Today we’d like to introduce you to Jessamine Starr.
Jessamine, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
9 years ago, my husband and I had a custom metal furniture business that was hurting because of the recession and we were brainstorming on other business ideas. We had both worked in kitchens before and have a great love of food and we thought of a food truck not even realizing there were none in the Atlanta area at the time. We thought about it for about 6 months and then shelved it as a crazy idea. About a month later we passed our 1971 ice cream truck and knew we had to have it and so the food truck business began. That beautiful old truck lured us in.
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
The first five years were really hard. Just as when you start any business- a lot of costly mistakes and time-consuming methods were used. But we continued to work hard, deliver the best product possible and brainstorm on ways to streamline and fix problems that came up. The last 3 years have been much easier. We only cater, don’t advertise and have a wonderful fan base that keeps the truck busy!
Good food truck – what should we know? What do you guys do best? What sets you apart from the competition?
I’d say there are three arms of the good food truck – arm one is the poodle- it is our famous hot dog on a French toast bun with apple maple slaw and then dressed in spicy mustard and syrup. It has its own cult following and we rarely do an event that doesn’t request it. It’s wildly good, different, fun, and hits all the taste buds.
The second arm is our more healthy, international and vegetable-based dishes. I make savory waffle cones and fill them with things like pumpkin masaman curry or French lentils, butternut squash and basmati rice. We also cater a lot of parties that need appetizers and I love playing with seasonal colorful and unusual ingredients with these items- like watermelon sushi -which is a bite of watermelon topped with wasabi roe and black sesame seeds or fresh southern basil rolls with marinated collards, roasted sweet potatoes and herbs served with pecan miso dipping sauce.
The third arm is watermelon snow. We serve this from the truck and from our trike at farmers markets and local events. It is like a snow cone but frozen watermelon instead of ice. We hand shave it on this beautiful ancient looking ice shaver from Japan then serve the snow plain or topped with different syrups and toppings like coconut ginger syrup and tapioca pearls or lemonade syrup and lavender salt. It’s the perfect summer treat- cold, refreshing and healthy.
What is “success” or “successful” for you?
For me, success is both having happy customers and a smooth prep and service time from my side. I have no desire to be a huge company with a lot of trucks. I’m happy being constantly busy with one truck and not being stressed out about doing too much. I think it results in a much better product in the end. I put all I’ve got in each event but I’m not overstretched.
Contact Info:
- Website: Goodfoodtruckatl.com
- Instagram: Goodfoodtruckatl
- Facebook: Goodfoodtruck
- Twitter: Good food truck
- Yelp: Good food truck
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