DETAILS
The Food Trucks Are Coming!
Sunday June 17 from 1 to 5 p.m.
St. Albert Grain Elevator Park, 4 Meadowview Dr.
Organized by Arts and Heritage St. Albert
Attendance is by donation and attendees are kindly requested to bring a non-perishable food item to help boost the Fill-A-Truck effort to benefit the St. Albert Food Bank (sponsored by
Ron Hodgson Chevrolet Buick GMC).
Food trucks featured include:
Call 780-460-4310 or visit www.artsandheritage.ca for more information.
- Dedo's Food Truck & Catering
- Drift Eatery
- Explore India Food Truck
- Incredible Edibles Catering
- Jack's Burger Shack
- The Lemon Grass Grill
- Meat Street Pies
- Orbit Food Truck
- Smachno Ukrainian House
- The Crooked Fork
- Rapscallions Food Truck
- Cookie Love Machine
- DaVinci Gelato
- Go Nuts 4 Donuts Food Truck
Food trucks aren’t new but they have become a strong presence in St. Albert and elsewhere for nearly a decade now, and there’s no sign of them or our hunger for them abating any time soon.
Proof: just come down to the Grain Elevator Park Sunday June 17. The annual Food Trucks Are Coming festival is a perennial signal of Father’s Day, of summer, and of the city’s insatiable appetite for diverse, contemporary food offerings in a traditional atmosphere. It’s like the Taste of Edmonton except in St. Albert. It’s like a new trend with a hint of the ‘days of yore’ for its spirit.
“When we first talked about doing this, I thought the same thing: what’s the big deal about food trucks? But in St. Albert, it’s unique. It’s like an old-fashioned community picnic. That makes it a little different from other places,” said event head Shari Strachan.
“It’s definitely St. Albert when you’re at the Grain Elevator Park. It’s all over the grain elevators. It’s got that historic feel. It’s got picnic spaces. It’s got people meeting each other. I’m just amazed at how many people walk in the gate and then say, ‘I haven’t seen you for so long.’ It really is an old-fashioned country feel. That’s what I’ve discovered about what’s unique about the food truck events in St. Albert. It does take us all back to the big ol’ community picnics they use to have in town.”
There will certainly be throngs of hungry heritage lovers on site for the event, which will feature more than a dozen food trucks purveying foods from all over the world. The flavours might be international but some of these trucks – such as Dedo's Food Truck, Jack's Burger Shack, and Da Vinci Gelato – call St. Albert home.
Dedo's began in 2014 after Syrian refugees Ranya Abu Jaib and her husband Tarek Selek settled here with their children and wanted to introduce people to their culture through its cuisine. Their menu includes savoury fatoush and falafel as well as delectable baklava, a true delight, plus they have the best shawarma in town, hands down. Their food truck is a busy one, hitting spots all over the Edmonton area, but it’s coming back here that really makes things worthwhile for them.
“We love seeing our customers who became friends to us and doing events in St. Albert gives us that opportunity,” Abu Jaib said, adding that Sunday will be extra special as it is Fathers Day, which means that the event will be filled with families enjoying the day together.
“The grain elevator event is an awesome event that brings people and food together. It's like going to a food court where you can try different kinds of food and taste others but in the street where also you can enjoy some live music and some fun stuff for the kids, and especially get along with friends while sampling food. It's lots of fun to see our community get together.”
Yvonne Irnich, the CEO and gelatiera of DaVinci Gelato in Riel Park, totally agrees. Yvonne Irnich, the CEO and gelatiera of DaVinci Gelato in Riel Park.
“The Grain Elevator Food Truck event is one of my favorite events every year. We have been a part since day one and we love the great vibe of the community there. It is so relaxed and has something to offer for everyone – young and old,” she said, adding that it’s a great way to promote their St. Albert-based wholesale and retail gelato business.
“The food truck is a great way to connect with our customers and offer some unique flavors, which are not available all the time. I want to show that great taste and texture can come from the simplest and purest ingredients.”
Considering that the forecast is calling for a sunny weather around 25C, it’s probably a safe bet that DaVinci will have a decent queue. The business offers a wide variety of dairy-free and vegan flavours for all discerning palates.
Cookie Love calls itself Edmonton's favourite cookie shop and it’s hard to disagree, especially when your mouth is full of oatmeal-raisin goodness just like mom used to make.
Co-owner Mike Stone praised organizers for making sure that everything is well-run and welcoming to all guests and food trucks from the capital city. They’ve been at every one of these events and have nothing but good things to say.
“St. Albert has really supported all of us. You can tell, as near the end of the evening, most of us are sold out of food,” he said.
He added that Cookie Love doesn’t usually participate in events where a fee is involved but, with the grain elevators right there, he can tell that the money is being put to good use.
Any superior food truck event just wouldn’t be the same without green onion cakes. Thankfully, Rapscallions will be there to make sure that gap is filled with a variety of ‘GOC’ offerings including Thai chicken and roasted pork belly.
“Like the other food truck events that we have participated in, the Food Trucks Are Coming event provides another opportunity for Rapscallions to share our unique twist on the green onion cake,” said co-owners Sim and Steve Wong. “We love the location that showcases the history and heritage of Alberta and St. Albert. This is a perfect backdrop for us, as without grains we wouldn't have the flour needed for green onion cakes.”
They also have gluten-free scallion rice rolls, as well as spring rolls and mango pudding to top things off.
Meat Street Pies is another Edmonton business that is thrilled to be back in St. Albert. Thea Avis said that this will be their third year in a row.
"St. Albertans seem to particularly love our pies possibly because there's an older generation who come to our truck, remembering pies from their childhood," she said.
"Shortly after starting the truck, we discovered that what we were selling was nostalgia. Bringing back childhood memories is part of the charm of our truck as well as the tastiness of the pies, which we make from scratch - every one by hand."
Their signature pie is the Cornish Pasty but they have the standards too, along with two new additions: the Salmon Wellington and the Cheese, Onion and Potato Pasty.
"The pastry gets outstanding reviews and the fillings are no less wonderful. We've become the #3 truck on the Street Food Edmonton App and out of 129 trucks, that's pretty special. We love our customers and they love us."
More than food too
Enjoy the festive atmosphere with live musical performances all afternoon by local talent including Sean Presiloski and others. In between or after you’re done eating, you and the kids can take part in old-fashioned games and crafts at the Penny Carnival and take in guided tours of the historic grain elevators. St. Albert Urban Agriculture Conservation will offer planting demonstrations, the Art Gallery of St. Albert will have special Father’s Day gift art project activities, and the St. Albert Public Library's Community Outreach Van will be there with story time with kids, good books to devour and information on their programs too. David’s Tea will also be handing out samples of hot and cold teas throughout the afternoon.
And a little teaser for dessert
If you can’t make it out tomorrow, wait till the end of August when the food trucks will return to the grain elevator park to close out the summer. That event will run from 4 to 8 p.m. on Friday August 31 and will include beer gardens too.
