October is the fourth-annual Dining Month on OnMilwaukee.com. All month, we're stuffed with restaurant reviews, delicious features, chef profiles, unique articles on everything food, as well as the winners of our "Best of Dining 2010."
To really understand the concept of The Fast Foodie, the latest player in the ever-expanding local street food game, is to first understand the concept of the globaco.
Simply put, the globaco is what you get when you combine the words "global" and "taco." More specifically, the arrival of the globaco to Milwaukee means the chance to eat international cuisine on your lunch break (if you happen to be in proximity to the truck, that is.)
The idea came to owner Jackie Valent a couple years ago as the food truck trend began its explosion.
"Everyone was talking about the Kobe Korean barbecue truck in L.A., which is an interesting fusion dish and I thought, let's take it 10 times further and let's focus on global cuisine."
That, she did. The globacos at The Fast Foodie make up an eclectic menu, with dishes representing Jamaican, Puerto Rican, Austrian, German, Korean, Italian and Indian flavors. The Big Sexy, for example, combines fried pork cubes marinated in Adobo, Puerto Rican rice and fried plantains. The Jamaican Me Crazy mixes curried beef and rice with hot sauce and broccoli slaw.
As a self-described "life-long foodie" with culinary training and experience in the restaurant business, Valent personally contributed to the menu, then rounded it out with family recipes collected from a diverse group of friends. The menu, she says, is subject to rotation as new, fresh ideas come in from customers. She'll also create specials based on what she can source locally and seasonally.
The price points range between $2 and $3 per globaco. And don't forget to get an order of the Belgian frites with a variety of dipping sauces like curry ketchup and wasabi mayonnaise.
Because of the sheer size of her operation -- a pickup truck pulls a 24-ft. trailer -- you won't find the Fast Foodie truck on the busy streets of Downtown at bar time on the weekends. There's simply no room. Instead, she'll commit to locations at various business parks within Metro Milwaukee. Customers will be able to check her schedule via her Web site, Twitter and Facebook as well as suggest new locations.
And Valent's late-start to the general food truck season -- she launched this October -- doesn't matter; she plans to be out all year-round.
"Part of the reason our trailer is so big is because we built out a bathroom in there. We also have heat and air conditioning -- we can get through anything."
During cold weather she says customers will have the option to order online and have Fast Foodie deliver.
OnMilwaukee.com staff writer Julie Lawrence grew up in Wauwatosa and has lived her whole life in the Milwaukee area.
As any “word nerd” can attest, you never know when inspiration will strike, so from a very early age Julie has rarely been seen sans pen and little notebook. At the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee it seemed only natural that she major in journalism. When OnMilwaukee.com offered her an avenue to combine her writing and the city she knows and loves in late 2004, she knew it was meant to be. Around the office, she answers to a plethora of nicknames, including “Lar,” (short for “Larry,” which is short for “Lawrence”) as well as the mysteriously-sourced “Bill Murray.”
