Wisconsin Foodie

Funky Fresh | Food Trucks

– This week on Wisconsin Foodie:
[food sizzles]

– Trueman McGee: I love when people look, like, Funky Fresh Spring Rolls, what is that?
[melodic music]

And then it becomes an education, give them a sample, give them hugs.

It sucks gaining weight, man, makes you heavier. That’s probably the biggest mission for me, is to show people you can eat healthier foods, and it can be just as good as the junk foods you love.

– I don’t think there’s a better way to spend a weekend than at a food truck festival. We’ve got food trucks from Sheboygan, Oshkosh, Green Bay. We’re going to go check out a couple of the food trucks, and we’re going to be pairing them with the wines that come from this unbelievable winery. When it all comes together, it’s food truck perfection.

– Narrator: Wisconsin Foodie would like to thank the following underwriters for their support:

The Dairy Farmers of Wisconsin are proud to underwrite Wisconsin Foodie and remind you that in Wisconsin we dream in cheese. crowd cheering: Just look for our badge. It’s on everything we make.

Employee-owned New Glarus Brewing Company has been brewing and bottling beer for their friends only in Wisconsin since 1993. Just a short drive from Madison, come visit Swissconsin, and see where your beer is made.

Milwaukee’s landmark art deco hotel offers luxury accommodations, legendary hospitality, and world-class dining. Paired with the hotels roaring ’20s vibe makes The Ambassador a must-experience destination.

From production to processing, right down to our plates, there are over 15,000 employers in Wisconsin with career opportunities to fulfill your dreams and feed the world. Hungry for more? Shape your career with these companies and others at FabWisconsin dot com. Society Insurance. Small details. Big difference.

Edible Milwaukee magazine.

Also, with support of the Friends of Wisconsin Public Television.
[light jazz music]

[car passes]

[chickens cackling]

[drink filling]

[chopping vegetables]

[fruit popping]

[meat sizzling]

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[conversation in background]
[sizzling]

– We have all the flavor. No sugar though. I don’t even own sugar.

Two things I don’t even have in my kitchen, sugar or a deep fryer.

The biggest mission for me for Funky Fresh is to show people that you can eat healthier foods and it can be just as good as the junk foods you love. You know, you just got to make it a certain way. And, like, dude, you’ll make a cheeseburger healthy and delicious. You make a spring roll– not deep-fried– baked, or grilled, healthy and delicious. You don’t have to deep-fry everything, okay? It’s fun, but it hurts. Hurts in the long run. When you try to climb a rope at 7 AM, it hurts.

This time, getting in shape is going to be the toughest time ever. Before, I worked out three, four times a day. I probably ate as much as I do now. It’s just, I’m always burning calories. But now, we got Funky Fresh, I’m working close to 80 hours a week, trying the food all the time.

– Shannon Vick: Can I just say, if you ever need, like, anybody to taste food, I’d be…

– You know what? That’s not a bad idea. I’m just going to let you get into it.

– Let me get in on it.

– ‘Cause you in the gym, you’re burning–

– I’m in the gym.

– I started wrestling, like, summer of 8th Grade. Wrestling was the beginning of me wanting to be in shape, and also, the food journey too because you had to make weight. So, I’ll always be, like, making healthier meals in high school. So, all of that started then, I just didn’t know how to cultivate it. I left high school, I became a sheet metal worker. It seemed safe. I did it for 10 years. And I just… I just didn’t love it. I liked it. The money was good. But … Got led back to food. You know, the universe is like, “No, you’re going to be a chef if you like it or not”
[laughs]
[bell rings]

– [huffs]

It sucks gaining weight man, makes you heavier. Who would’ve thought?
[subdued music]

