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Kay Stephens wrote a very nice article about us on the website penbaypilot.com. 

Wheels up: Food trucks go gourmet from Rockland to Belfast

Posted:  
Thursday, September 20, 2012 - 10:45am
We've been itching all summer to write about the gourmet food trucks that have hit Midcoast Maine, but had to wait until the Penobscot Bay Pilot launched! Food trucks (and carts) may be all too familiar in other parts of the United States, but they've become a recent novelty here, where each of the following has their own style, flavor and territory. There is still time to sample the fare of all three of these foodie hubs on wheels before they close for the fall.  Something about two people working hard side by side with a passion for good food is worth the trip. No wait... they'll come to you — that's right!

Matt and Reena's Italian street food cart
Owners: Matt Maniscalco and Reena Nemirovsky
Territory: Rockland and Damaricotta farmer’s markets
Food: Italian, seafood, vegetarian
Open til: end of October; re-opening again in April.
Contact: facebook.com Matt-and-Reenas-Italian-street-food-cart
Matt and Reena were working at restaurants and living in New York City when they had an epiphany to make a total life overhaul, move to Maine and start a food cart business.
“We just wanted to go somewhere on the ocean and start something not a whole lot of people were already doing,” said Matt.
Unlike the other self-contained two food trucks in this article, Matt and Reena’s rig is a covered food cart that they trail behind their car. They have been active this summer at the Maine, Boats, Homes & Harbors weekend show, the Friday Art Walk nights in Rockland and at the farmer’s markets. They offer Italian street food, the kind you’re going to get in Italy, like panelle, which is a Sicilian chickpea savory fritter served on a bulkie roll. They also make farinata, a thin savory pancake which rolls up with roasted tomatoes and cheese or caramelized onions and arugula.  They buy locally-sourced ingredients as much as they can from farmer’s markets such as basil for pesto from the Rockland farmer’s market, and cheese from Appleton Creamery.
Maniscalco said: “I learned to cook Italian from my mama. My mom always made polenta with the roasted tomatoes and caramelized onions. I went to culinary school, the C.I.A. in New York, and even though I learned all the fancy French stuff, my heart was in the rustic street food of Italy. Inexpensive, made with a lot of soul — that kind of food.” ”
He said it was challenging in the beginning of the summer to get people to try something new like panelle, but that a number of people in the area who have traveled extensively, began to flock to the cart. Suddenly, they had a following. For the winter, they will take a trip to Italy to get some new ideas. Next year they’re going to try to find a more permanent spot, and are aiming for Rockland, which is where they’ve found the most customers.  See their Facebook page for hours and locations.


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