Denver's Mostly Mobile Deluxe Food Truck

Prior to tonight, I have only seen the brand-spanking new Deluxe food truck outside of Deluxe burgers on East Colfax or on South Broadway in front of the Deluxe headquarters. Although I understand that it must be difficult to get the correct permits for street food vending (actually I have no understanding of this), it does seem immensely ironic (or comically counterproductive) to park your own food truck in front of your own restaurant.

This night, however, the Deluxe Truck was un-paradoxically parked on the pedestrian walkway on the Southeast corner of the Denver Art Museum for an outside version of Denver's 10th Pecha Kucha night. If you don't know what Pecha Kucha is, I will briefly try and explain. It's a night where a bunch or geeky-types like myself gather to watch designer-types, entertainer-types-- and just about anyone-- put on a slide show presentation of 20 slides that each move forward automatically after 20 seconds. Doesn't sound fun? Well, you might have liked this one anyway, because you could have eaten at the Deluxe food truck without feeling weird that you were eating at the truck of the restaurant that you were outside of--and could have just gone inside and enjoyed a meal sitting at a table instead.

In the ongoing debate about the food pricing from the now numerous food trucks that have hit Denver in the 2010 Summer Food Truck Boom, there is little question as to where Deluxe stands. Likely you won't walk up to this shiny and attractive deluxe orange-rocket-of-a-food-truck thinking about getting a bargain meal. But I think the prices are relatively fair. Where else could I have ordered a $5 ceviche before watching slides projected on the side of the Denver Art Museum?

The answer of course is nowhere but the Deluxe Truck. And the ceviche was pretty damn good. It was made with tilapia, served in a crispy shell and topped with cilantro and pickled red onions. It was fresh and in my humble yet opinionated opinion (IMHyoO), very much worth five bucks.

I also ordered the lamb sandwich that I was told would take seven or eight minutes to prepare. It seems like another growing trend in the Denver food-truck world is waiting. Now waiting is OK at restaurants, what with the modern comforts of chairs, tables, napkins, ice water, beer, TV-- well, you get the idea. Seven or eight minutes of thumb-twiddling standing outside is borderline "not-fun", and anything more is pushing it, because as I mentioned in a prior post, street food doesn't have to mean cheap, but I think it is fair that it means fast.

The waiting game at Deluxe is... acceptable

What came out was essentially a kafta kabob. Excuse the picture, but throw a kafta kabob  into a crowded public pool and in less than 30 seconds you will have it to yourself. That should never be a deterrent, however, because we are talking about a most delectable log of ground lamb and spices. This particular log-- though well-seasoned and with a nice flavor, was a little dry. The pita looked good and was homemade, but it too, suffered from dryness. The cilantro was lost in the midst of the intensely garlic-laden tzatziki sauce. However, the latter was very good, and made up for the lack of moist-ness in the bread and meat. All in all it was a decent kafta kabob, or "Grilled Lamb Flatbread Sandwich" if you prefer (which you do prefer if you are the Deluxe menu-writer). And for six bucks, I would say not a bad deal.

I probably should have gotten the truffle-oil fries, but these were very good home-cut fries seasoned with garlic and fresh thyme. They cost me $2.50. People should stop complaining about prices.

I also got a freshly squeezed lemonade that had been steeping in freshly ground mint leaves. It was delicious and refreshing. I had a great meal under the stars and night lights of downtown Denver, that I could not have otherwise had if it weren't for the four-wheeled orange wonder that is the Deluxe rocket food truck.

I personally am over the fact that the food in some of these trucks is a little expensive, and while I think there are certainly some trucks that are worth it, there are most certainly bound to be those that aren't. Each of us will make up his or her mind by making the choice to patronize these food-mobiles or not, and when the dust settles on Denver's summer-of-the-food-truck boom, we will see who is left standing.

 Follow Deluxe around town here: http://twitter.com/deluxe_st_food