For me, eating from gourmet food trucks is like visiting rainbow Pegasus unicorns at a petting zoo.
They fly on sparkling gossamer wings, flitting from city to city, eliciting exclamations of glee and awe from their devoted stalkers (like me).
Sometimes they travel far and wide, from San Jose to San Francisco, for instance. They have been known to go from Pleasanton, to Union City, to Oakland, and Berkeley in a single day.
Meanwhile, their stalkers must be connected with tham at the hip through Twitter in order to stalk them efficiently. This can tire a stalker out and become a real downer.
Gourmet food trucks are not uncommon outside of the culinary black hole in which I reside. The entire San Francisco Bay Area (with the exception of Castro Valley of course) is awash with them.
There is the Treatbot Karaoke/Gourmet Ice Cream Truck of San Jose, Fiveten Burger of Oakland, Le Truc of San Francisco, John's Street Eats of Berkeley, Ebbett's Good To Go, Sift's Cupcakery Truck of Santa Rosa... and on and on.
These restaurants on wheels peddle amazingly good food at a reasonable price. Furthermore, grabbing gourmet food from a truck forgoes the expense and hassle of trying to get reservations at a happening, rockstar restaurant.
The lack of a brick and mortar overhead makes financial room for value, attention to detail, and the use of ingredients which tend to be top notch, local, and sustainable.
I also believe that these uncaged culinary songbirds are probably a little happier than their brethren, stuck in a stationary hot kitchens for upwards of 14 hours a day, without a glimpse of the outside world.
So why doesn't Castro Valley have at least a small handful of food trucks that congregate somewhat regularly?
Are they not driving by us when traveling from Berkeley to Pleasanton and then back again?
Don't they see my face pressed to the window, fogging it with steam, watching forlornly as they callously parade past Castro Valley on 580?
This blatant neglect has me feeling like a child watching Santa Claus cruising over my house on Christmas, without so much a glance at my chimney.
So folks, there comes a time in every township's existence when it simply must progress. Let's call it a "maturity process".
I envision Castro Valley's culinary evolution to be like moving away from Underoos in favor of somthing a bit more mature and befitting.
Is it possible that Castro Valley's lack of "food truckage" is a red flag, if you will? Does it signify that there is something keeping the rainbow Pegasus unicorns at bay? Do they loathe Batman Underoos?
Because we're too cool for this fad! A food truck is a place for good (and, according to some, unhealthy) food like traditional burritos and hamburgers, not gourmet food, in my oh-so-humble opinion. :) While less than buildings, some of these food trucks are not that inexpensive. I saw a news segment about a guy who manufactures food trucks. Some of these trucks have cooking equipment that cost over $10,000 each. I realize I'm not a "foodie" but I do not think Castro Valley is a culinary black hole. We have a wide range of restaurants, although we don't have any of those places where you spend $100 a meal.