from the lunch window: that cheesecake truck

food truck culture as told by Kevin from "that cheesecake truck"

I went to the Sweetz Cheesecake cheesecake food truck because I love cheesecake. Also, I needed to interview someone at a food truck. Also, there was no line. And the guy inside the truck seemed friendly enough. His name, as it turns out, was Kevin, and we got along famously (so famously that he gave me a free slice of toasted coconut cheesecake, which was incredible and everyone should go get some. Follow the truck at @Cheesecaketruc). I intended to film him during the interview, but he is the treasurer of the DC Food Truck Association (DCFTA) and felt uncomfortable speaking on camera in case he said anything questionable because, as he put it, “they will hear it and they will twist it, I know it.” Regardless of who “they” is, he still wanted to talk to me and answer my questions and was fine with being quoted in a written account of the interview, so here it is:

I started by asking Kevin about the recent proposed legislation that would regulate food truck parking in DC. As part of the DCFTA, he knew a lot about it, and pointed me towards the map posted on his truck’s window. Again, he didn’t want to say anything that could get him in trouble, but explained to me how the regulations would work. Basically, there are a ton of them and they’re very confusing and overlapping and involve a lot of numbers and distances and time frames. The part that he seemed most concerned with was that because (if the legislation passes) there will be less parking spots available then there are trucks, there will be a lottery system to determine which trucks get to sell food each day. If your truck isn’t picked, you don’t make money that day. That, he said, would be a huge challenge.

Kevin’s cheesecake food truck, however, is based out of a mother restaurant in Gaithersberg, Maryland, so if the truck doesn’t get out some days, they still sell cheesecake. I asked why, then, they have a truck at all, hoping to start breaching the topic of the purpose of food trucks in and of themselves. Kevin said “we just wanted to go to the customers.” Apparently lots of people were contacting Sweetz Cheesecake in Maryland, lamenting the absence of their cheesecake when they couldn’t get to the shop. So Kevin started the food truck. I asked how he decided where to go, hoping to get into the concepts of food deserts and how mobile restaurants make food more accessible. Kevin said, “of course to run a business you have to make money,” but as we continued our discussion about how food trucks in theory could help solve the problem of food deserts, he started telling me more about how food truck culture works.

Apparently, food truck owners (sometimes groups of them) look to up-and-coming neighborhoods to decide where to park and sell their cuisine. Kevin used the example of Farragut Square. He said, “five years ago, there was nothing there. We would go and try dinner there because we saw it developing.” And now it’s a bustling center full of food trucks during lunchtime (lunchtime is when the real money comes in – dinner is more for experimentation). So according to Kevin, food trucks can start popular culture. I thought it was the other way around: the food goes to where there are cool people. But actually, food truck owners, and especially ones in the DCFTA, strive to create these cultural centers through their businesses. They bring cool food that brings cool people.

Groups of food trucks have tried amping up other places, but not all results are successful. For example, Kevin told me about how ten trucks tried to develop in the NoMa (north of Massachusetts Ave.) area of DC, but got so few customers that they eventually stopped trying. However, the fact that food trucks are conscious of underdeveloped areas and want to see them (and help them) turn into more exciting neighborhoods made me hopeful and happy to hear. Lack of awareness about food deserts is not the problem – it’s just too complex of an issue for tiny trucks that need to turn a profit every day to solve alone. Maybe if legislation didn’t limit the parking – or maybe even expanded it – in certain areas of DC and trucks were forced to try some days in underdeveloped parts of DC, a Farragut Square moment might happen again. Just something to think about (and talk about. And ask about. Raise awareness!)

Anyway, this idea of food trucks as more of a cultural movement than money-making machines got us talking about “the greater good” that food trucks can serve. As it turns out, several trucks in the DCFTA, including Sweetz Cheesecake, donate a portion of their profit to charity, or give extra food to homeless shelters and soup kitchens. Kevin explained that the DCFTA gives 1-2% of profit to charity, and that every month the Sweetz Cheesecake truck donates 10% of their profit to a charity chosen mostly by – wait for it – customers! Part of the truck's logo says "where giving comes full circle." If that isn’t serving the community’s greater good, I don’t know what is. He said that they try to start with more food based charities, like Miriam’s Kitchen and Bread for the City, but that they have also donated to places like the WYMCA.

What I learned from this chat with Kevin is that the DCFTA is a serious organization that is thinking much bigger than “let’s make money off college kids.” They want to affect change. They want to develop places, and people, and their food is the vehicle (get it!? Food trucks??) for this change. If the legislation passes and parking regulations are enforced, I’m not too concerned for these guys, if they’re anything like Kevin. Today I learned that they are very smart people doing very smart things, through food. And also that Sweetz Cheesecake’s cheesecake is delicious.