The new stationary food truck — This Is a Waffle Truck — will be located in front of Block Distilling Co.’s tasting room at 2990 Larimer St Denver, CO 80205. The Block creation — headed up by Block Co-Founders Kraig, Michelle, and Kameron Weaver — comes to Denver as a partnership with Bryan Smith of Black and Delicate Baking.
Smith — a graphic design and video production major — initially got involved with food by washing dishes at the now defunct Green Fun Salad. He says of the experience:
“In 2014, I was super broke, and I got a job washing dishes at Green Fun Salad. It’s been closed for a long time, but I worked there for about two and half years, and that’s how I got involved with food.”
He was soon pulled from the dish pit when he witnessed his GM improperly cooking shrimp. Offering up his services in addition to his dishwashing job, Smith became a cold-line chef.
“I wasn’t doing the live, hot cooking,” Smith tells Westword. “But I was mixing salads and tasting things and making vinaigrettes.”
After a slew of restaurant experiences, Smith met Kraig Weaver, co-owner of the nearby Block Distilling Co., who reached out to Smith in July with a proposal.
“It was actually their idea to do waffle sandwiches [on the truck],” Smith told Westword.
“I really just came in and put a little bit of my own nostalgia on the menu. And it’s my first time in a head-chef position. They really gave me free rein and trusted me to put together a menu that we all think is going to be great.”
The immobile truck located outside of Block will offer Smith’s creations:
“So our waffle is a 50 percent whole wheat waffle, and it’s naturally fermented anywhere from 24 to 48 hours in advance. A little bready, a little sour, but it’s still light and fluffy and crispy. It’s designed to be for a sandwich.”
The menu will display options ranging from “a fried chicken waffle sandwich drizzled with black cardamom hot honey to a Fluffer Nutter sandwich served on a Fruity Pebbles sourdough waffle with peanut butter, Marshmallow Fluff, Ruffles potato chips and chocolate ganache.”
I know a little bit about the fabulous Ginger Pig story. You wrote an outstanding piece. I smiled and was unsurprised when I read you have an MFA in creative writing. The journalists that have written about the Ginger Pig have been first class— inspired by the special food and the inspiring back story, and writing beautifully. Your story is right up there with the high-quality journalism that has helped the Ginger Pig succeed and, importantly, has helped sophisticated food addicts find great choices, week after week.