My mom, she is amazing at everything in life and she would make her egg rolls, and I just took one of her initial recipes and I used it differently. I just didn’t deep-fry it. I grilled it in extra-virgin olive oil. Then, I’m like, “Hey, why don’t you just put “whatever you want in ’em, you know, more healthier, quality ingredients.” So, I was already playing with the sweet potato and black bean mixture. I would use it for a wrap, or for a burrito, for a quesadilla,

and I thought that, man, this would go good inside this egg roll. So, I put it inside the egg roll, I freaking loved it. I let my parents try it. My dad, who is like the biggest carnivore on planet Earth, he loved this sweet potato and black bean egg roll, so, I would just make it for my family, make it for some of my clients, and then I did a little research and I found out that spring roll wrappers are less calories than egg roll wrappers and they were cheaper so I’m just like, all right. I started using spring roll wrappers. I did the same cooking techniques,

baked it or grilled it on the stove top, and it was just even better.

You know, I never thought about it as being an actual business, I just thought, all right, this is cool. I could make it for parties, make it for clients, and then once I started to sell it to clients, they loved it and, then that’s when the wheels start turning about, all right, I can make this an actual business. So, today, we got a brand new, I call it a taco spring roll. So, with taco, we got a chili lime chicken, black beans, tomatoes, cilantro, and a mix of mozzarella and sharp cheese. I can say, at the farmer’s market outside, we grill ’em. At the store, we bake ’em. And I just drizzle a little bit of olive oil, and that’s it, not much. And then I just coat the rolls up in the oil.

Boom. Now we wait.
[laughs mischievously]
[distant clattering]

It’s about eight thirty Sunday morning,

getting ready to head to the Shorewood Farmer’s Market.

This is why you should work out kids.
[grunts and growls]
[sighs]
It doesn’t get easier lifting up 200 pounds of spring rolls.
[jovial music]
Boom.
[grunts]

All right, so.
[banging]

We’re on the route now.

Farmer’s markets have slightly changed its dynamic from traditionally being a place where you just getting fresh fruits, local produce. It’s become a place where people gather and eat food, find their favorite food vendor, you know?

You know, we started at the farmer’s market, and I would just encourage anybody who start a business to start there. That’s where you get so much market research done where people are going to inquire about it, you could have face-to-face interactions with people. The thing when you’re at that level, it’s so grassroots and so organic. ‘Cause people relate to people.
[sizzling]

I love when people look like, Funky Fresh Spring Rolls, what is that? And then it becomes the education. Give them a sample, give them hugs. And then, they’re stalking you all around the city. No matter how big we get, how many locations we have, we will always continue to do farmer’s markets. So, from the farmer’s markets, people inquire about, hey, do you like to cater? Do you sell these frozen? Whatever. So, pretty much, the farmer’s market avenue opened up all different other opportunities. You know, essentially, got us enough following, enough business where we could open up our first brick and mortar. We actually got a second location coming within the next six weeks.

Got a sample of the buffalo chicken, if anybody’d like to try.

– Thank you.

– So good, especially if this was the first thing you ate today.
[customer laughs]

– It’s like super good.

– Sweet potato, black bean.

– I definitely see myself as an inspiration to the youth, to you know what, you can take an idea, take a dream, or even your dream, and you could chase it and you can literally do it, you know, it’s nothing, you know, holding you back but yourself. If I could do it, you could do it. And I feel like I’m not even, like, good. I’m like, I got so far to go before I’m, like, actually good at this. Like, if I can kind of do it where I’m at right now as a novice, like, you definitely can do this.
[dramatic music]

[sizzling]
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[laughing]

– Morning.

– Greg Lee: What I love about food trucks is the simplicity of it. I love how you can see a truck, that is, you know, just mac and cheese, just gyros,

just pancakes, and you could really, really get laser sharp, as you’re just doing one thing thousands and thousands of times over, you get better at doing it.

When I moved back from Los Angeles, and I saw the rise of the food trucks out there, and I knew that it was going to be something big here, and so I moved back, and I wasn’t really sure what I was going to do, but there was no gyros around here, and being Greek, gyros and Greek food is just so important to us that I decided to make a truck and just make one really, really, really good gyro.

