Downtown Miami :: Food Trucks

So I thought food trucks were only a LA/NYC thing... Wrong!

It looks like Miami has caught on to the meals on wheels as well. Aileen, Andrew and I made it downtown and checked out the food truck buffet, if you will. There was a total of 15 -give or take- to choose from... And as much as we wanted to try it all, there was no way our tummy's could handle it. We did our best to pick and choose the "specialties" of a few trucks. I took pictures, but with it being evening time and forcing me to use the flash - I'll keep them to myself aka my i.photo album. Below are just a couple shots of the trucks in Miami :)

Grilled Cheese Truck

So.Happy.

One of the best days of my trip so far... Spending the afternoon with Brooke; grilled cheese(s) and chit chats. Eating and talking, the 2 things we've always done best ;)

DIY Sandwich

My favorite : Havarti + Tomato + Basil + Honey

*First blogged on my Powersnet account

Coral Tree Cafe, Brentwood

Another, "Buh-bye see you later" meal... This time, with Corde in her 'hood. Location: Coral Tree Cafe.

I guess our "see you later" turned out to be "later" than planned... We are literally switching continents for the exact same duration on the exact same week in August. #badtiming

Fluffer-Bummer

Ok, so I have to write just a little bit more about The Grilled Cheese Truck experience... Remember how excited we were about getting the free fluffer-nutters? Welllll to our disappointment, they weren't anything to get hyped about. When it was time for our dessert sandwiches, we took a bite into our fluffer-nutters and the result? Puzzled faces. Were we biting into 2 pieces of bread stacked on top of one another? That's what it tasted like... The spreadings of peanut butter and marshmallows were so incredibly thin that there was barely any hint of dessert notes in the sandwich. We ended up putting the sandwiches back in their silver/blue packaging and gave it to the Venice homeless... I guess people overheard our decision because they too came over and asked if we could give their fluffer-nutters to the homeless. Of course we could!

So I hate talking smack about the GCT, but this story has a happy ending :) The GCT tweeted about their fluffer-nutters later in the evening asking for feedback. I was going back and forth deciding on whether or not to tell them about our experience. I thought, "You know what... If this was my business, I would want to know about the good, the bad and the ugly." I went ahead and told them about our fluffer-nutters and no kidding, in less then 5 minutes I got a reply from co-owner Dave. He apologized for the fluffer-nutters and told me to let him know when we would be at the truck next so that he could take care of us. Can you say **FANTASTIC CUSTOMER SERVICE** The Grilled Cheese Truck is the real deal and I can't wait to go back for more!

Must try: Cheesy Mac 'n Rib, Caprese Melt

The Grilled Cheese Truck

My life is complete. I finally got to try The Grilled Cheese Truck! After following them on Twitter, stalking their Twitpics and visiting the website often, I now understand what all the melt is about.

We -all 5 of us- get to The Brig at 8pm sharp per the schedule online. No truck to be seen. That's it, I refresh my Twitter and see what the deal is. The GCT tweets that they are running a tad bit late... But to make the lateness excusable, they're giving away fluffer-nutters to the first 15 people in line who say, "Cheese." The cheese-mobile rolls into the parking lot and we manage to get behind 3 people; we're all guaranteed fluffer-nutters! As the GCT crew take some time to setup, we contemplate our orders. 2 sandwiches? 1 sandwich, 1 side? 1 sandwich, 2 sides? Anxious to try the food already, our appetites are growing by the second. We reminisce about grilled cheese memories, discuss mac 'n cheese preferences, learn what a fluffer-nutter actually is and drool over the sound of tater tots. To make this easy, I will summarize our tall order.

Patti: Caprese Melt, Mac 'n Cheese, Tater Tots, Fluffer-Nutter

Ana: "Plain & Simple" Cheddar + Bacon, Tater Tots, Fluffer-Nutter

Chad: Cheesy Mac 'n Rib, Tater Tots, Fluffer-Nutter

Gavin: Cheesy Mac 'n Rib, "Plain & Simple" American, Tater Tots, Tomato Soup, Fluffer-Nutter

Mike: Cheesy Mac 'n Rib, "Plain & Simple" Cheddar, Mac 'n Cheese, Tomato Soup, Fluffer-Nutter

When all 12 melts and accompanying sides arrive, we are joyous! ...And here I am trying my best to capture visuals [aka pictures] before the sandwiches vanish. I'll admit, the pictures could be much much better; to my disadvantage the lighting wasn't favorable and everyone's hunger-mode got the best of the food before my Canon did. It's alright though, we all enjoyed our sammies and are on a mission to try more trucks together :)

Follow The Grilled Cheese Truck on Twitter @ www.twitter.com/grlldcheesetruk

Gavin & Mike's photo op while Chad & Ana hold our place in line

Mac 'n Cheese - it was cheesy and creamy with a kick of spice, we couldn't figure out what it was...

"Plain & Simple" American

Cheesy Mac 'n Rib [macaroni and cheese with bbq pork sandwiched between 2 slices of bread]

Caprese Melt [fresh mozzarella, heirloom tomatoes, basil, balsamic syrup]

Caprese Melt

Topping of my tots with some ketchup! Thanks!

Pre-Melt

Ever since I started following The Grilled Cheese Truck on Twitter, their Twitpics have been enticing my taste buds like WOAH. I'm a sucker for a toasted, buttery, ooey gooey grilled cheese sammy! I'm very much waiting for the cheesyness to hit the road and melt on over...

Follow The Grilled Cheese truck on Twitter @ www.twitter.com/grlldcheesetruk

Say, "Cheeesseee!"

As much as I want to say Jon and I were experimenting and "accidentally" put together this "non-traditional" grilled cheese sandwich, I gotta give credit to the lady herself, good ol' Oprah. On the Oprah's Sandwich Showdown episode, her bff Gayle travels across the US of A to taste test Esquire magazine's compilation of the best sandwiches in the country.

Jon and I being the foodie couple that we are, wanted to replicate Greg Rayner's version of grilled cheese that he serves at Cafe Muse in Royal Oak, Michigan. The secret ingredients we used were havarti cheese and organic basil, tomatoes and honey. Try it - you will see why it made the list!

Slice up the tomatoes

Chop the basil

Butter your bread

Place it in the pan butter side down

Add the cheese, basil and tomato

Drizzle honey over the cheese

Flip the 'wich

Ta-da!!

To see the published recipe, click here

To see more of Gayle's Great Sandwich search, click here

To see Esquire's compilation, click here