By now we have all seen how successful food trucks can be. The ability to go where the hungry masses are is a restaurant’s dream. As food trucks become more and more popular, mobile restaurateurs continue to deliver the ‘next best’ culinary offering. I guess you could call it survival of the fittest… or the evolution of the food truck. If we take a look back, this trend most likely started with people selling bagged peanuts at the corner. Then came the hot dog carts and ice cream trucks. These types of mobile meals and desserts reigned supreme for years before today’s food trucks came onto the scene. So where does the evolution of food trucks go from here? In a city like Buffalo, that’s an easy question to answer.
Christopher Taylor is the head chef and operator of a food truck called The Roaming Buffalo. The truck is being built right now and will be hitting the roads of our city soon. The appeal of The Roaming Buffalo is that it features all sorts of home-style foods. No, I’m not talking about the ones that your grandma cooks… I’m talking about foods that originate from Buffalo NY. “Buffalo is known for its great food,” Chris told me. “The Roaming Buffalo will bring popular Buffalo foods, such as chicken wings, beef on weck, fried bologna and onions, Sahlen’s hotdogs, Weber’s mustard, Miller’s Horseradish, and Crystal Beach loganberry (while using fresh local ingredients) to the people – we’re going to put them all into one mobile food truck to serve the Western New York area.”
The more I think about this idea, the more I think that Chris is really onto something big. Of course Buffalonians are going to eat up this concept like crazy. And after Chris conquers Buffalo, he’s planning on taking the concept to every other city in the US. He’s also determined to deliver the message that Buffalo is making a comeback. Chris tells me that his goal is, “For The Roaming Buffalo food trucks to multiply and “roam” to other cities across the country and spread the delicious food of Buffalo, New York. As it stands there is no other mobile food truck like The Roaming Buffalo in the world that serves a Buffalo menu, but there are thousands of Buffalo natives that have transplanted themselves to other cities across the country. They crave the hometown food they grew up on. Let’s face it: no one can duplicate a Buffalo chicken wing better than a chef from Buffalo. The Roaming Buffalo is up to the task of spreading the best taste of Buffalo around the country and keep a small portion of its heritage alive indefinitely.”
Unlike the owners of BW3 (Buffalo Wild Wings and Weck), Chris is planning on delivering the goods and the good word of Buffalo while headquartered in Buffalo. Not only will he deliver a Buffalo-style menu, he’ll also deliver another convoluted Buffalo message: Buffalo chicken wings are made in Buffalo – not out of buffalo! If all goes according to plan, Chris and his trucks just might be the messenger that we’ve been waiting for. I hope that The City jumps on this bandwagon and works with Chris to promote the concept. Maybe Chris could even work with the CVB by loading the truck up with pamphlets, buttons and business cards? “Buffalo, NY is currently in the pursuit of developmental projects to lay down a tourism market foundation,” Chris said. “Our company tends to strategically bring fresh vision to this awaiting opportunity by offering local and national customers a taste of Buffalo through various creative mediums while preserving the culture of its community’s food, thus enhancing the opportunity for tourism by growing into a national food service company.”
It’s an ambitious goal, but if I know Buffalonians, there’s no easier investment than heading over to The Roaming Buffalo mobile food truck and purchasing a beef on weck. A solid investment if there ever was one. I bet that there are a few people out there who are kicking themselves that they didn’t think of the concept first. I’m anxious to see the first truck hit the road in mid June. From there the world awaits the good word about Buffalo that will be spread far and wide in the form of delicious food served from a homegrown concept food truck.