From the zenith of their popularity several years ago, food trucks as mobile kitchens, usually serving up street food from a broad range of nationalities, have perhaps slumped somewhat recently, but not Blossom and Bites.
Located in the parking lot of Les Serres Robinson Greenhouses, the new food truck – preparing an elevated, finer-dining menu featuring many local ingredients – has been open about a month.
The truck’s launch has seen it making some robust inroads, according to chef Nouk Couturier Bernard.
“The first weeks have been a really good start,” Couturier Bernard says. “For the first day, before we opened, we cured duck from local Mariposa Farm for 24 hours. And then the next day, we did a slow confit for about six hours. We sold out. We had 36 duck legs all gone the first day we were open.”
The next day was braised Mariposa pork shoulder, and that sold out too.
Given the start, weeks later the venture can be called a successful collaboration so far for both Couturier Bernard and the greenhouse.
Operated by a family of multi-generation fruit and vegetable vendors, the Robinsons opened their greenhouse on Old Highway 17 at Landry about a year ago. They have sold produce at Parkdale Public Market in Ottawa’s west end.
And with surprising speed for such a new endeavour at their current site, the family has taken another quick step with the unique food truck.
Couturier Bernard is partnering with Robinson’s co-owner Brigette Robinson who was interested in starting a basic chip truck and looking for a cook, according to Couturier Bernard.
“It was supposed to be just a very simple food truck, but I contacted them – Brigette and her husband are really big foodies – and said let’s do gastronomy. We started from there, and now we basically have a fine-dining food truck.”
The menu shifts and evolves: there are usually four or five starters, four or five main dishes and usually two desserts. There are also specials that change regularly, with vegan options. dishes.
Describing the eclectic menu, Couturier Bernard isn’t cooking exclusively French. There’s some Italian and flavours of Mexico: elotes, grilled Mexican street corn, was on the menu recently.
“We have some Asian notes, as well. We use a Chinese spice we make from scratch,” he says.
Other spices, he says, are sourced from Ethical Table Food Co. operated by chef Mike Sonier, whom Couturier Bernard calls an Acadian colleague.
Foraging comes into play too – as it should with a fine-dining project. He’s found chanterelles, black trumpets, lobster mushrooms and chicken of the woods which resulted in a British classic wild mushrooms on toast.
You might also encounter pets-de-soeur.
Couturier Bernard, who once cooked under David Godsoe at Restaurant e18hteen on York Street in downtown Ottawa, has focussed his food-truck menu on some unique dishes – and ones that change with the season.
A halloumi dish, prepared earlier with spring rhubarb and strawberries, has evolved to include an Ontario peach-and-nectarine chutney. The kitchen (Couturier Bernard’s sous chef in the truck is Kris Laidlaw) makes fermented hot sauces and from-scratch pasta – such as ravioli with a leek mousseline filling.
“When we ran out of leeks, we made the mousseline with local Ontario corn,” he adds.
Much of the produce is sourced from the store adjacent to the greenhouse, so local is first and foremost when possible.
There are outdoor tables, and a small patio is under construction. The site has wheelchair accessibility.
Blossom and Bites already has plans for doing business in the fall and winter (when most food trucks are generally shuttered): the truck will be moved and parked alongside the greenhouse for patrons to access through the building’s main entrance.
“It will be local charcuterie and cheeses. and we’ll draw on a sommelier that I work with,” says Couturier Bernard. “None of the wine we’ll have will be available at the LCBO. We’re going to start making croissants and pastries for the coffee shop and scones for tea.”
It’s perhaps too early to tell what the demographics of the business look like, but at this point, Couturier Bernard estimates that it’s currently a mixture.
“There are families, and we have had a lot of couples that drive here from Ottawa because they’ve seen our food posted on social. And then there are people that are coming for plants. And they’re like, oh, let’s go check out the truck. So it’s a cool bond.”
And one that appears to satisfy the cravings of the Robinson’s staff too.
“It’s a really good relationship here. I use their vegetables and fruits, and they grab lunch from us.”
Blossom and Bites food truck is open Tuesday-Saturday 11:15 a.m. – 7 p.m. and Sunday 11:15 a.m – 8 p.m. They will also set up at the Brauwerk Hoffman Oktoberfest celebration at the RiverRock Inn from Septermber 27 to 29.
Food writer Andrew Coppolino lives in Rockland. He is the author of “Farm to Table” and co-author of “Cooking with Shakespeare.” Follow him on Instagram @andrewcoppolino.
