Foodie News

Houston's caught mobile food fever: Food truck park and regular food truck foodcourt considered

H-Town StrEATS offers an upscale take on street food.
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Quite simply, you won’t find a better or fresher crepe in town than at SeanCarroll’s captivating crepe cart.
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Premium dawgs with creative toppings from Good Dog Hot Dogs
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Class is in session at Bernie's Burger Bus, where they’re making straight A’s inburgerology.
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At H-Town StrEATS, you'l find a rotating list of crème brulees.
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Good Dog Hot Dogs does a brisk business.
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Three Houston natives are behind the Eatsie Boys food truck.
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Eatsie Boys' Pork Snuggies, steamed Asian buns stuffed with pork belly, cilantroand hoisin
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Try Bernie's Homeroom, a beautiful burger topped with Cheddar, bacon, tipsyonions, chipotle aioli and a drippy fried egg.
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When it comes to food trucks, is the hunt part of the fun? Whether you follow your favorite trucks around via Twitter or just try them out as you find them, there may soon be a better way to get into the food truck scene.

According to the Chronicle's Nancy Sarnoff, the city may be considering adding food truck parks to create mobile food destinations. One plan has been offered by Washington Wave shuttle owner Lauren Barrish, who wants to include a rotating crew of food trucks in her parking lot on Washington Avenue.

"It would be a mini-transit center that happens to have a totally cool food-truck park," she told Sarnoff. "You come here, grab food while you're waiting for friends and then hop on the bus."

An informal food truck park already forms every Wednesday around the City Hall Farmers Market (among other places), but more official gathering spots would put Houston in line with food-truck-friendly cities. As InnerLooped notes:

While this may sound foreign to Houstonians, it certainly is not around the country. Recently, my parents returned from a trip to Portland. One of the things that stuck out in their minds about the city was the immense food truck park in their Downtown area. They loved it, and it has become sort of a tourist attraction in and of itself."

Without an official food truck park, people are still trying to organize the mobile businesses, with varying degrees of success. The Haute Wheels food truck festival in May was an unmitigated disaster, and while H-Town Food Crawl and its Food Truck Fridays seemed to have a good system set up to avoid the same mistakes, the monthly event has recently come under criticism from food truck owners, as reported by Eater.

But that hasn't stopped others from trying to plan mobile-eatery-oriented events. On Friday, Noel Furniture featured seven popular food trucks — Eatsie Boys, Oh My Gogi, Mmm Cupcake and more — in a lunchtime parking lot Food Truck Food Court that could become a regular feature if it proves popular.

If the food truck craze a fad or the way of the future? And would you frequent a food truck park?

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coming to River Oaks District

French pastry chef perks up Houston with first U.S. coffee shop and café

Photo by Sébastien Dray

Café Feuillette is coming to River Oaks District.

A French coffee shop and cafe is coming to Houston. Pastry chef Jean-François Feuillette will open the first U.S. location of Café Feuillette in River Oaks District next year.

Located at the corner of Betis and Westcreek on the first floor of the Grey House Apartments, Café Feuillette will be open for breakfast, lunch, and afternoon snacks. Diners can expect design elements such as cozy benches and floral wallpaper, according to press materials.

“I’m thrilled to bring the Café Feuillette concept to the United States and especially to Houston,” Feuillette said in a statement. “This city truly won me over. Its energy, cultural richness, and culinary scene made it the ideal place to introduce our French coffee shop concept abroad,”

Café Feuillette’s menu will center on salads, sandwiches, and classic French desserts such as filled madeleines, canelés, brioches, and chocolate fondant. They’ll be paired with drinks named for French desserts such as vanilla flan and Paris-brest.

“We take pride in making everything ourselves, from the vinaigrette to the mayonnaise, and of course, the bread in every sandwich. It’s all about taste. That’s how we stand out, just like we do in our bakeries in France,” Feuillette said.

Chef Feuillette trained at Paris’s celebrated Pierre Hermé bakery before establishment a network of over 100 bakeries in France. He also operates Frédélian in Nouvelle-Aquitaine, France and Chez Lucette in Blois.

Café Feuillette is his take on the modern coffee shop. If it’s successful in Houston, the cafe could grow throughout America.

“The potential for growth in the U.S. is endless,” Feuillette said. “We are passionate about showcasing our French know-how to Americans, and this is just the beginning.”

Photo by Sébastien Dray

Café Feuillette is coming to River Oaks District.

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