CMH Gourmand – Eating in Columbus & Ohio

There have been a lot of Food Truck events this year. There are still a few more to come. It has been great to see the community embrace this type of business. In fact, some of you may have been over saturated with Food Truck and Cart events this year. If so, I am asking you to dig down deep in your energy reserves and intestinal fortitude for one more.

The boys from That Food Truck are launching That Food Pod, this Saturday, Oct 27th. A Pod is a gathering or two or more mobile vendors. That Food Truck regularly sets up at the corner of Gay Street and Grant Ave. in downtown Columbus. They decided to do a monthly blow out with some of their mobile food friends to create an event for more mobile vendors and to draw more people to this section of the city. (Foodies note: The new Grass Skirt Tiki Bar is just one block away if you want to drop in there before or after That Food Pod).

After this Saturday, That Food Pod will reappear in the spring to continue the tradition of mobile food downtown. While you are pondering how to spend some of your time this Saturday, I want to give you several good reasons to come support this event.

1) The vendors: That Food Truck, Sophie’s Gastrogi (their second to last appearance this year), Blu Olive, OH! Burgers, Crepes a La Carte, Flat Top Pizza and the Good Frank.
2) Highball Halloween will be Saturday night, so on your way home, you can troll high street to see all the outlandish costumes paraded in the Short North
3) Trick or Treating….but in this case, Trick or Trucking. Kids can go from truck to truck to get Halloween treats….or maybe a trick.
4) The fall menu on That Food Truck is amazing – their mole is the perfect flavor for fall and might just cure the common cold.

So all of the above reasons have merit, but there is a bigger cause to the event which is the real reason I want people to come on Saturday night to drain the mobile vendors of every bit of food they have to serve. Each of you will have an opportunity to help Save The Short Bus.

The Short Bus is the affectionate name that the mobile food community has given the Per Zoot Food Truck. Per Zoot was to have been a vendor at the inaugueral That Food Pod but while the fall brought us leaves and chilly weather, it brought Per Zoot a series of mechanical breakdowns. A Food Truck that can’t move, can’t make money, so owner Matt Swint is taking a day job to expand his culinary expertise and feed his family. Matt had to reluctantly drop out of that Food Pod and out of the mobile food community. As soon as word spread of the demise of Per Zoot, within a day, it was decided that That Food Pod would serve as a fund raiser to #SaveTheShortBus (for you twitter heads out there). All tips from all vendors will go to the Short Bus Fund. Other vendors in the community that can not make it to That Food Pod will be donating tips as well. The goal, is to get the Per Zoot truck in operation again so that Matt can work some special events and occasional weekends to rebuild the war chest to keep Per Zoot in the mobile world.

I will defer to Caroline from That Food Truck to elaborate on this collaboration a bit more:

As we were adding trucks to our Food Pod, conversations were sparked on how to help PerZoot. Our hearts have been filled to know that so many were willing to put in their own hard-earned tip money to back a fellow colleague. We thank all of you who see the importance of community and the spirit of giving to help out others in need. After all, that’s what this food truck life is all about. It’s not easy, it’s not glamorous, and many hours of hard work go on behind the scenes to bring you all of your favorite street side cuisine. It tastes so good, cause it’s always done with love.

So come down with empty stomachs and charitable hearts. The Davidson Family Farms will be donating two 20 lb boxes of pork to be raffled off. Each box includes 5 lbs of sausage, 5 lbs of bacon, a 5 lb roast, and 5 lbs of pork chops. You will be able to buy your tickets this coming week for $1.00 to have a chance to win a box-o-pork. Yes, you must be at the truck pod to collect your winnings. Check our facebook page this week for details on the raffle. All proceeds will benefit PerZoot Truck.

So yes, you read that right – a raffle for pork. The Davidson Family Farm raises great grass-fed pigs and $1 chance to get 20 lbs of pork seems like a great deal to me. Your raffle and Tip money will go to help out a local business person and hopefully get Per Zoot back on the street sooner instead of later with his own locally raised pork served and prepared by the master pork loin crafter and chief dishwasher for Per Zoot, Mr. Matt Swint. It seems like a good cause to my biased eyes and I know Matt is a reluctant but deserving steward for tip money and pork proceeds.

Please come out Saturday night and bring as many people as you can.

Thanks