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Go
Carts!
Hitting
up lesser known food carts in Eugene
WORDS
BY CHUCK ADAMS | PHOTO BY TODD COOPER
Due to the near-constant precipitation in Eugene,
food carts here are rarely food carts. More often than not they're
jerry-rigged food trailers, glorified pop-top campers or, in the case
of Ali's Kabob, an actual food cart parked in an old auto mechanic's
garage. The only true outdoor carts I've found are the downtown hot
dog vendor selling his dogs on rainless nights to the hungover "bar"-muda
triangle masses at Broadway and Olive and those popular carts near
the UO campus. This made my mission of tracking down the lesser known
food carts and sampling their tasty goods all the more difficult.
Strictly speaking, food carts have to be mobile yet consistent in
their location (ice cream trucks do not qualify for this story). And
"lesser known" means it hasn't placed in our Best of Eugene reader's
poll in the past three years (sorry, Cart de Frisco). With these criteria
in mind, I found a smorgasbord of food cart culture representing Persia,
the Mediterranean, Americana and Mexico.
WEST
EUGENE
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| Ali
Nouri |
It's a miracle just to find Ali's
Kabob, but to sample its Persian delights
is surely divine. The Pony Espresso (painted the same color on the
same corner slab of asphalt) partially obscures Ali's façade;
blink and you'll miss it (but oh, what you're missing!). I've driven
by its location at 7th and Taylor numerous times in the 10 months
since it opened and never noticed its small sign. Nevertheless, its
solid customer base raved about it so much that eventually the word
was passed to the Eugene Weekly. And so they dispatched me.
I hardly get further than my desk for lunch, much less to the vicinity
of Persian food on West 7th.
When I step up to order, chef and proprietor Ali Nouri
tells me that since it's my first time visiting he's going to give
me a special sampler plate for $6. As Nouri puts it, "Grilled to order,
but it's faster than McDonald's." True to his word, I get my food
in less than a few minutes. The "sampler" is a mix of grilled chicken
kabob served on a bed of rice spiked with pure saffron mixed with
celery stew (like a veggie curry) and a side of tangy, sour cream-ish
yogurt and a "salad" of kidney and garbanzo beans. Later, Nouri brings
out a complimentary sample of his fresh garlic hummus, and it's heavenly
(though I'm sure it will obliterate my breath for the rest of the
week).
The secret to the mouth-watering rice and chicken
kabob is the saffron. Nouri only uses pure saffron and safflower shipped
directly from his relatives in Iran. "It comes from where they actually
harvest it [in Iran]," Nouri says. He bastes the meats and rice in
a lemon/saffron butter that makes everything juicy and lip smacking.
Ali's Kabob can accommodate vegans and vegetarians, too. "Just ask,"
Nouri says. Other specialties include Persian tea, rose lemonade (which
Nouri dubs "roselade") and possibly, in the future, Turkish coffee.
Ali's Kabob is unique in that it feels — with
its enclosed eating area and walk-up counter — like a makeshift
restaurant, but don't call it that. "It's not a restaurant," Nouri
says vehemently. And to prove his point he shows me his food cart,
parked in the back, serving as his all-in-one kitchen. When Nouri
does events (like the Whiteaker Block Party) or catering, he folds
up his cart, opens the garage doors to this former auto shop, and
tows the cart around town. But for now you can find him situated on
West 7th, doing what he does best: grilling, stewing, brewing and
shooting the breeze with his unique sense of dry humor.
DOWNTOWN
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| Roy
Tuito |
Looking for a food cart closer to the Weekly's
offices, I walk around downtown Eugene in search of any food cart
other than the oft-voted-for Cart de Frisco. I come across two carts
lined up next to each other, Gin Gee's Falafel
and Lucy's Hot Dogs,
beautifully located in front of the fountain at the Park Blocks. It's
an unusually sunny and hot April day, offering a perfect glimpse into
the advantage downtown food carts have in the summertime: outdoor
seating in a park or plaza, just a short walk from the balled-up stress
of the office. Not wanting to choose one food cart over the other,
I chat with (and sample) both Gin Gee's and Lucy's.
Gin Gee's fresh-faced thirtysomething owner and chef
Roy Tuito is the newest vendor on the Eugene food cart scene, having
opened just five months ago. Tuito admits that opening in the winter
was "very rough" but says business has been steadily picking up. "It's
something different," Tuito says, referencing his Mediterranean and
Middle Eastern menu items of falafel, baklava and souvlaki. "It's
not another taco cart or something."
When I ask him his reasons for opening a food cart,
which is really just a shiny new red trailer he can tow with his truck,
he says it's because "you're more close to the customer. When you
have a restaurant, sometimes you're in the back, sometimes in the
front." Tuito likes the instant feedback he gets from this personal
exchange. "If something is good, you know it in a moment. If something's
bad, they tell you."
While I'm scrawling notes like "Gin Gee is a nickname
for 'red head' in Hebrew; owner is a red head, his cart is red, too,"
Tuito is deep frying falafel for a sandwich. When I sink my teeth
into it, the first thing I notice is how moist the falafel is, like
it's been soaking in oil for ages. The hummus topping (you can also
ask for baba ghanoush) adds a healthy touch. "Everything is vegetarian,"
Tuito notes. "That's important." I ask him if he'd ever consider opening
on weekends (inside my head I'm plotting a Saturday Market ritual)
but he says, "No, I want the weekends for my family … my wife
and my daughter." Alas!
