In most respects, last night’s Food Truck Summit at the Goose Island Brewpub could have classified as an absolute disaster. The event, which celebrated the release of Heather Shouse’s new book Food Trucks: Dispatches and Recipes from the Best Kitchens on Wheels, was mostly held outdoors during the middle of storm that alternated between steady cold rain and a torrential downpour, complete with lightning and brief spurts of hail. The lines were long, guests got soaked, and food ran out quickly. But you know what? It didn’t feel like a disaster at all. Instead, it seemed to showcase just how hungry Chicagoans were for mobile food.
Why? Well, for the most part the crowds stayed, ducking under a couple white tents even during the worst of the storm. They did this just to wait in line to sample one of the seven different food trucks that showed up. Flirty Cupcakes, The Southern Mac, gaztro-wagon, The Hummingbird Kitchen, 5411 Empanadas, Tamalli Space Charros, and Sweet Miss Giving’s were all there to feed the enormous crowd. In fact, so many people came, both the Southern Mac and 5411 Empanadas sold out of all of their items within 30 minutes.
It’s fitting that an event held to promote a book about food trucks, would itself turn into celebration of the few trucks that have braved the strict Chicago laws.
