Food trucks have had quite the moment over the past two years, haven’t they?
With restaurants and bars being forced to close for long periods of time, and the government constantly pleading with us to focus our socialising to outdoor engagements, these make-shift eateries have played an important role in helping us maintain any form of social life whatsoever throughout the pandemic.
Something else that’s enjoyed quite the boost since Covid-19 dawned is, of course, TikTok. Perhaps that’s what inspired a certain father and daughter in Dublin with a passion for food and business to combine these elements to launch their very own food truck, serving up a variety of tasty dishes that previously helped them cultivate a significant following on social media.
Stuart Burke recently explained in an interview with RTÉ News that he and his daughter Ella had wanted to start a cooking channel for a long time but his busy schedule had always gotten in the way.
"That all changed with the pandemic and we were determined to make the most of the time we suddenly had," he told them.
"We made our very first TikTok video, we had over one million views within the first month and things just snowballed from there," he explained.
As things began to snowball for the pair online, they set their sights on moving things from virtual to reality with their very own, real life food business.
"Our big dream was to own and operate a food truck, but we wanted something really unique,” Stuart explained.
Unique is certainly an accurate description for what they ended up getting - a vintage 1960s-style American school bus shipped straight from New York.
"After quite a search, we found a traditional school bus in Webster County, Rochester, New York," he said.
"It was a logistical challenge, we had problems all the way," Mr Burke said. "It's not like we were shipping a t-shirt or a jumper, it is a very big yellow bus - but we got it into Dublin Port after a few months of calls and emails and it was fantastic to see it in the flesh for the first time."
After investing some time and money into gutting the bus and fitting it out with a fully functioning kitchen, the food truck of their dreams was ready for action. And thanks to weeks of teasing the project on their thriving social media channels, business was booming from the word go.
You can visit Stuart and Ella’s school bus/food truck at its permanent location at 102 Newtown Avenue, Malahide Road Industrial Park, Coolock. Or, if Coolock is a little out of your reach, why not whet your appetite by checking out their cooking tutorials over on their TikTok channel @TodayWeAreMaking.
Topics: Ireland
Gary Grimes