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Yet another food truck — this one with ‘cue

May 17, 20134:14 p.m.

The food truck news. It never stops.

Now there’s news of a new barbecue food truck — Big Daddy’s Smoked Shack, owned by barbecue expert John Nielsen.

Back in 2009, Nielsen had a restaurant called  Big Daddy and Lil’ Mama’s Smoke Shack, which operated at 828 W. 11th in Riverside, the spot that now houses Squeezer’s Palace. That restaurant closed, but Nielsen has been dreaming about the food truck ever since.

Get your curly pig tail end over there.

Nielsen has converted a 24-foot RV into a mobile food truck, and he sets up from 4 to 9 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays at a spot at 4800 W. Central. Soon, he’ll expand his Saturday hours to 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Next Friday, May 24, he’ll also be open for lunch from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. at 1947 Founder’s Circle, near Via Christi on 21st Street just off K-96. He hopes to add more truck time as the business grows, and he’ll be updating followers as to his whereabouts on his Facebook page.

Big Daddy’s, which also caters, serves brisket, ribs, pulled pork, chicken, turkey and things such as smoked stuffed jalapenos and smoked mushrooms.

For more informaion, call 316-871-1438.

By Denise Neil | Tags: , Filed under Barbecue, Food trucks, Just opened | Comments

Hopperoni Express has hit the road

May 17, 201310:15 a.m.

The new Hopperoni Express food trailer has a wood-fired oven inside to bake pizzas on the spot.

Wichita Brewing Company & Pizzeria’s food trailer – the Hopperoni Express — went out for some test runs earlier this week and will return to the streets on Saturday.

The trailer is fitted with a full-sized wood-fired pizza oven and will park at various places, seven days a week, serving 1o-inch pizzas.  For the first few weeks, the truck’s manager — former kitchen manager Stephen Zinda — plans to take the trailer out once a day, either at lunch or dinner time. The location will be posted on the Hopperoni Express Facebook page. Eventually, he plans to have it out for both lunch and dinner daily.

For now, the trailer is offering two of Wichita Brewing Co. & Pizzeria’s best-known speciality pizzas: the Around the Horn, which is a supreme pizza, and the Gregorian Feast, topped with Italian sausage, roasted garlic, mushrooms, caramelized onions, mozzarella and red sauce. Patrons also can order single topping pizzas with items such as sausage, cheese, pepperoni or the restaurant’s signature hopperoni : pepeproni infused with hops.

The pizzas are $6 for a single topping or $8 for a specialty.

On Monday, the truck will be parked from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. in the parking lot of Brittany Center at 21st and Woodlawn. The following days’ schedules will be on the Facebook page soon.

Wichita Brewing Co. & Pizzeria is at 8815 W 13th St. For more information about both businesses, call 316-440-2885.

By Denise Neil | Tags: , Filed under Food trucks, Just opened, Pizza | Comments

Bid for foodie dream jobs at charity event

May 16, 20133:56 p.m.

Among the jobs up for auction at Friday’s event: A chance to learn how to brew like a master from River City Brewing Co. brewmaster Dan Norton, left.

After editing a brief I’d written about the Children’s Champions charity event, which raises money by auctioning off “dream jobs,” my co-worker Julie was skeptical.

She grew up working in her parents’ Chinese/American restaurant and said she definitely would not classify it as a dream job.

But she and I agreed that the foodie jobs being auctioned on Friday — including a chocolate-making lesson and beer-brewing instruction — might be a lot more fun.

The event is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. Friday at Botanica, 701 N. Amidon. Among the opportunities being auctioned are a chance to work a shift for the Flying Stove food truck and create a sandwich or burger for the menu; a chance to have a hands-on chocolate making experience with Cocoa Dolce’s Beth Tully; and the chance to go behind the scenes at River City Brewing Company and craft a beer with brewmaster Dan Norton.

The event will feature hors d’oeuvres provided by The Anchor, soup from Tanya’s Soup Kitchen and custard from Freddy’s Frozen Custard. Tickets are $75 at the event’s Facebook page.

Proceeds will go to help local children participating in Child Start’s head start programs.

Let me know if you win.

By Denise Neil | Filed under Uncategorized | Comments

Food truckers rallying again on Sunday

May 16, 201310:14 a.m.

The Flying Stove food truck

Wichita’s food truckers, headed up by the guys at the Flying Stove, have decided to start putting on monthly food truck rallies, usually on the last Sunday of the month.

This month, to avoid Memorial Day weekend, the truckers are gathering a Sunday early. The usual suspects, including the Flying Stove plus B.S. Sandwich Press, .SCakeface, Espresso To Go Go, and R&J Concessions will gather from noon to 3 p.m. Sunday at WaterWalk Pavilion. The rally is starting to attract festival-type concessionaires, too. This month, Bakerman Concessions, which specializes in cinnamon rolls, will join the crowd.

The gathering will also have live music, and representatives from the Kansas Humane Society will be there ready to perform on-site adoptions.

Expect the rally to grow in June. Two new trucks, The Hopping Pita and Let’m Eat Brats, have said they’d like to join in, too.

By Denise Neil | Tags: , , , , , , , Filed under Food trucks, Uncategorized | Comments

Battle of the Burger scheduled for September

May 15, 20132:39 p.m.

There’s a new food fundraiser in the works that will pit local burger cookers against each other in a Battle of the Burger.

The event, being planned by KETCH, will be Sept. 14 at the Old Cowtown Museum and asks restauratuers to bring their burgers to battle it out, both for a judges’ award and for a people’s choice title. At the moment, the organization is recruting restauratns to participate.

Those who are interested should must fill out a form, found here. They also can call Ashley at 316-38-8889.

