Food trucks have exploded in popularity over the past few years. They’ve also expanded in scope. In addition to burgers, barbecue, and ice cream, it’s not unusual to find curry or gyros in your favorite mobile eatery. Following is a taste of some of the most popular local food trucks offering international flavors.
Dutchkinz
Sebastian Hermans grew up in the southern Netherlands and came to the States in 2001. After falling in love with Naples, he decided to share the sweet side of his food heritage. Before launching his truck in 2010, Hermans spent a year sourcing ingredients and trying out recipes on his children. “When I gave them something and they asked for more, I know I was on the right track,” he says.
Dutchkinz has developed a loyal following at local farmers markets, hotels, and country clubs. He specializes in Dutch beignets stuffed with fresh apple slices or Swiss chocolate as well as poffertjes or “Poffers”—bite-sized, puffed-up beignets served with powdered sugar and butter. To accompany them, he serves his proprietary blend of coffee, made with beans ground to his specifications by a local roaster. Everything is freshly made on board.
Hermans appreciates the freedom of the food-truck lifestyle and doesn’t plan to open a traditional physical location. “My passion is sharing my heritage with people,” he says, “and providing a taste of home to customers with a Dutch background. These treats appeal to young and old, and over the years we’ve watched the children of our customers grow up.”
Fire & Rice Paella
For chef Paul Schmidgall, the romance began on the island of Menorca in Spain as he watched an elderly woman prepare paella on Sundays.
“She didn’t speak English and I spoke no Spanish, but I watched how she applied the ingredients in layers. I was fascinated by the colors and flavors, and most of all by her passion for the dish.”
After graduating from the Johnson & Wales University culinary school, his obsession with paella eventually morphed into a full-time job, and he launched his first food truck in 2014. Schmidgall sets up at the Third Street South and Marco Island farmers markets; he also offers catering options for businesses and private homes. His repertoire includes a range of tapas and three paella variations. Although he rents commercial kitchen space for prep work, the truck allows him to provide an interactive experience for customers.
“It’s dinner and a show,” he says. “They get to watch the process and ask questions about cooking or Spanish food. I think Spanish cuisine is undervalued in America, and this gives me a chance to expose people to it.”
Even though he has successfully franchised the concept to other cities and states, Schmidgall has no desire to operate a brick-and-mortar establishment. “I’ve been approached by investors, and I’ve always said no. The truck concept is smaller and more responsive, and it gives me the freedom to go where the customers are.”
Gyros2Go
Originally from Piraeus (the Port of Athens), Andreas Visilias owned restaurants in Greece and El Salvador before coming to the United States. He began operating his food truck in early 2018 and moved to Celebration Park when it opened that November.
“The goal for me—along with most Greeks in the restaurant industry—is to introduce the true and original Greek cuisine, not an Americanized version of it. I don’t buy processed meat; I use authentic ingredients and prepare everything from scratch.”
His most ordered dish is the classic lamb gyro, served on a grilled pita with tomato, onion, tzatziki, and feta. He also does a chicken gyro, and his vegetarian version has become extremely popular. “We have a health-oriented cuisine in our culture,” he says. “Our meatless gyro is vegan, vegetarian, and gluten-free, and has been very well received.”
Vasilias is in no rush to open a brick-and-mortar place, but he’d consider it if he could find the right location. In the short term, he’s far more likely to establish another truck, preferably in a group setting, since one of the benefits of Celebration Park is the guarantee of a certain level of traffic. He also feels he has benefited from a recent demographic shift in Southwest Florida.
“Naples has become a multicultural center,” he says. “People are moving here from all over the country and from Europe as well. The popularity of international food is a reflection of the population.”
JewBan’s Deli Dàle
Cuban husband Ray Garcia and Jewish wife Julie Dana renounced the corporate life to launch their food truck in 2015. They rely on family recipes passed down for generations to cook everything from matzo ball soup and noodle kugel to picadillo and ropa vieja. “Cuban and Jewish families are all about food,” says Dana. “Everything revolves around it. The appeal of what we do is simple: It’s real-food, old-fashioned home cooking. It’s like sitting at your grandmother’s table—you can taste the love.”
Over the years, they’ve developed close relationships with their customers. “We’ve really become friends. They talk about their families, they send us cards for the holidays, and they always let us know if they’ll be traveling so we won’t worry if we don’t see them,” Dana says.
Following another traditional pattern, Garcia and Dana are opening their first brick-and-mortar restaurant at the Causeway on Old 41 Road, Bonita Springs, and they look forward to the transition. “We’ll still operate the food truck, but having a restaurant will make our lives easier. We’ll have more space, and we can supply the truck from the restaurant. And,” she adds, “we’ll also have the luxury of purveyors delivering to us rather than having to drive all over the place to source our ingredients.”
I Love Curry
Digambar Sahu (better known as Chef Di), a former chef for Holland America Line, opened his food truck in Celebration Park in 2018. For him, the truck was a step toward the brick-and-mortar restaurant he opened two years later. He sees advantages and disadvantages to both.
“With a truck, you get to visit different communities and meet a lot of people, and you know more or less how many customers will show up. In a restaurant, it’s unpredictable. Expectations and costs are higher, and you need a wider range of skills to succeed.”
His restaurant now serves as a commissary kitchen for the truck, where everything for an event can be prepped in advance. The truck’s menu is smaller, but many of the most popular dishes are the same: tikka masala, butter chicken, and a dish he calls curry fried chicken (chicken legs marinated in Indian spices and served with a trio of chutneys).
In taking his truck to locations in North Naples, Sahu noticed the lack of ethnic food options, and his goal is to open a second restaurant there in a few years. “More people want to try different cuisines now,” he says. “Younger people are moving to Florida from other parts of the country, and they are adventurous in their food choices.”
Deccani Bites
A food truck is traditionally a stepping-stone to a brick-and-mortar restaurant, but chef Asif Syed reversed the process. Following the success of 21 Spices, he launched Deccani Bites last November in Celebration Park. Although his wide-ranging menu incorporates dishes from all over the Indian subcontinent, the inspiration was his home region of the Deccan Plateau.
“My goal was to capture the street food of India,” says Syed, “and most of all I wanted to recreate the food I loved growing up—slow-cooked lamb, tandoori chicken, and a wide variety of chutneys. Our most popular dessert is the Rose Kulfee Pop, a rose-flavored chocolate pop that reminds me of the ice cream I ate as a child.”
The centerpiece of his menu is homemade bread that he makes every day. In addition to the traditional naan, he specializes in roti, a crisp and flaky flatbread with a layer of butter that he likens to a flat croissant.
His experience at Celebration Park has inspired him to expand the concept, and he sees more trucks (as well as another physical location) in the future. “Our food comes from India, but this is a universal cuisine,” Syed says. “People are amazed at the diversity of flavors. It’s a cuisine your senses will enjoy.”
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