I found an old U-Haul truck and I asked my dad, “Hey, dad, you think we can build a kitchen “inside of this U-Haul?” and his answer was, “Yeah, of course, we can.” So, I just started going and parking on street corners, and people were like, “What is this?” Food in a truck, and half of them were like, “Oh, disgusting, how could quality food be in a truck?” and half of them are like, “Oh, my God, it’s finally reached Sheboygan.”

Being in Wisconsin, I knew that having cheese on most of our items is going to be really important, so I throw a ton of feta on there, and throw saganaki cheese on there, and I just give everybody really big portions, ’cause I know that that’s important too. I don’t want anyone to leave here hungry.
[exotic folk music]
[laughing]

– That looks good.

– Jason Cherney: Barbecue is a passion of mine. The beautiful thing about this right now is it’s a family affair, so I’ve got my son working, my daughter working, my wife, my brother, my parents, they’re all helping out. I like the venue. My wife likes wine, so we got a good trade-off. I just like the people that come here. Blind Horse is a fantastic event. This whole process for me started back in 2013, and now we’re doing events like this on the weekends when we have time. We both do work full-time, so this is weekend work for us right now, but… it is what it is, you know, you do your best to plan. Our business model’s a little more difficult with doing barbecue. We can’t just fire another brisket on midway through the afternoon.

It takes a lot longer than say, egg rolls, or burgers, or something like that, but, if you can’t find something here that you like, then there’s probably something more wrong with you than anything else, ’cause it seems like they’ve got everything covered.
[playful folk music]

– Jessica Bell: I don’t think there’s a better way to spend a weekend than at a food truck festival. Now, this is a cross-section of Wisconsin. We’ve got food trucks from Sheboygan, Oshkosh, Green Bay, and we’re going to be pairing them with the wines that come from this unbelievable winery. We’re going to go check out a couple of the food trucks, grab some wine, and have some fun. Hey, Tom.

– Hi, how are you?

– Good, I’m ready to get started. So, I’m thinking a nice, light, crisp white.

– Why don’t we try sauvignon blanc?

– Jessica: Okay.

– I think that would be perfect.

– Jessica: Serve me up. Where is this from?

– This is unique ’cause it’s a blend of two different regions. It’s Walla Walla region in Washington state, as well as Suisun Valley in California.

– It is the perfect summer day wine.

– It hits, absolutely.

– It just wets the palate.

– It’s making me hungry.

– With the acidity in the fruit that you have in here, the grapefruit, the citrus, I think that would go absolutely wonderful with tuna poke.

– Jessica: Definitely. I’ll check it out and let you know what I think.

– Tom Nye: Fantastic.
[dreamy island music]

– Hi

– Amanda Trenbeth: Hi, and welcome.

– I’ve been recommended to come and see you.

– Smart people.

– ‘Cause I hear you guys have tuna poke,

– We do.

– Jessica: Which is new, right?

– We just debuted yesterday. It’s in a snow cone, so you can kind of walk around the festival with a glass of wine in one hand and a poke snow cone in the other.

– Okay, now I need to make sure that you think it’s a good pair. Might give it a smell. I’m sure you’re thirsty, it’s a hot summer day.

– What do you got in here?

– Just a little sauvignon blanc, from Walla Walla in California.

– Ooh, I love it. Little bit of the minerally, I’m going to go a little bit heavier on the white tuna in your poke.

– Jessica: All right.

– Jessica

– Ooh

– Poke snow cone

– Both: Heavy on the white tuna.

– Amanda: There’s also a blueberry red wine reduction on there featuring those Zinfandels in the winery.

– Fantastic.

Okay, so I’ve got my sauvignon blanc, nice citrus which, if you think about tuna poke, it’s raw tuna right, so, this is gorgeous, it’s got avocado, it’s got a reduction of the Zinfandel with a little roe on top. I’m just going to dig in here and just get a great, big, tasty bite here.

