I'm not sure how hip the gourmet food truck movement in other parts of the country, but here in Las Vegas they seem to be the hot new thing in dining. However, food trucks are not a new idea. They've re-invented the take on old taco trucks, lunch wagons, and street carts and turned them into something that takes you away from what you would expect from a "roach coach". When I brought my mom to Fukuburger awhile ago, she said that she and my dad did a similar thing back in the 80s in Hawaii with their Filipino restaurant, where they would bring around a lunch wagon to feed office workers. Of course now social media plays such a huge role in the gourmet food truck scene, making it more like a game or a secret club, which can be half the fun when it comes to trying these food trucks. Other times, the food is just really damn good or happens to be in your neighborhood.Now, (to my hypochondriac mother's dismay) I love street food. I'm more of a walk-down-a-street-and-buy-dinner-by-the-end-of-the-block kinda girl, rather than a wine-and-dine-me kind of girl. Don't get me wrong, I like to get all prettied up and pretend to be super fancy every once in awhile, but street food embodies my favorite approach to food: from the ground up. What I mean by this is best expressed by Anthony Bourdain, who pretty much gave me an enlightened moment in food philosophy while randomly watching his Shanghai episode of No Reservations late one night on Netflix:
"I've always felt that the true measure of the greatness of a culture is exemplified by what it's poorest--and most rural--people cook. Food that tastes good, because it has to be good. How to make the tough, the bland, the humble into something truly special. This is where, throughout history and across the globe, cooks are made."
Growing up, I learned how to cook by scanning everything in my refrigerator and using whatever I could find to make something edible. I measured everything by eye, never made the same thing twice, and never opened up a cookbook. It was only after I started watching cooking shows that I learned how to use basic things like measuring and portioning to make everything I cooked better or easily translatable to others or to another culture.
The idea behind gourmet food trucks is basically street food with a theme on a larger mobilized scale. And I'm a fan. From observing the growth of the food truck scene here in Vegas, I must say that it far exceeds the expectations of your run-of-the-mill lunch wagon. For example, Fukuburger has formed an of underground culture around it's food and truck that melds music, dance, art, cars, and even tattoos by partnering up with local businesses and putting on parties/parking lot get togethers. This may sound like a rambunctious, asking-for-trouble type of thing, but it really isn't. Colin Fukunaga, the owner and "front of house" guy, is always quick to remind his customers to keep it respectful and lawful. The latest one was when someone stole an iPhone from Cityfied Clothing Store, and Colin tweeted photos of the thief caught on camera offering for them to bring it back before going to the police. The response from the community was audible in RTs and replies, and even though the thief and his friends chickened out in the end, it proved a lot of things in the power of building this kind of community around your business. It allows your customers to feel invested in it too, and that, in my opinion, is far more valuable than any kind of PR or marketing can buy.
Plus it helps that their food is amazing, and their specials make me want to ditch my diet all the time. I usually hate mac salad (Hawaiian style macaroni salad) because I was overexposed to it as a kid, and most places in Vegas don't make it right, but Fukubuger mac salad? TO DIE FOR. (It has da yellow-kine furikake!! Hardcore.)
Amazing mac salad and Buta Burger!
More pics!!!