But you simply must try the baklava, a dry, lightly
honeyed pastry with an aftertaste of hibiscus. Not too sugary, not
too gooey like store-bought baklava. Just about perfect for a lunchtime
dessert.
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| Damon
Josephy |
Just a few steps over from Gin Gee's is the older
establishment, Lucy's Hot Dogs, in operation since 2005. Proprietor/chef
Damon Josephy started out with just a standard food cart. "But after
the first winter down here," he says, "I decided I liked to be a little
warmer," so he got a large white trailer. After a career as an executive
chef for 30 years (at a sushi bar, Jo Federigo's and for Marché's
Stephanie Pearl Kimmel while living in Eugene) Josephy retired and
opened Lucy's because he "enjoys food, enjoys people and [enjoys]
hot dogs," but didn't want to get back into the grind of a formal
restaurant.
Josephy named his cart after his dog and gave it a
slogan ("A Darn Good Dog!"). All his hot dog and sausage menu items
are represented by actual dog breeds: German Shepherd, Chow Chow (Australian
boar hunting dog), Griffin (Italian), Lowland (Polish) and Bird Dog
(chicken), among others. Josephy doesn't normally bring Lucy to his
cart because she'd "just stand there and annoy me, looking for a hot
dog."
I scarfed down a Lowland (Polish sausage) and noted
that in the condiment bar was a relish and pepper mixture that suited
the sausage just right. Obviously Lucy's Favorite and the German Shepherd
are the most popular items: Both are made with Nathan's Famous hot
dogs. Josephy noted that while May through October are the better
months for sales, he's open for business at the Park Blocks all winter,
too. "I do about 40 percent less in the winter," he says, but people
still come out in all inclement weather for a dog. Lucy's has daily
specials like red beans and rice, bento, Gardenburgers, tamales and,
starting in May, limited breakfast options to appeal to customers
who are just dogged out.
NORTH
EUGENE
It might go without saying that if "Lonches"
To Go weren't
so successful, I wouldn't be writing about them. Following a reader's
tip, I was driving out Hwy. 99 in search of Taquería Volcán,
but all I found was a shiny new parking lot with a Subway sandwich
shop. Later I learned that the owner of Volcán threw in the towel
six months ago and returned to Mexico. I figured this might've been
the case, and "Lonches" was my backup. Fortunately, the trailer on
River Road with the "Best Burritos in Town" slogan (not that "Lonches"
has won an EW Best of Eugene Reader's Poll award, to be clear)
is still alive and thriving.
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| (Clockwise
from left) Arturo Sr., Arturo Jr. and a youngster at "Lonches" |
Margarita High, the beaming and bubbly face of this
two person trailer operation (Arturo Gaona-Samora is the soft-spoken
chef in the back) greeted me as I walked up. High is someone who calls
everyone "friend," but not in the meaningless way fast food servers
refer to you as "sir" or "ma'am." High is genuine and says what's
on her mind, meaning the first thing she tells me upon learning I'm
from the Weekly is how the Register-Guard has mentioned
"Lonches" three times since they opened shop in February 2002, but
they've had not a peep from us. Not wanting to get into a discussion
on how and why businesses get covered in the local press (obviously
sometimes it's sheer serendipity, as explained above), I ask her why
customers keep coming back. "I'm good with faces, bad with names,"
High explains, pointing to a photo on the front page of the R-G
of a man with bullet wounds on his face, calling him "one of my customers."
Then High frowns at the photo in mock shock. "An ex-boyfriend got
jealous!"
Much to High's chagrin, carne asada — or "steak"
— burritos are the big seller. It was her hope to introduce
something new to Mexican cuisine in Eugene, namely "lonches," which
is a kind of Mexican sandwich served throughout the Mexican states
of Jalisco and Sonora, where High and Gaona-Samora were born, respectively.
(Admittedly, I fell for the "Best Burritos" slogan and ordered a Big
Burrito with fish for my lunch, a delicious and perfectly sized wrap
for $5.)
High also hails the Sonora tacos, consisting of a
fresh tortilla, carne asada, onion, cilantro, beans, avocado, squeeze
of lime and green or red sauce served up taquería-style, or open-faced.
And, as Gaona-Samora pointed out from the kitchen, not only are the
ingredients cooked fresh to order, but your choice of steak, chicken,
fish or pork al pastor can be cooked with fresh jalapeños to
a mild or hot spiciness. Some customers even request habaneros. Since
they cook everything with canola oil, High says, vegans and vegetarians
can also be accommodated.
On the business end, High was chafed at how negatively
the Eugene Area Chamber of Commerce treated her when she first opened,
warning her that 90 percent of new businesses fail within six months.
High was having none of that. "This is my dream," she said. "It's
going to come true!" For the past six years, "Lonches" To Go has been
a living embodiment of that dream.
PARADISE
CITY CAFE | KEKAU
CHOCOLATES | LESSER KNOWN FOOD
CARTS | THE DEVINE CUPCAKE
KOBE
BURGERS | THE FORTUNE COOKIE CHRONICLES
| BRENDAN MAHANEY | CHOW
SHORTS | WORD IS …
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