EVENT: Food Trucks Watertown [Boston]

Last Saturday, one of those strange, gloomy but sunny early-fall days, Eat Boston invaded Watertown with a posse of local food trucks and breweries for a pop-up food truck beer garden. The highlights were many; the drawbacks were few; and the rain, thankfully, held off until after the event.

Tickets were pay-what-you-want (between $2 and $10) for admission to the large lawn space at the Arsenal. Beer tickets could be purchased once inside, $5 for three 4-oz pours. The event ran from 12-4 and the early hours were more family-focused. (The beer ticket line got noticeably longer around 2PM.) Young kids were grooving in front of the DJ table to The Talking Heads, Hall and Oates, and Pharrell, some with a Roxy's Grilled Cheese in hand.

For such an avid luncher, I was surprised to see how many trucks I had yet to try: Bone Daddy, Sheherazad, WOW BBQ, and Stoked Pizza, among others. I settled on The Dining Car for a $5 Honey Truffle Goat Cheese Sandwich and a $5 Pulled Pork Slider. Both sandwiches were very well executed, but it was the bread which stood out most. My baguette, slathered in goat cheese, honey-ed walnuts, and greens, was crisp and flaky. It was the perfect crunch for an overall soft sandwich and distracted from the lack of truffle taste. The slider was small and satisfying in a sturdy but soft roll. The prices at Dining Car were so reasonable that I added their rosemary lemonade. Talk about an infusion! Each sip was the perfect blend of long rosemary flavor with a slight citrus tang.

Obviously, I know nothing about the business of running a food truck, but I would have liked to see more smaller, less-pricey bites to maximize my tasting spectrum. To kill time and wait for my metabolism to kick in, I took my beer cup to new-to-me breweries Foolproof, Boulevard, and Coronado. Those three out-of-staters were nestled in amongst local celebs like Backlash, Slumbrew, and Bantam Cider. (Side note: happy to see Bantam Rojo and Wunderkind now selling in 4-packs!)

Once enough bubbles had hit my belly, I was back in the food truck action with a cheese pizza from Stoked Wood Fired Pizza. The smell of baking pizza dough permeated the area around them. I got a standard cheese pizza and was amazed at the quality coming from a truck. Sometimes, in the abundance of food trucks in this city, and the creative eats coming from them, it’s easy to forget that they’re automobiles. With ovens inside. And people cooking. It’s really pretty amazing. This pizza featured a browned crunchy ring of crust and a sauce blend full of traditional tomato flavor. The basil leaf in the center was aromatic if not the most pert or green.

Transportation to the event was ridiculously easy. Eat Boston had shuttles running from Harvard Square every 20 minutes and there was a free on-site parking lot-- another perk for families. After 3 hours, 3 meals, and 3 beer samples, my one regret is that I couldn't eat more.