Yesterday I spent the afternoon sampling some of SoCal's finest roach coach delicacies at the First Annual
Palm Springs Food Truck Festival. I diligently watched my diet all week long and hoarded calories in order to maximize my food truck caloric intake. With over 60 Food Trucks in attendance, I didn't want to have to narrow it down.
Held on the grounds of the North parking lot ( really more of a giant dirt patch ) of the Spa Resort & Casino, the festival attracted thousands of hungry patrons to it's inaugural gathering. It was a gorgeous, cloudless day for some serious eating and we knew the local foodies would be out in full force. It's not everyday we get cool stuff like this in our neck of the woods. My husband & I made sure to arrive early since we knew the lines would get longer the later it got. And being familiar with the food truck scene from frequenting LA, it was a forgone conclusion that at some point in the day, the trucks would run out of food and pull up stakes.
We didn't have to wait in line long to get in, and thanks to a handy smartphone app our e-tickets were scanned right from my phone. Immediately we met up with Stephanie who had already been making the rounds, and she greeted us with a box of truffled popcorn. I couldn't bring myself to start the day with truffle so we headed off in search of something more breakfasty to ease us into the festivities. This turned out to be easier said than done, so I settled on a lovely slice of Boysenberry Pie from the Pie N' Burger truck. Crust was flaky and light, filling juicy and fresh, a winner. Everyone should start their day of debaucherous eating with a slice of Boysenberry Pie.
Next we moved on to the serious part, the meat and potatoes so to speak. The lines were starting to grow , especially at the more famous trucks like the ones featured on the Food Network or the ones with the most Twitter followers. The line for Guerrilla Fried Chicken at the Ludobites truck was 40 deep. We're not the world's most patient people so we skipped any truck with a line longer than 5 people. Instead we decided to divide and conquer and meet back up to share our finds. In trying to decide where to eat next, we made a couple of important observations. First - many of the trucks were only offering a limited menu, so you had to be pretty choosy. Second - there were no drinks to be found, anywhere. Turns out there were designated beverage stations being run by the local high school to raise money for their music program, nice. And third - things were PRICEY. The average cost for a single item was 8-10 dollars a piece. But the portions were also generous, and I suppose you are paying for the experience and their travel to be here, etc, but next year I would suggest the Trucks offer smaller portions at a lower cost so those of us who want to sample many trucks don't have to tap into our 401Ks. With a $10 per person admission and our goal of trying as many things as our stomachs could handle - it was proving to be an expensive afternoon.
Ok, back to the food. Mike and I waited in line side by side , he at the Piaggio on Wheels Truck and myself next door at Two for the Road, one of the first all-female run trucks in Southern California. Mike snapped up some Argentine fusion fare including chicken tacos, beef tacos and pulled pork sliders on Hawaiian bread with chimichuri and "pink sauce". I settled on crab cakes made with captain crunch drizzled with a spicy sauce. The kid in me just couldn't resist . We met up with Steph who by this time had snagged a batch of fresh sweet potato fries drizzled with some kind of blueberry sauce and crumbled goat cheese. We found the nearest rock ( did I mention there was absolutely no shade, or places to sit and eat ) and dug in on our first round. 
The crab cakes were enormous and seasoned just right. I'm usually not a huge fan of deep fried crab cakes since I fancy myself kind of a crab cake purist, but the sweetness and texture of these were improved by the cooking method. Mike enjoyed his tacos ( I wouldn't know if they were good, I didn't get to taste them ) and we all thought that the chimmichuri sliders were excellent, and a terrific value at $5 for 2. My personal favorite were Steph's goat cheese blueberry fries, holy cow. You might be seeing those on the Cork & Fork menu any day now. 
All of this got washed down with a classic festival treat - an E. & E. Pel's frozen lemonade. It just reminds me of my childhood and also really helped to cool us off in the blazing February sun ( what the heck is that all about ). I was starting to feel the first pangs of fullness, but I wasn't going to let that slow me down.
The next stop for me was the Rebel Bite Truck where I was promised a "grilled cheese sandwich with attitude". I ordered the #1, two giant slices of brioche stuffed with boneless beef short ribs in a sweet & spicy Korean bbq sauce and a variety of different cheeses. I almost pulled the trigger on the tuna melt, but I saw someone walk by me with the #1 and it was a done deal. Steph ordered the same thing, and in hind sight we probably should have just shared. The sandwich was fantastic and literally oozing with cheese, in a good way. And there was plenty of attitude, just as described. I finished most of half and wrapped the other piece up to take home .
At this point I went looking for Mikey, who I found on the other side of the parking lot at the Mandoline Grill Truck picking up a freshly made foot long Vietnamese Beef Banh Mi sandwich with pickled vegetables. We were getting awfully full so I think we managed to take three or four bites before he called it a day and we wrapped this one up to go as well. We were fatigued. It was hot. And it was time for dessert.
I had scoped out the Chunk-N-Chip truck on the way in and new it had to be my last stop of the day. Freshly baked cookies stuffed with homemade artisan ice cream, yes please! Mike tried to talk me into "the Elvis", which of course involved some type of bananas foster ice cream with peanut butter cookies and candied bacon. It wasn't in the cards for me at that point, but I was perfectly content to order the "nutty wutty", 2 chocolate chip cookies filled with peanut butter cup ice cream. No matter how full we were feeling, I was quite determined to eat this.
As we walked to the car we enjoyed every bite of our chipwich, easily the best thing we'd eaten all day. The cookies were still warm from the oven and the ice cream was just about perfect, with a little hint of refreshing cinnamon. I was beyond full and looking forward to going home and sleeping it off in a food induced coma. On our way out we passed the entry line which at this point wrapped all the way around the block. Someone asked us "Is it worth it?" as we passed and I told them, "yes definitely". Just make sure you bring a LOT of cash, a huge appetite, a little bit of patience,a bottle of sunscreen, and a purse big enough to smuggle out 2 sandwiches.
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