FOOD: Triumphant Orange County Return of Grill 'Em All Truck or NOT??!!

it speaks volumes when FoodTV's Great Food Truck Race (GFTR) is the only reality show my husband AlSto dares admit watching. luckily, we had the privilege of eating GRILL 'EM ALL truck's brutal cuisine before people chose to wait in line around the block this evening!

Grill 'Em All was scheduled to arrive at 6pm, at Fullerton's Bootlegger's Brewery, but they were running late. i was on the road at the time, but AlSto got periodic updates from our friends who had been waiting in line since 5pm-ish...

by 7pm, according to our friends' reports, no orders had been taken yet, but someone was out in front of the line, rallying supporters, the faithful and the hungry. we were at home still. AlSto considered (aloud) heading down to Fullerton, Pig amp in hand, to play 'Fight Fire with Fire' a la Venice Beach's Harry Karry (sp?) sans rollerskates and head dress. seriously. except i'm just kidding about the Harry Karry part.

despite a bunch of cheaters cutting in line, our friends managed to get their hands and mouths around the BEHEMOTH (but search for 'behometh'. doesn't that sound/look like something from the bible?!). they hadn't run out of food yet, but the Orange County health inspectors were supposedly onsite, doing what health inspectors do. or were they?

the following two twits were all i could find in the Twitter universe:

RT @englishboila: @GrillEmAllTruck got harrassed by health inspector nazis in Fullerton so they are running really late!! We need to stop this harrasment!! (sic) - via search.twitter.com

@englishboila: Apparantly they let @GrillEmAllTruck go tonight cos of huge line but they won't be allowed in OC again until pass OC codes!! (sic) - via search.twitter.com

as of 2.49 Friday morning, OC Register had nothing more current than their post announcing Grill 'Em All's planned appearance. the OC Weekly had nothing to report, either...but on STICK A FORK IN IT my guys Edwin Goei and Dave Lieberman had said some of the things i had wanted to say about the outcome of the GFTR. and those damn nom noms.

so did anything really happen tonight? i don't trust rumours when i have nothing to support or substantiate... so please fill me in, Grill 'Em All guys!

or, help us, Gustavo Arellano !

-Thursday, 23/9/2010 Twitpic via @threefrenchs

FOOD: Grill 'Em All truck is brutally good food from seriously thoughtful cooks

i don't usually write much about my food experiences, but i must tell you about my Reign in Bun experience... it's one of the specials of the day from the guys at the GRILL 'EM ALL truck: a [veg] burger with grilled red and green bell pepper, pepper jack cheese and freaking lemon pepper crème fraîche!!! delicious.

AlSto had the Waste 'Em All: marinated green chiles (with some actual scoville points!?), pepper jack, beer soaked onions. our friend PhiLe asked for the Lars (a special they ran out of...how fresh and daily is that?!) but ended up with the Molly Hatchet...but good thing he did; it has seared sausage gravy with fennel!!!... as well as applewood smoked bacon and maple drizzle. soooooo sick, and amazing smelling, with what i imagine would be an ideal blend of the salty and the sweet, plus the smokey! incredible.

they serve belgian frites as a side dish, double fried like they should be. crisp and fresh...they obviously change their oil. not to mention, kosher salt, which was sprinkled immediately post fryer cos it actually stuck to the fries. thank you!

and if you know me, you know how much i love condiments, and theirs are things of beauty. you could taste every ingredient in their sauces. PhiLe had what he said was a 'japanese aïoli with jalapeño'...enough spice for someone like me, where the heat/burn was immediate, and it lingered but 'twasn't overbearing. totally awesome. and my garlic aïoli was strong and real. fantastic! i think by this time i was totally stoked, so i want to say their regular ketchup is homemade, too. come to think of it, it has to be, cos who would make 5+ sauces from scratch and then use bottled stuff?

one thing i can never get down quite right with my cooking is the timing, and i swear AlSto and PhiLe's burgers were perfectly medium rare and ready in our hands/mouths, with fries, in less than six minutes. impressive.

the only part i was a little bummed about, but not really, was how totally unbrutal and NICE these guys genuinely were. super mellow...and there was no Nuclear Blast compilation, no Dethklok, or even metallica's 'orion' or other instrumental blaring out their speakers. i'll blame that on stupid fullerton's city ordinances or something. and he (i think 'twas chef harkins) actually thanked me for my $2 tip. how nice. :oP

(btw, chefs harkins and chernus, who was that lady glaring at you from inside the truck? god i hope she wasn't a mother... ;-P)

ok fullerton dbags, maybe $8 for a burger is more than in-n-out, but this is serious food...and bravo to BOOTLEGGER'S BREWERY for attracting so many food trucks to your no-food-permitted-beer-establishment-stuck-in-the-middle-of-an-orange-county-industrial-block. most of them can't be bothered to venture further north than SanTana...until they hit Commerce or DTLA at least. kogi bbq's food tastes better at the front of the line, cos they're definitely overrated at >45 min back in the line...but Grill 'Em All deserves your palate, cos i doubt they will disappoint...and you may be pleasantly surprised.

find them on the Twitt'r and the Facebk. photos to come!