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Food Truck Frenzy at Peller Estate Winery in NOTL!

In Uncategorized on May 28, 2012 at 4:58 pm

by Lisa Tucker

“This is the largest gathering of food trucks ever in Canada,” beamed Sid Friedman of the Ontario Food Truck Association. Lucky hungry folks descended upon Peller Estate Winery in Niagara-on-the-Lake this past Sunday and Monday to experience a truck food and wine-pairing banquet while listening to local music and soaking up gorgeous sunshine. This is the first time Peller Estate Winery hosted this event and having sold out both days (3000 folks attended each day!) assures us it won’t be their last.

Over 16 food trucks participated including (and much to our surprise!) the Roaming Buffalo from our side of the border. From brick-oven fired pizzas to fish tacos and lobster rolls to German comfort food and cupcakes, attendees enjoyed a broad range of flavors all paired with appropriate tasting wines from Peller. While we did not have enough room in our bellies to try everything, we did do pretty well. Here are the highlights:

Mike Langley, owner of The Tide & Vine.

We started (and ended!) our day of feasting at The Tide & Vine – a guerrilla shucking and mobile fresh raw oyster bar. We opted for owner Mike Langley to prepare our triumvirate of oysters featuring ones from both coasts (Prince Edward Island and British Columbia). The meaty, briney bivalves were perfectly paired with Peller’s Sauvignon Blanc. What a treat!

Buster’s Sea Cove Fish Taco.

We then moved on to Buster’s Sea Cove (we were still jonesing for seafood). Buster’s boasts fresh, sustainable seafood and their catch of the day was lobster rolls, fish tacos, and crab rolls all paired with Peller’s crisp, sweet Riesling. We inhaled the Ensenada fish taco that consisted of hand battered fish, cabbage, salsa verde, pico de gallo, guac crema served on a corn tortilla. The crab roll featured Alaskan crab mixed with Buster’s marinade on a toasted split bun, deeelicious!

El Gastro’s Menu.

We then headed to El Gastronomo Vagabundo (affectionately nicknamed El Gastro) for a pescado picante taco. This tasty treat consisted of tempura Cod, smoked tomato and habanero aioli, red cabbage and green apple slaw, tarragon dressing and fresh lime! We paired this puppy with Peller’s Chardonnay, very nice!

Bonfire Catering’s Brick-oven.

From there we headed straight to Bonfire Catering for some brick-oven fired pizza. This oven on wheels immediately caught our eye when we first arrived as something you just don’t see everyday. (and yes Buffalo we have one on our side of the border, Pizza Amore!). I was able to get an inside tour of the truck and the full story how they came to be from co-owner Yvonne Deveaux. Her husband is a mason by day who built a brick-oven in their backyard. Neighbors loved their pizza so much they decided to put one on wheels so more folks could enjoy their pies. We tasted all three offerings; the Mexican, vegetarian, and our fave, bacon jam (with carmelized red onions and mozzarella)!

Our bellies were pretty full at this point. We knew we wanted to eat more but the thought of a sandwich of any variety sounded like too much. So instead we meandered back over to The Tide & Vine for one last oyster fix before heading out.

The Tide & Vine.

What a day! We feel pretty confident in saying this is by far one of the best local food events we’ve ever attended! Cheers!

A complete list of participating food trucks is below:

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