishing the sketch, many of the food trucks were running out of food. Viveca Averstedt of “swedeDISH” food truck looked over my shoulder to admire my work. Her blue truck with yellow stripes was also running out of food and they were cleaning up. She offered me an onion and cheese pie dish. I asked, “how much.” And she offered it to me on the house. It was absolutely delicious. The crust was light and flaky and the cheese and baked onion pie was sweet and rich. It came with a side salad with a tangy vinaigrette dressing. I might be tempted to come out to the next food truck bazaar to see what else she has on the menu.
Mark Baratelli found me and gave me the award for the Mennello museum mural. He said it was a good turn out with 1,500 people stopping out during the course of the evening. These bazaars are spreading throughout Central Florida and the trend continues to grow. People love to come out on cool winter nights to sample the food and relax in lawn and camping chairs. A few days later, I saw the swedeDISH food truck parked beside Tom & Jerry’s Lounge near the Enzian. It seems quite a few food trucks park there in their off hours.