Friday, November 23, 2012

The Food Truck Diaries, Volume 33: Chef’s Kitchen and Catering

Posted By on Fri, Nov 23, 2012 at 12:51 PM

From the Chefs Kitchen and Catering Facebook page.
  • From the Chef's Kitchen and Catering Facebook page.

Two chefs are ready to roll into Tucson’s vibrant food truck scene with a menu that ranges from sautéed mussels to shawarma sandwiches.

The food truck Chef’s Kitchen and Catering makes its debut next Friday, Nov. 30, outside the Tucson Federal Credit Union on the corner of Speedway Boulevard and Alvernon Way.

Chris Cryderman, the main man behind the operation, says he recently moved back to Tucson after stints in Detroit and Colorado. He originally intended to put his more than 40 years of culinary experience to work by opening a small deli, but after negotiations with the potential landlord soured he turned his sites to opening a food truck instead.

“I lived in Tucson in the 80s and worked as a chef at El Conquistador,” explained Cryderman this morning. “My wife and I moved back to Detroit to be near family, and I always wanted to come back. So this last year my new wife and I started coming down here and she liked it, so we moved here.”

Cryderman’s son, Ivor Cryderman, also a chef, recently moved to town to help his dad run the business. The elder Cryderman said his wife will also be lending a hand from time to time.

There will be sautéed mussel and shrimp dishes, steamed edamame beans and salads. He’s also offering a Detroit-style hotdog that comes served with a sauce he says is “somewhere between a mole and a chili. No beans but real thick and meaty, with certain spices in there, too.”

Cryderman says he’ll be making all of his own sauces and salad dressings. “I make my own ranch dressing from vegetables,” he adds. “The way it was made before Hidden Valley started putting it in packets.”

There will also be vegetarian options such as a falafel sandwich served with cabbage slaw and other vegetables. If you’re into fried foods, however, you’ll have to look elsewhere: Chef’s Kitchen and Catering doesn’t have a deep-fat fryer.

Keep up with the truck on Facebook over here, or call 903-7004 for more information.

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