Piaggio On Wheels - Orange County

Now this is how I like my food trucks: when it practically comes to me.

Piaggio On Wheels just happened to be exactly where it needed to be at exactly the moment I needed it to be there.

And when I found them at the Blackmarket Market parking lot, there were no lines, save for two guys in suits who were already eating their dripping tacos, standing next to their car.

After them, I was the only customer. It was a sleepy Friday.

Jose Piaggio, once a restaurateur, now a nomadic chef with family in tow, tended to sizzling griddle at the back of the vehicle. I heard the clang of his spatula as he prepared my meal. His wife, having taken my order moments before, was tidying up. Their young son, who's out on summer break, sat patiently behind the steering wheel, looking out into the distance.

Soon my order of my Argentine sausage sandwich was ready. And I took it to eat in my car, parked under the shade of a tree. I kept the door open, windows rolled down. The breeze blew through.

I sank my teeth into their crusty bread, a sturdy loaf with the ultimately soft center that was soaked through with the oily run-off of the chimichurri they slathered on like spackle.

The sausage--a spicy, red-pepper-flecked specimen split in half with the open sides fried brown--had a coarse kind of meatiness, and was actually quite lean in comparison to how much of that delicious oil leeched out.

Later in the week, I would rendezvous with them again. This time at an equally convenient time and place on a leisurely and quiet Saturday afternoon. We took two empanadas, a chicken and a caprese. Each were crimped in different ways to tell them apart. Though the shells were fried to a delectable crispiness, the fillings were a bit scant. Again, the chimichurri filled in the blanks. Amazing how much heavy lifting this sauce of mostly parsley and olive oil can do.

The skirt steak tacos saw more chimichurri. Its abundant serving of meat was practically wearing a chimichurri toupee. Their tofu taco had a single spear of the bean curd the size and shape of a French toast stick, covered in a thousand-island colored sauce that accounted for much of its flavor.

Let's see, where is Piaggio On Wheels going to be at today?

Piaggio On Wheels
(949)350-6557
http://www.piaggioonwheels.com
Various locations in OC, check website or Twitter

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