On Sunday, May 20th, we got to be a part of The Vegan Market in Somerville. This incredible community event was hosted by Katie Upchurch of Soy Much Brighter Candle Co. and Tamara Lyn of Striped Cat Metal Works. The event space at Warehouse XI was filled with stellar, shining plant-based vendors, sharing their food, art, homegoods, and beauty products to the huge and very enthusiastic crowds.
Bartleby’s joined up with the team from Food by Grubby’s to create a special seitan combo plate. Brie Swift, the fearless leader of Grubby’s, provided her now-famous seitan wings (which I happily scarfed down during the New England VegFest in April―so good!) and my team provided the nuggets. We were all blown away by the nonstop line of hungry customers. You were at least 30 devils deep the entire day!
My Favorite Thing
This was the first event I worked without my truck, and I learned a lot. It was way cool to be shoulder-to-shoulder with our customers, as opposed to communicating through the window of the truck. I felt like I was able to talk to so many more people and see so many more smiling faces. My favorite part of working in the food industry has always been serving people, and the Vegan Market reminded me of that. I loved that every time I handed someone their nuggets, their face lit up!
My Least Favorite Thing
The truck has two commercial-grade deep fat fryers installed to keep up with our demand. I couldn’t take my truck with those hearty appliances to the Vegan Market, so I had only one table-top fryer at my disposal (electrical power was shared, and so we could only drain so much before risking a blown fuse). This little fryer did the best he could, but it was slow going, especially compared to the pace we’ve become accustomed to in the truck. My least favorite part about working in the food industry is disappointing people. Even though we had prepped plenty of food for the day, our slowed pace prevented us from being able to serve everyone. I was heartbroken to have to turn away those patient folks who had been waiting in line for so long. I hope you can come find our truck on the streets and let me serve you hot, crispy, craggy nuggets, fast and with plenty of sauce, just the way Bartleby intended.
Lesson Learned
I’m committed now to ensuring that my setup can serve each person that arrives to eat with us, and to serve them the best food that I can make. It doesn’t matter if that’s in the truck, at a table, or on a boat (cause who doesn’t want to eat nuggets on a boat?). I still have a lot to learn about electrical hook-ups, and I think now I will push to bring my truck to events whenever possible. I love that truck, all the equipment in it, all the food I serve out of it, and all you hungry devils that gobble it up.