So as many of you know Kyle and I recently got married. From the get-go we were set on having a fairly informal wedding reception and doing it in a way we would enjoy rather than just doing all those things that you are meant to do at a wedding. Having decided to use my mothers beautiful garden as a venue the next mission was lock down the food.
Its official we got hitched
I was really keen on the idea of a food truck and because we opted against formal table seating the food truck signature style of food, that which you can eat on your lap or in your hands, made sense. Now there are a lot of food trucks operating in Gauteng so you would think finding one to cater the wedding would be easy enough. It wasn't. First we had to wade through all those only offering one dish like burgers, paella or ice-cream.
Finally we found what seemed to be the perfect truck. "The Bedford Food Truck" owned by the same guys who brought you The Griffen, Steamworks and Perron. This seemed great as these were some of our favourite places to eat. They also had a good looking truck, a wide menu and since the chef owner, Thom Hughes, ran the truck they could make pretty much anything we wanted at prices that made sense to our limited budget. We started talking to Thom in December via email. He assured us that we were pencilled in for June 16th and that it was a done deal. I had wanted to pay a deposit just to make sure but I was assured we would sort it out once the final menu was nailed down.
I should have known it was not going to be smooth sailing cause it took about 3 months to nail him down for a meeting on the menu. However, once we eventually met, both Kyle and I were super happy. We even came up with this plan to turn Krispy Kreme doughnuts into an epic doughnut croque-en-bouche wedding cake. Following the meeting he promised to mail us some menu options the next day and prices so we could finalise everything. About two weeks later and after multiple requests for feedback we finally got a mail back saying they had sold the truck and could no longer cater our wedding. Yep just like that. No recommendations or introductions to people who could take over, just sorry but we can't do it anymore. I must at this point say that he did mention they were fairly busy setting up the new Peron branch and who knows maybe they needed the capital from selling it for a cash flow emergency. Whatever the reason, we were pretty disappointed. In fact, I have to admit, when I stopped to shop at the Hobart Spar a week or two later for groceries and I saw him standing on the steps of his shiny, new Peron branch it took all my willpower not to go full bridezilla and throw my shoes at him. Also despite being pretty excited about the new Peron branch and being regulars at Steamworks, I just cant bring myself to eat at any of his restaurants again. It is a pity because despite the terrible service at Steamworks, the food was really good.
Once again I trawled the internet looking for food trucks we may have missed the first time around. I must have mailed about 10, even trying those who did single dishes to see if they could work with us. About 3 trucks replied and mostly with no we only do x-dish and cant help you. Finally in an act of desperation we posted on the popular Joburg Facebook page "I Know a Guy" asking for recommendations or suggestions. The one that people kept mentioning was the new kid on the food truck block "Zombie Chefs". A bit of light googling showed they would be at a music festival we were attending over Easter weekend; so we decided to try the food and chat to them then. To cut a long story short after chatting to them and finding out that Edward Clegg, the Chef behind the truck, had been an SA team member at the Culinary Olympics we were sold. We met with them, nailed down a menu complete with Heston style molecular gastronomy elements and our doughnut croque-en-bouche.
A few weeks before the wedding we trecked out to the warehouse they work out of near the airport for a tasting. I was tired and had been stuck in traffic for nearly two hours (from Sandton! -how anybody does that commute is beyond me) so I was fairly grumpy to start. Soon though I was eating my way through the section of hors d'oevers including the most delicious butter poached prawns with Tabasco pearls citrus gel and micro herbs. It was honestly one of the nicest things I had ever eaten. The confit duck terrine was also delicious. Mains were also really good. We were treated to fish and chips served in a rolled newspaper cone, coated in a corn-flake crumb and served with a vinegar spritzer for you to smell and use on the food. The lamb burger was good and the vegan Tofu so tasty, even I, ate a whole piece of Tofu which is saying something.
Kyle and his best man Alick enjoying a brew
before the ceremony
We were super excited about having this food at our wedding. People know us as foodies so the expectations were high. I wish I could say that they didn't disappoint but they did. They where scheduled to arrive at 1pm to start prep so that starters could go out at 6ish, but arrived at around 3.30pm, just as the first guests arrived. Disappointingly instead of having the chef Edward in the truck as promised we got an apprentice and the business partner who is not a chef. This and the late start really showed in the food. The prawns were tiny, overcooked and chewy, the citrus gel all wrong and it was served on soggy toast. The confit tuck terrine was not a terrine but served all mushed up on a spoon, without the cherry sauce and I found a large piece of cartilage in mine. The fish was not on a stick, not in newspaper and didn't have the cornflake crumb. I cant comment on the rest since that was all I tasted on the night. Worst of all our precious doughnut croque-en-bouche somehow became plates of hastily piled doughnuts bought from Fruit and Veg city. Not what we ordered at all.
I was not going to let anything ruin my wedding day so despite all the problems I let it all go on the day... None of the guests noticed, since they had no idea what we had planned, and everyone was fed. Making a fuss would have served no-one especially not us who just wanted to enjoy our day. After the wedding we did, however, send a long email explaining what went wrong and how disappointed we were. To their credit we did get an apology although no explanation of why it was all such a mess was given. It was just such a pity because these guys can cook and the potential is all there but for whatever reason, no doubt mainly due to the chef being MIA, they were a mess and it really impacted on the food we served our guests.
The bottom line in that food trucks may seem like an easy, budget friendly option for your wedding catering but from our experience you should think carefully about this option. There may be a reason traditional wedding caters charge so much for their services. People expect more from a wedding caterer than your average event caterer because its once in a life-time event. If you can't respect that and take the job seriously I really think you shouldn't take weddings on.
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