Whereas making breakfast burritos for her household in the course of the pandemic, Michelle Tomerlin had a revelation. After 15 years of working a housecleaning enterprise, she didn’t discover it difficult. She wished to open a meals truck. Burgers and tacos are her favourite meals. Since there are such a lot of taco vans in Vancouver, she determined to create a burger truck referred to as Smashed Cheese.
Through the time it took to intestine and outfit a former FedEx truck and acquire permits, Tomerlin perfected the recipes for her burgers, fries, sandwiches and soups. Angus beef for her burgers is floor twice to get the fitting texture. Her hand-cut Idaho potato fries are fried two instances. (Step one cooks the within, and the second dip within the fryer will get the skin completely crisp.)
Tomerlin designed the truck to suit her mannequin of recent meals. The truck doesn’t have a freezer or a microwave. The quick menu displays Tomerlin’s life story with references to locations she’s lived, together with Phoenix.
After I visited Smashed Cheese in a car parking zone on Northeast Minnehaha Avenue the place St. Johns and St. James roads converge, I used to be struck by the freshness of every thing I attempted.
If you happen to Go
What: Smashed Cheese meals truck
The place: 6113 N.E. St. James Highway, Vancouver
Hours: 11 a.m. to six p.m. Wednesday and Thursday, 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Friday and Saturday.
Data: 360-605-3074; www.smashedcheese.com
I ordered the Primary B burger, a quarter-pound smashed burger topped with cheddar cheese, shredded lettuce, tomato, crimson onion, pickle and mayo ($8); the Garlic Bacon Smash burger with provolone, bacon, shredded lettuce, tomatoes, mayo and roasted garlic and onion jam ($11); The Cheesiest grilled cheese with cheddar, mozzarella, provolone and American cheese ($8); a big order of fries ($5); and a facet of tomato basil bisque ($1.50).
The meals got here out shortly. The burgers had been stellar. The fries had been astonishingly good — tender inside, crispy outdoors. The costs had been additionally very cheap.
“My goal is to charge as little as I can, giving as much as I can,” Tomerlin stated.
The facet of tomato basil bisque, scratch made every single day, offered an ideal dipper for the golden, toasty, further tacky grilled cheese. I’ll undoubtedly order a complete bowl subsequent time.
Tomerlin is launching extra soups, together with butternut squash and apple bisque, rooster noodle, and kielbasa and potato for the cooler months.
“I’ve been working on recipes for two years,” she stated. “My family is tired of eating soup.”