Photos: Saturday's food truck showcase rolled out a new fleet of pavement grub slingers

By Lori Midson Mon., Jun. 13 2011 at 8:55 AM

Lori Midson

There's a new fleet of street-food slingers in town, several of which made their debut on Saturday during Denver's first Food Truck Showcase, a mob squad of mobile food vendors that took over the parking lot of the Festival Plaza at Mile High. Some of the new trucks -- Route 40 Argentinian Grille, for example -- that were scheduled to post up, didn't, but there was certainly no shortage of grub, and while there were no beer vendors on site, the liquor store that resides in the strip mall sells plenty of brews (and booze) -- and happily hands out brown paper bags to conceal it.

For those of you who regularly whine about the long lines at the Justice League of Street Food bashes, there was no lines here -- none -- which made it all too easy to eat like heathens, which is exactly what we did, snapping photos along the way of the new carts, trailers, trucks (and one canopy) -- and the foodstuffs they dished out.

Lori Midson

Manna from Heaven, a Vietnamese food truck, made its debut this weekend -- and I nearly wept with joy after sinking my teeth into the bánh mì, available with grilled chicken, pork or beef. Gobsmacked with fresh vegetables and herbs, spicy with Sriracha sauce and smeared with a cucumber relish, it was, in a word, stellar.

Lori Midson

Chef Driven, a new truck from Richie Stothard, who earned his culinary degree at Le Cordon Bleu, got its first taste of Denver's street-food movement at this weekend's food truck showcase. Stothard works closely with local purveyors and farmers, getting his corn tortillas form Raquilita's Homemade Tortillas and his organic Cherries from Red Mountain Ranch.

Lori Midson

We've been clamoring for Korean-inspired tacos in this city, and Chef Driven supplied them in abundance, turning out memorable kogi tacos with braised beef short ribs, spicy kimchi, avocado, queso fresco and Sriracha crema.

Lori Midson

Phil Willoz, who works in the kitchen of Madison Street, introduced Taco Bar, his new venture that's neither a cart nor a truck, but a simple canopy from under which he slaps tortillas with everything from carnitas and pulled chicken to duck confit and braised short ribs, accessorizing them with excellent sauces and salsas.

Lori Midson

Duck confit and short rib tacos from Taco Bar.

Tags:

Alvie's Eats, Chef Driven, Coaches Scoop, Epicurean Catering, Food truck showcase, Manna from Heaven, Taco Bar

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Doughboy

Sorely disappointed...because we couldn't find the spot where the trucks gathered. I biked up there with my kids along the South Platte trail, but when we got to Mile High Stadium, there didn't appear to be an easy route over to West Colfax. And no one seemed to know where or what the Festival Plaza at Mile High was. We tried a couple of ways but the construction on the bike path and all the overpasses and bridges stymied us, and then it started raining so we turned back and went to Annie's. Too bad. Would have loved to have tried the Kogi tacos.

If a gathering occurs there again or something near a bike path, might I suggest considering some bike-friendly amenities like mapped directions or signs from the bike path?

Thedoneys31

I was pretty impressed with sweet lil bakery. I thought the cupcakes were creative and very tasty. Yum! Cupcakes!

Plushrobot

Mikes 2 Kitchen was there (and organized the fest, too!) with delicious carnitas tacos, amazing creamy mac n' cheese and yummy gumbo. The Kogi tacos from Chef Driven are delicious and I can't wait to have them again. Fat Sully's had huge, New York slices fresh from their wood fired oven (fave: pepperoni, mushroom & jalapeno!) The Argentinian truck was pulling in as we left in the afternoon, so we didn't get to see their menu. Love the Denver Street Food scene!!!