From a distance, it almost looks like a shiny, metallic birthday present: one delivered to the western end of University Avenue last week, and set down next to the Studley gymnasium.
×īŠĀŠÓ°ÉŌ““ Food Services certainly hopes that the campus community likes what they find inside.
āWeāre pretty excited about it,ā says Derrick Hines, director of ×īŠĀŠÓ°ÉŌ““ Food Services. āDal is the first Canadian university to have a mobile food truck, and weāre eager to be open for business.ā
The truckās main host is My Three Cousins, a new dining option on campus featuring Turkish, Greek and Lebanese dishes for students and staff on the go. Last week, the restaurant hosted a small sampling event, serving up a few of its main dishes: the 'cousin' (a halal dog on pita), the beef kebob, the chorizo sausage pita and a side-dish of hummus.
Other menu items will include a platter dish, falafels, and Greek fries, which are topped with lemon, feta, garlic sauce, spices and Tzatziki sauce for dipping. My Three Cousins will start serving customers this week, gradually expanding its menu day-by-day until itās fully operational. (Right now, the truck is running off of its propane generator, but thatās only temporary until a proper power source gets installed this fall.)
Locally sourced, internationally inspired
Greg McGuire is one of the My Three Cousinsā chefs, sporting a black chefās uniform with the cheeky slogan, āYou wanna Pita this?ā on the back.
āThis is a brand new menu for me, but itās really exciting food,ā he says, having been brought to ×īŠĀŠÓ°ÉŌ““Ā specifically to help run the food truck. āThis cuisine is great to work with. Itās so flavorful, and weāre using all local ingredients. People can come and get a rich, flavorful meal when theyāre on the go.ā
āWeāve brought this to campus in response to survey results from students, who indicated that they were looking for more variety, particularly ethnic foods,ā adds Mr. Hines. āThe name comes from my own experience going to middle eastern restaurants and finding that they always seemed to know their customers like family. And we wanted something that recognized the bringing together of the three culturesāTurkish, Lebanese and Greek. It just seemed to fit.ā
While the food truck will feature the My Three Cousins menu when itās parked at its home base by the Studley gym, the vehicleāwhich contains a fully-featured kitchen inside with sinks, commercial ovens, a preparatory fridge and moreāwill be able to switch it out for other dining options when itās on the move (for example, serving hamburgers and hotdogs at Dal sporting events). Its colourful design is courtesy of ×īŠĀŠÓ°ÉŌ““ās Creative Services team.