E-Dogz Mobile Culinary Community Center

Conceived by LTHer Jefe as part food truck, part community hub, E-Dogz debuted last night at the Block Museum at Northwestern University in Evanston. The project received quite a bit of attention during its initial fundraising phase (e.g. here on the board, but also here and here). One of Jefe's intentions is to collaborate with local chefs. For E-Dogz's debut, it was Jonathan Zaragoza. It's been difficult for me to get excited about food trucks in Chicago, but if what E-Dogz served up last night resembles anything that they're going to be able to do in full operation, the future of mobile food in our city is indeed very bright.

The truck:


Guest chef Jonathan chopping ramps, mushrooms and ancho for tacos:


Goat:


Jefe assembling tortas ahogadas de birria:


Torta detail:


Mushroom-ramp taco:


One of the funniest moments of the evening was Jonathan telling us his inspiration for the torta ahogada de birria. He said it came to him in a dream. What was hilarious was that the story was delivered just as one would probably expect from a guy whose Twitter handle is goatboyintl: "Well, there was the goat. And there was a man baking bread."

Thanks, Jefe and Jonathan for the delicious food--easily the highlight of a 1-2-3-4-super-ridiculous-excellent punch last night that started with E-Dogz and was followed by DeVille for cocktails, X-marx for noodles and dumplings and Black Dog for gelato.

Aw shucks, making me blush. Thanks for the props h_s! And thanks to all LTHers in attendance last night.
It was a screaming success I'd say, in no small part due to the effortless help and creative vision from my always-charismatic friend, JZ.
To catch everyone up to speed, especially since this is primarily a social art practice
The concept behind E-Dogz is that I am hosting guest chefs from a wide range of culinary and cultural backgrounds to bring together communities to celebrate and cross-pollinate foodways.
Events are free. Especially until I am licensed.
That said, in the fall I hope to pursue a park district concession license for the trailer and run weekly hours, vending affordable snacks, profits from which will fund the free community events, happening monthly.
I have another event on May 14th at the Block in Evanston and I'm going to do a feast of invasive species drawing from recipes provided by a few friends of mine. Guest chef TBA.
E-Dogz will move up to the Saugatuck, MI area with me for the summer as I take on my seasonal cooking gig up there, but I plan on being in full swing after labor day.
As things get rolling I will post here and on Twitter.

Congratulations Jefe. As you know, I was an early skeptic of the whole food truck thing, but it looks like you really did it right and are serving communities beyond the neuvo rich and entitled. The fact that you are able to actually cook in your food truck is a nice bonus, too. The best of luck to you. I can't wait to try something from E-Dogz.

Will you be operating in Saugutuck over the sumer. The Chow Poodle and I usually make one or two trips up there each year.

Come on out tomorrow if you can!

http://www.chicagoreader.com/Bleader/ar ... ngand-free

E-Dogz outdid themselves yesterday: luscious Asian carp ceviche, expletive-inspiring chicharrones tacos and mushroom-from-Jefe's-grow-room tamales that everyone seemed to love. In a five-minute span, I witnessed E-Dog and Z-Dog convert two vegetarians into pork skin-loving fools. Seriously.

Chicharrones starting to simmer in salsa verde:


The food is free y'all. People should be chasing this truck [trailer].

LTH,
For those of you that may perhaps be in the Saugatuck area this weekend, I am setting up E-Dogz at the "Ox-Bow at Work" annex of the Button Petter Gallery in Douglas on the Blue Star Highway. There will be a fabulous art show/ trunk sale happening concurrently hosted by Lauren Anderson and Erin Nelson. It runs 8- 10 PM.
I will be doing up classic "E-Dogz" (minimalist Mexican streetdog style), also an offering featuring the best of the area's artisanal products, and a vegan sausage.
There will be a few more of these events throughout the course of the summer which I will update here featuring different menus.
Hope to see you there!
E-Dog

Ox-Bow at Work @ The Button Petter Gallery
161 Blue Star Highway
Douglas, Michigan 49406
Saturday July 16th, 8-10PM

For those of you that may perhaps be in the Saugatuck area this weekend...

Sweet! Will definitely try to make it to try one of those vegan sausages. Hadn't read about your project until I saw this posting--sounds like a great idea.

Elizabeth in Holland

Wish I were closer, but I cant make it this weekend, I'll have to make do with Birriea Zaragoza, but really happy you're keeping the truck project going. Loved the Evanston appearance and hope to see you in the fall.