Mm, wow. Love it. I love how they’ve taken inspiration from the winery here and included it as one of their ingredients with the reduction. And now we’re going to see the true test, how it pairs, right? I call it revisiting the wine. It sounds a lot more sophisticated and technical than just downing the wine, so.

This is the perfect first course for a food truck park. I couldn’t imagine a better way to start the day.
[dreamy island music]

Tom, you hit it out of the park.

– How’d you like that?

– It was awesome.

– Great, great.

– I’m ready for round two, though.

– Let me recommend a Zinfandel for you. It’s fruity. It’s not overly tannic so the fruit is forward. That’s what’s going to be the star on this.

– Where is this zin from?

– So, this is from Lodi, California which is where some of the best zin in the country comes from.

– Mm, great for a hot day. It’s got tons of fruit, it pops with that dark fruit, but it’s not heavy or cloying, I feel like I could, yeah, I could drink a whole bottle of this.

–
[laughs]

That’s great.

– I’m going to go grab those fries and try it out.

– Tom: Fantastic.
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– Hey Jeff, I’ve been told your cowboy fries are amazing.

I’m thinking it’ll go really well with the Zinfandel.

– The cowboy fries have just a real wide range of flavors from the pork to the fries, and then we have the cheese, and then onions and jalapeos.

– Jessica: Keep layering it on, I love it.

– Jeff Ellis: The best way to have it is with everything on there. Sriracha ranch, amazing on the fries.

– Jessica: Sold. I am sold on that.

– Jeff: It is very good.

– So, I will take one of your award-winning cowboy fries.

– All right. Sounds good.
[laughs]

– Andra, I need those cowboy fries.

The sriracha ranch, everything in the sriracha ranch. All right.

– Jessica: Whoa.

– And here you are.

– Oh my… This is amazing.

– Yeah, we’re very excited.

– I’ve got a Zinfandel.

– Jeff: Yeah?

– Jessica: You want to smell it for me? You could take a sip.

– I would go with the–

– I’m all about sharing. It’s from Blind Horse Winery. It’s pretty good right?

– It’s very good. It’s better than.
[Jessica laughs]

– Jeff: Yeah, that is really good.

– Jessica: Congratulations on the best appetizer of the festival.

– Thank you very much.

– Yeah.

– Thank you.

– I can’t wait to dig in. Wow, now this is a second course. What I love about food truck food, is every bite is different, right? It’s not necessarily about the most beautiful, pristine presentation. It’s about putting amazing ingredients together that each bite you might grab a different amount of onion, or a different amount of jalapenos, or pork. Can you see that gooey-ness?

Mm. Mm, oh, my gosh. Your senses just kind of go on fire for a bit, and they make you want to dive in. But … I’m gonna take a little sip first. Now what’s going to happen here is the jalapeno is really heating up the spices for me, and as soon as I take a sip of the Zinfandel, it’s going to light it on fire. ‘Cause alcohol’s going to make anything spicy taste even spicier.

Mm… yup. When it all comes together, it’s food truck perfection.
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– In 2015, I backpacked Europe, and I fell in love with the gelato in Italy. Then, I realized Wisconsin has all the milk and cream I could want, and I said all right, fine, this sounds like a great idea, so how do I learn to do it. I went to Gelato University in Italy. I studied there in 2016 for about two and a half months. Learned everything from the basics to the advanced courses, making gelato completely from scratch.

Gelato is very scientific. There’s a lot of math into it. A recipe on paper takes me about three and a half hours to make it and then from there I have to make it in the machine. If it works, great. If it doesn’t, I’m always adjusting. So today this event is a two-day event and I’m going on about six days in preparation alone just for this weekend.

It’s kind of fun. I can literally take any ingredient and make whatever I want. So, what can I put together? A couple of new recipes this early spring were a mango avocado, we brought today a caramel-drizzled root beer. My personal favorite, the raspberry pistachio I’ve made is very, very good. There’s so many. Literally, they’re endless. When I first started, gelato wasn’t really prevalent in the area, so in order to bring it to people, I had to bring it on wheels. We do the Green Bay farmer’s market every Wednesday night. We do mostly catering, a lot of private events. We bounce around, we’re kind of all over the place. I love it. It’s literally my life.
[laughs]

– Jessica: Hey, Kathy.

