Today Turned Out To Be Food Truck Saturday

I don't know how I found out about this, but today (Saturday) there was a thing called the Taste of Northeast.  It was being held at the Nordeast Farmer's Market; this Taste of NE apparently happens every fall and features food from the best restaurants in the neighborhood.  It was being held from 9 to 1.

Then, I think both through an ad in City Pages as well as a tweet from a friend of mine, I learned about a welcome event from this car-sharing company called Car 2 Go, the latest in what seems to be a fast-mushrooming new industry that has come to the Twin Cities.  That event went from 10 to 3, and also offered free food.  Well, two outdoor festivals offering food?  I had nothing better to do on a Saturday evening.  As long as the rain stayed away, or even if the rain wasn't heavy, I knew what I was going to do today.

The Taste of Northeast was announced on the Farmer's Market website, so they listed all the restaurants that would have a presence there.  But they also said a food truck called the Vellee Deli would make it usual appearance there.  I have heard some very good things from them.  In fact, they may be The Best Food Truck o I made it a point to eat something from there.  After perusing recommendations, I settled on the Korean BBQ Burrito, with "two kicks" of Thai chili dust.  Yeah, it was hot, so hot that later I had to buy a can of Coke from them.  But it was good.

I saved the Car 2 Go event for later because it ended later.  What I didn't know -- well, besides the fact that I had to register as a member to even enter the "party," and that there's a chance I might have agreed to automatically be charged for a membership, and that someone I know as an extra from movie shoots I've done and worked on was working the event, and there was both a money-grabbing box and a parallel parking contest that allowed you to win free minutes as part of your introductory membership -- that there were food trucks there as well.  One of them was a spot that I have heard very good things from, Hola Arepa.  Their food is fresh and clean.  The "arepa" is a cornmeal tortilla, if I have that right, and I ordered its chimichurri chicken arepa, which was ... well, fresh and clean.  The chicken is great, too, thanks to the chimichurri herb vinaigrette.  I just wished the arepa itself held together.  I think the bottom was broken when I got it, if the vinaigrette and/or oil leaking out through the bottom was any indication.  Good thing the arepa is served in a pouch, which itself was placed in a little paper basket and served with a napkin, or else it was going to run all over the place.

Then, when I went to the Minnesota United FC match tonight, I forgot that food trucks would be there.  Tonight The Anchor, which I believe has been said that they have the best fries in town, was there.  I wasn't hungry; not only did I automatically eat a hot dog as soon as I got into the stadium, before I left home I ate a huge steak.  But when confronted with a food truck on the third event I saw this day, I regarded it as a sign that I must buy something from there.  So I got the fries, which are ... very, uh, salty and crispy on the outside while being fairly soft on the inside.  I could not eat them fast enough, I'm afraid; the fries got cold and a lot less distinctive as I continued to watch the game under rainy conditions.  But I should try the fries again, either from the food truck or the restaurant itself, which isn't too far away from home.

The only bad thing is that now, as I type this, I am, and feel, as fat as I've felt in a long, long time.  I'm typing here in My Favorite Late-Night Place, and just to make sure I'm not just here to use their wi-fi, I ordered a dinner-sized salad, for which I have no appetite.