Foodie Truck Wants to Do It All and Do It Well

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[Photo: Foodie Truck]
Charleston's newest food truck has just rolled out. Started by two Johnson & Wales grads and longtime friends, Foodie Truck plans to serve delicious, local food all around town, as often as possible. They hit the road last Friday and sold out on their first night. Eater Charleston sat down with the Foodie Truck partners Jonathan Corey and John Amato to talk about the concept, the food, the challenges, and the competition.

How did you guys partner up in this venture?
JC: We've known each other for years. We went to Johnson & Wales together in Norfolk. After that I moved all over the place working in F&B before coming back to Charleston a year ago to work at McCrady's.

JA: After school I moved to DC and then to Richmond. I needed a change and came to Charleston and wound up as a line cook and then finally the sous chef at FIG. I left there in December and we've been working on this concept for about 7 months.

Where did the Foodie Truck name come from?
JA: We named it Foodie Truck because we didn't want to limit ourselves. Because of our backgrounds, we can do pretty much whatever people want. We want people to come to the truck because whatever we have is going to be great, not because we serve a specific type of food.

What's your favorite thing on the Foodie Truck menu?
JC: For me it's probably the (tentatively named) Pocket Rocket. It's a hand held steam bun with barbecue duck, shaved radish, Korean style.

A little like Momofuku?
JC: Yeah.

That's exciting

JA: Our concept is to keep it all of our food as local as possible. Our goal is to use local farmers and you're going to see lots of raw, crunchy vegetables on our menu. It will revolve with the seasons and depend on what's available.

How do you feel about the food truck competition in Charleston?
JA: It's a good thing. We definitely feel like this is the time to do this. Some of the other guys that have been around the block have kind of paved the way. People are always looking for the next big thing.

JC: Anytime anyone is eating at a food truck, it's a good thing. It brings recognition and that's good for the movement.

What's your goal?
JC: To build a brand. We want to be on the road all day, anytime, whenever we can. Hopefully we will be serving lunch Thursday and Friday and we would love to be downtown late night. We are trying to figure all of that out now. We also want to do private parties and events. We are available for all of that.

So how do people find you?

JC: Friend us on Facebook. We want people to know where we are.

The schedule for this week:

Thursday, July 12: True Value downtown from 11AM-3PM
Friday, July 13: Seanachai on Maybank Highway, Johns Island, from 7PM-11PM
Saturday, July 14: Scooter Store, West Ashley from 10PM-2AM

· Foodie Truck [Facebook]