It’s the greatest thing since sliced bread (and coincidentally uses two pieces). The Grilled Cheese Truck is part of a new trend of street eating. On FindLAFoodTrucks.com, you can see Twitter feeds and whereabouts of about 56 different mobile eateries from baked goods to barbecue. Lucky for Alex and me, the Grilled Cheese and the Sweets Trucks were in the area.
Food trucks in L.A. aren’t like street food in New York or Philadelphia. Finding a truck is like a treasure hunt. Finding more than one in the same vicinity is a jackpot. So when the Grilled Cheese Truck tweeted that they’d be camping out by the Porsche dealer from 11:30 to 2, we set out on our journey. It should have been easy for us to spot the bright orange vendor, painted with dripping cheese, but we drove up and down the street a couple times before we spotted it. A big square block of cheese on wheels sharing macadam with sleek Porsches.
Business people on lunch break were the regulars. They confidently walked up to the truck, did a quick read-through of the specials and ordered a grilled cheese. Efficient, and smooth as the brie in their sandwich. Then there was us. The newbies. We stood in the sun, squinting at the menu and exclaiming ingredients we found exotic. “Macaroni and Cheese?!” “Butternut Squash?!” “Ew, Nutella???” (That last one did NOT include cheese, but if it’s a grilled cheese truck shouldn’t it?) Finally, I decided on a tomato, basil and fresh mozzarella grilled cheese with balsamic. A rather conservative choice in retrospect, but I was counting calories and dollars.
While we waited for our order, Alex and I took a peek at the Dessert Truck, which disappointingly did not smell one bit like a sugar cookie. Instead, we learned, the Dessert Truck sells baked goods from other bakeries but is itself not a bakery. Nevertheless, the cakes and cookies were baked fresh and picked up that morning.
The Sweets Truck sold something called a “cup cake.” Not the confection-accessories that took Hollywood dinner parties by storm, but cake, spooned into a plastic cup. I was both intrigued and enviously bitter, as one usually is with contemporary art. I could’ve thought of that. Why didn’t I? I could be the one charging $4.50 for a poorly cut slice of cake! So I bought one.
We had plenty of time to make our purchases and chat with the Sweet’s Truck vendor (who makes a full time gig out of it mind you) before our grilled cheese was ready. We sat down on the curb in the shade and unwrapped the blue foil from our sandwiches. I must admit, I expected the bread slices to be thicker, but the unexpected bursts of rosemary made up for it. It was as good a sandwich as any café could make, but I’m partial to homemade grilled cheeses. There’s something about the ones a grandmother makes, cut into four uneven triangles, that no cheesey trend can beat.
