It was a sunny Thursday in the district and I was waiting for my food truck partner in crime, Rachael, to get out of class. Sabor’a street had tweeted about how the line for lunch was down the block and that they weren’t going to be around for much longer. Panicked, I grabbed my coat and began to power walk towards their designated location, telling Rachael that I’d get in line so we didn’t risk the items selling out by the time she was done with class. By the time I reached the truck, the line had calmed down but people were anxiously awaiting their Latin-inspired lunches. I approached the woman working the cash register and introduced myself as my twitter handle, LOLKatz41, as I had tweeted the week before begging for the truck to grace the GW campus with its presence. Then I began to look over the menu.
While seemingly small, the Sabor’a Street menu is chock full of flavor, variety and excitement. The two options are the angus beef hamburger and the Arepas- “cornmeal cakes with choice of pulled beef brisket, pulled chicken or chili-glazed tofu.” The woman in the truck recommended me the chicken arepas, as she said they were her favorite. All of the dishes are served with fried yuccas and tostones, and a decadent, creamy and refreshing lime aioli and salsa verde.
Rachael and I have a ritual when we eat from food trucks of each getting something different and sharing. When she finally arrived after what seemed like hours, I told her I knew exactly what we were going to get- chicken arepas, a burger and hot, sugary, crunchy fried churros with home made dulce de leche dipping sauce.
As I approached the woman to take my order, she broke news so terrible you’d think I was going to cry. They were out. of. churros. How could such a tragedy occur?! “Tweet at us and we’ll save you an order next time,” the woman replied. My mouth was already watering for the fried cinnamon sugar coated dough. How was I supposed to wait for next time?!?!
Despite our tragic dessert mishap, lunch was spectacular. The minute I bit into the chicken arepas I began to “ooh” and “ahh” in amazement. The crispy cornmeal cake held the delicate flavors of lime and cilantro and spicy chicken so well. It was a fiesta in my mouth. The chicken was tender and juicy and the slaw on top was crisp and refreshing. The burger was equally as flavorful, had a meaty texture and spicy seasoning. The lime aioli was the perfect compliment to both, and the perfect dipping sauce for the well-seasoned, well-fried yuccas and plantains.
As our lunch came to an end, I was beyond satisfied, but still craved something sweet, per usual. Luckily, Cap Mac was closing up and offered Rachael and me our own caramelized banana Nutella rice puddings… for free! My sweet tooth was satisfied sans churros.
The story continues the following week when Sabor’a Street tweeted about being a few blocks away from campus. I had been in an ongoing twitter conversation with them all day and was just dying to make my way for the long awaited churros. I gave myself a nice studying break and power walked six blocks to the truck. As I approached and re-introduced myself, the man working in the “kitchen” exclaimed, “I have to get a record of this.” Apparently, my longing for churros was known between all of the workers and tweeters. I was so thrilled to finally be getting my churro fix I didn’t care who recorded me doing what. The owners were gracious enough to give me the churros- free of charge- as they knew how big of a fan I was, and how much I enjoy promoting them on Twitter. As promised, I let the chef film me taking my first bite. I dipped the piping hot churro (they are small, about the size of your thumb, so eating more than one is acceptable) into the creamy, caramely dulce de leche sauce and sunk my teeth into it. I was in cinnamon sugar heaven. Crunchy on the outside but cakey and chewy on the inside; generously coated in the perfect ratio of cinnamon to sugar; and the dulce de leche was the icing on the cake (no pun intended?). Just like the refreshing lime aioli, the dulce sauce dressed the churro so beautifully without overpowering it. I couldn’t wait to get the rest of the churros back to the library to share with Rachael (you know, the kind of sharing where its one for me, one for her; two for me, one for her? Just kidding...)
So now that you have read my short story on my amazing experience with Sabor’a Street, I hope all you D.C. locals will venture over to wherever Sabor'a Street may be. Just writing this entry was difficult to do without my mouth watering (seriously, I had to stop a few times because I got so hungry thinking about the food), and I am anxiously awaiting the truck’s next appearance at GW. Although, as proven, I am willing to travel for these delectable Latin delicacies- willing to travel all the way to Sabor'a Street, America, wherever that may be!
Photo Credit: Sabor'a Street & Google Images
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