It’s no secret that Food Trucks have re-defined the conventional dining out experience, making casual diners into adventurous foodies across the nation.
But these chefs on wheels have also paved the way for making alternative and delicious cuisine more accessible to the masses.
Brandon Mead, who started 2nd Sun Vegan (a mobile vegan yum truck) took a few moments to chit-chat with us before this weekend’s first ever Vegan Trucksgiving, which featured five major vegan vendors. Here’s what Mead had to say about food, wheels, and catering to Central Florida’s evolving palette:
JPF: What inspired you to open 2nd Sun Vegan?
MEAD: 2nd Sun was formed in early 2014 after visiting Soul Veg in Tallahassee, who started their amazing vegan business as a single food truck. It occurred to us that with all the amazing animal product free food in Orlando, the one thing [Orlando] was missing (at the time) was a vegan food truck. We wanted to fill that need.
JPF: What is your most popular dish right now?
MEAD: People seem to really like our buffalo and barbecue seitan bites, but we love to switch up our menu. Part of the fun is allowing the menu to form around what is in season or available locally. We also enjoy listening to the community and attempting requests. We are always eager to accept the challenge of “veganizing” any dish.
JPF: When did you realize that Central Florida had a demand for Vegan Cuisine?
MEAD: Times are changing, people are paying attention and becoming more conscious of where their food comes from. I went from seeing a dozen people at a Vegetarians of Central Florida potluck to closer to a hundred every month. As a community we can be very forward thinking and progressive.
JPF: Do you consider vegan cuisine to be inching towards the mainstream or still a niche market?
MEAD: I think vegan food has finally turned the corner of being a niche market. 2nd Sun has participated in several events that were not veg related and always gotten positive responses. Vegan is no longer scary word. People are realizing [vegan] food can not only taste good, it can taste damn good. This time last year there were zero vegan food trucks in Central Florida and now there are three, if that’s any indication of how popular vegan cuisine is becoming!
JPF: Could someone who is not Vegan or Vegetarian find something they’d enjoy?
MEAD: Absolutely! For a lot of us our focus is on making delicious food everyone can enjoy. The food we are offering is our own twist on traditional fare, and while we may exclude animal products from our ingredient list, we never sacrifice flavor.
2nd Sun can be found in the Mills 50 Market on alternating Tuesdays and Tasty Tuesdays in the Milk District. They also cater special events!
You can keep tabs on all the latest 2nd Sun happenings by following them on Twitter and Facebook.
One Fat Frog is a restaurant equipment dealer located in Orlando, Florida–not far from Universal Studios and Walt Disney World. We have a 100,000 square-feet facility that we have anything from ovens to sinks. If you just want one piece or want to outfit your entire restaurant, call us at (407) 480-3409 or visit us at 2416 Sand Lake Road in Orlando.