– Hey.

– I brought the martini to you.

– All right.

– Do you want to have a sip for inspiration?

– Kathy Turek: I do kind of.

– [laughs] Inspiration is key.

– Don’t tell my boss. Oh, wait, that’s me.

– Oh, you are the boss.

– Yeah, that’s me.

– I love it.

– All right let’s trade.

– I’ll trade you. One for one, okay, all right.

– We’ll trade. We’ll trade.

– Okay, blackberry lemon basil sorbet, and then raspberry pistachio ricotta gelato, all right?

– So excited.

– Kathy: All right, cheers.

– Cheers, man. That’s a good look for you by the way.

– Does it? Does it fit? I think I like it.

– Wow, how can you not enjoy this?
[laughs]

We’ve got the blackberry basil.

Mm.

The lemon pops out and then it just keeps going with the blackberries and you could actually crunch down on the blackberry seeds. I think she mentioned there was like six flats of blackberries that they used to make this sorbet.

So refreshing on a hot summer day. And then, this is the award-winning one. This is the ricotta gelato with fresh raspberry swirl and fresh pistachios on it.

Oh, my gosh. It just, it pops with flavor, and that’s when you know that you’ve got something special here. Oh, I almost forgot to pair this. I’m going to pair it.

Awesome. I wish I could make, like, my root beer float made of martinis and this gelato. Like that would just be… heaven.
[upbeat music]

The end of another glass means the end of another day. So, unfortunately, all good things come to an end, but we came here, we paired some unbelievable wines from Blind Horse Winery with some of the best food trucks from across Wisconsin. Now the good news is this is a semi-annual festival, so I’ll be back in a good six months to take my go at it again. Cheers.
[upbeat jazz music]

– One day Imma buy a blender, kind of enjoy hand-blending it sometimes too. I enjoy the little arm work-out too. My shoulders is feeling it.

Especially after dancing for three hours to Beyonc and Jay Z last night. Beyonc could do it, I could do it.

– So, I hope you’re ready for a good time. We’re going to go eat some wine.
[laughs]

– It’s a cross-section of Wisconsin, we’ve got food trucks from Sheboygan, Oshkosh, Sheboygan.
[laughs]

I’ve got the ricotta, I’ve got the fresh fuit.

Fuit. I got fresh fuit.
[laughs]

I don’t think I can do it anymore.
[laughs]

– Narrator: Wisconsin Foodie would like to thank the following underwriters for their support: The Dairy Farmers of Wisconsin are proud to underwrite Wisconsin Foodie, and remind you that in Wisconsin we dream in cheese. crowd cheering: Just look for our badge. It’s on everything we make.

Employee-owned New Glarus Brewing Company has been brewing and bottling beer for their friends, only in Wisconsin, since 1993. Just a short drive from Madison, come visit Swissconsin and see where your beer is made. Milwaukee’s landmark art deco hotel offers luxury accommodations, legendary hospitality, and world-class dining. Paired with the hotel’s roaring ’20s vibe makes The Ambassador a must-experience destination.

From production to processing right down to our plates, there are over 15,000 employers in Wisconsin with career opportunities to fulfill your dreams and feed the world. Hungry for more? Shape your career with these companies, and others at FabWisconsin dot com.

Society Insurance, Small details. Big difference. The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources.

The Central Wisconsin Craft Collective.

Something Special from Wisconsin. Illing Company.

Edible Milwaukee magazine.

Also, with support of the Friends of Wisconsin Public Television.

For more information about upcoming Wisconsin Foodie special events, dinners, and tours, please go to WisconsinFoodie dot com. There you can sign up for our mailing list to be the first to know about our events and offerings. Also, get connected with us through Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.
[jazz music]