Cochrane was built by pioneers, and Darcy Scott is keeping that spirit alive. Though he’s not tilling the earth, felling the forests, or herding cattle, he’s striking out in his own way. Scott is gearing up to become the official owner-operator of the very first Cochrane-based food truck.
He’s been working with the Town of Cochrane on a development permit since the spring to realize his dream. Scott’s truck, called Grilled, will specialize in gourmet grilled cheese sandwiches.
Scott assures that it won’t be your typical “Kraft Slices” variety sandwiches, but a mixture of specialty cheddar, mozzarella and Monterrey jack, along with avocado, bacon and prosciutto concoctions with a lineup of jams and jellies.
His ‘Hawaiian’, for example, will include mozzarella, Monterrey jack, back bacon and a pineapple jalapeńo jelly from Invermere, B.C.
The bread will be locally sourced from COBS Bakery. Scott’s gone with a white variety since it cooks the best, he said.
“I love them all. They’re all special to me,” Scott admits. But if he had to choose one, it would be the classic grilled cheese and bacon.
So what’s the secret to a good grilled cheese? “It’s the cheese. Some people say you got to shred, others say you got to slice the cheese. I think I’m leaning towards sliced, but don’t quote me on that,” Scott said, with a cheesy chuckle.
His large, flattop ‘50s-diner’ grill equipped in the truck certainly doesn’t hurt. Although there’re plans to expand into other items, Scott said the rule of thumb is keeping it simple.
“One thing that’s come up is ‘don’t try to be too much.’”
In keeping that in mind, he’s limiting the number sandwiches to five.
“It’s a trend in the restaurant industry to have a more limited menu. People don’t want six pages. They just want five or six things and pick from that.”
After a shakeup from his career as a rancher, Scott was looking for work but realized he didn’t want to be a hired hand for someone else.
“At this point in my life, I wasn’t looking for huge changes, but this is kind of what I ended up with. And I’ve always loved to cook.”
That he could stay in Cochrane, make his own hours as well as include his children, Katie and Sam, into the food truck concept seemed to fit. He’s been to food trucks across Canada, but it was in Edmonton a few years ago at a charity event his stepfather took part in as a pediatrician that he really started considering their appeal. After mulling it over and seeing the trucks’ proliferation in other cities, he thought it was Cochrane’s time to join in the growing trend.
“I think we’re ready for it. I’m really hoping after this pilot project, that there’s three or four more people that come out of the woodwork.”
So what goes into getting a food truck up and running?
Scott said after much research and speaking with people familiar with the four-wheeled eateries, he found that many start out buying a used food truck.
Instead, he opted to start with a used delivery truck, deciding on a manufacturing outfit out of Surrey, B.C., which specializes in food trucks.
The model, a 16-foot 2003 Grumman ex-Canpar delivery truck, took six weeks to rework into a moveable feast. He flew out to claim it and drove the truck back to town from Surrey a few weeks ago, parking it at Pro H20 with the permission of the business.
With permits from Alberta Health Services and Cochrane Fire Services in place, now he awaits final approval from the Town of Cochrane.
In many families, there’s someone with a more eccentric idea or scheme to make a living, who encounters eye rolling or shoulder shrugging, but Scott’s family couldn’t be further from that.
“They’re people backing me on this whole venture; they’ve been behind me 100 per cent.”
However, Scott concedes his kids are “pretty much sick and tired of eating grilled cheese sandwiches – three meals a day.”
Robyn Rechenmacher, a planner with the Town of Cochrane, said they’ve been working closely with Scott to ensure the food truck is developed accordingly.
“It’s really unique and we’re really excited about it. We know that it’s getting to be more popular and we want support the development, but we also want to provide some regulation that we can help protect the public.”
Rechenmacher said although food trucks would be treated as home-based businesses, meaning they don’t need to operate out of commercial spaces, they still need the legitimate business licence issued by the town to operate in Cochrane. Approval pending, Scott’s truck will be the maiden truck for the town’s pilot project that will run until Dec. 2016.
