Many of you have probably already heard about Dim and Den Sum, the street cart food vendor that’s been making Clevelanders downright giddy (and if the food proves to be as good as promised, will no doubt be in hot pursuit of the truck in droves around town).
Dim and Dem Sum, which is the brainchild of chefs Chris Hodgson and Jeremy Esterly, will be hitting the streets come May 10 (though trying for May 1). The duo promises to serve healthy gourmet comfort food with an Asian twist while utilizing all local resources. The approach is similar to the Kogi Korean BBQ truck in LA (I’ve made attempts at reaching the truck when it was still in its infancy while out there for work, but to no such luck). D&DS will roam the streets of Cleveland. To find its exact location, they’ll offer texts, an iPhone plus their Web site (coming soon). Targeted areas include downtown and University Circle for lunch. Late night, people won’t have to stumble far as they plan to hit Lakewood, Ohio City, Tremont and Coventry. Aside from lunch, look for Sunday brunch in the park offering a Korean-style pig roast (most likely all you can eat for only $6!).
The Menu:
Salad of the day 5.25 (local goat cheese, daily veggies, local greens, house dressing)
Po-boy wrap 5.50 (red corn crusted catfish, Vietnamese slaw, crisp pickles, hoagie roll)
Sum Tacos 2.50 each
Banh taco – pate, ham, slaw
Deep south- soy glazed chicken, sweet watermelon slaw
Beefy – seasoned grass fed beef, local smoked cheddar, seaweed salad, mayo
PBLT 6 (pork shoulder confit, thick cut house smoked bacon, tomato jam, arugula, sriacha mayo)
Dim burger 6 (local grass-fed beef, smoked cheddar, kimchee ketchup, pickle, mayo, arugula, brioche bun)
Veggi-rito 6 (Killbuck mushroom pesto, marinated Cleveland tofu, greens, garlic confit, brown jasmine rice)
Gravy Tots 4 (add foie gras 5; crispy tater tots, Amish cheese curds, gravy)
Jjang Dawg 5.50 (local dog, pulled pork, spicy kimchee slaw, smashed tots, Bourbon soy bbq sauce
Make it a Box 1.50
Street cart vendors like this may be new to Cleveland, but the chefs aren’t. A native Clevelander, Hodgson followed his family to Arizona and attended Le Cordon Blue. His first kitchen experience was at Lopez in Cleveland Heights with chef Eric Williams. This past year, he worked as a chef at The Spotted Pig. As for Esterly, he’ll be leaving his post as chef de cuisine at Fire (prior to that he was a nurse!). The duo wanted to open a truck because, as Hodgson puts it, “we can serve and provide amazing, healthy food for everybody at a very reasonable price.” He goes on to share that he was inspired by taco trucks in NYC, especially those he’d hit after getting off work at 3: 30 a.m. “Cleveland is home,” he says. “There is no competition but yet a huge market for it.”
sounds cool, but does everything have to be geared towards "yuppies"? i mean whats wrong with typical(but still great) taco trucks, that have carne asada tacos or burritos, and a lemonade? Cleveland "chefs" alienate regular people, i guess because cooking has become so trendy these days...
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