They’ve asked me to be a judge. Hmmmm. Let me think for a minute yes.

By Denise Neil | Tags: Filed under Burgers, Fundraisers | Comments

Second annual Midwest Ribfest starts Thursday

May 15, 20139:42 a.m.

One of last year’s ribbers in action

The second annual Wichita Ribfest opens Thursday and will include three days of food from local vendors, music and activities.

The event will be set up just east of Intrust Bank Arena in Lot D, the city-managed parking lot at 777 E. Waterman. It’s open from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Thursday, Friday and Saturday.

Admission is $4 at the door, then attendees can choose to buy a barbecue meal from one of six national vendors setup inside the gate. Meals generally cost $10 and under and include sides.

All three days will include music by both local and national acts. The festival’s headliners are country acts Keith Anderson, who plays at 9 p.m. on Friday, and Phil Vassar, who performs at 4 p.m. Saturday. In all, 14 bands will perform by the festival’s end.

I was a rib judge last year and will be again this year. I’m currently fasting to prepare for Thursday’s 4:30 judge-a-thon, where I will join a panel choosing the best rib. Visitors also can vote for a “People’s Choice” winner.

There are also kids activities, a Pepsi Sport zone where people can test their athletic skills, and a video game den.

Half-price admission is available from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Thursday and Friday. Admission is free all day on Thursday for those with a Wichita River Festival button.

For a complete schedule, visit intrustbankarena.com or www.facebook/wichitaribfest.

By Denise Neil | Tags: Filed under Barbecue | Comments

Local breweries celebrating Craft Beer Week

May 13, 20133:18 p.m.

The annual Craft Beer Week, during which small breweries around the nation celebrate the art of  beer making, starts today and runs through Sunday.

This is the eighth annual Craft Beer Week, and two local breweries are celebrating it with activities and specials.

River City Brewing Company at 150 N. Mosley is starting week with the unveiling of six new beer taps, meaning that the brewery — which always has 10 beers on tap — from now on will have 16. From those taps, the brewery will pour the many beer concoctions it’s been experimenting with making during the past couple of years.

At 7 p.m. on Thursday, the brewery will participate in a nationwide toast to craft beer, and today, it’s debuting a White IPA, called Down Wit It IPA, that it made in a collaboration with Wichita Brewing Co & Pizzeria.

That brewery, which is at 8815 W. 13th St, also will be observing the week by tapping a different firkin of beer every night through Saturday.

For more information, call River City 316-263-2739at  or Wichita Brewing Co. & Pizzeria at 316-440-2885 .

By Denise Neil | Tags: , Filed under Beer | Comments

Molino’s Mexican Cuisine opens today

May 10, 20132:16 p.m.

Today is the day fans of the former Frida’s have been waiting for.

Mario Quiroz, who closed his Mexican restaurant Frida’s at 1580 W 21st St. in 2010, today is opening his new restaurant, called Molino’s Mexican Cuisine.

The restaurant is in the former Las Tias de Beto spot at 1064 N. Waco, right next to Juarez Bakery and has everything Frida’s used to have and then some. Included on that list are piratas, giant taco-thingies that you must try to believe.

The menu also features several new dishes, including a whole lot of enchiladas, tacos, authentic Mexican dishes and even cauliflower ceviche (you read that right), which I sampled on Thursday. It was awesome.

Hours are 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. daily. Stay out of my way on Monday, when I plan to be first in line for piratas at lunchtime.

By Denise Neil | Tags: , Filed under Just opened, Mexican food | Comments

Celeb chef Josh Marks at Ciao tonight, Thursday

May 8, 201310:35 a.m.

First Fabio. Now this?

Another celebrity chef is making a stop in Wichita this week. Josh Marks, who finished second on the third season of Fox’s show “MasterChef,” is in town right now and cooking at Ciao Italian Kitchen, 1720 N. Webb Road.

Marks, a 7-footer who played basketball in college, will be at a meet-and-greet from 6 to 9 p.m. tonight at the restaurant. Then, on Thursday, he’ll cook a four-course fundraising dinner that costs $70 a person. Spots are still available for that dinner and can be claimed by calling 316-613-2426 .

The restaurant will only be serving the four-course meal from 7 to 9 p.m. It will raise money for the Make a Sound project, a suicide-prevention program that Marks supports.

By Denise Neil | Tags: Filed under Chefs, Fundraisers, Italian food | Comments

Food truck of the week: BJ’s Smokeshack

May 7, 20134:04 p.m.

A look at some of BJ’s sizzling, smoky goodness

It’s raining food trucks.

Today, I heard from another set of truckers preparing to hit the road. Jennifer and Brad Vieux hope to get their BJ’s Smokeshack on the streets by the end of the year. (They already have a Facebook pageup and running.)

Brad is a longtime barbecue hobbyist whose meats are so good, he often sells them to friends and acquaintances. He’s employed as a business development director for a local aviation company and will keep his job. Jennifer will staff the truck with help from her 15-year-old daughter and mother-in-law, who’s about to retire.

The truck will serve items such as pulled pork, brisket, ham, ribs, chicken, and specialty sandwiches plus homemade sides. They’re currently searching for the perfect truck and plan to park it at various places around town. They’ll also set up at area festivals.

The couple recently attended a meeting of the local food truck community, where they were welcomed and encouraged by the owners of The Flying Stove, Cake Face and others, Jennifer said.

“We’ve talked about this forever,” Jennifer said. “And we thought, ‘You know what? This is a perfect time because food trucks are getting so popular.”

I’ll let you know when BJ’s Smokeshack is ready to roll.

By Denise Neil | Tags: , , Filed under Barbecue, Food trucks | Comments