Food truck craze reaches Miami with gourmet or simple and always good grub!

While the food truck craze has swept some parts of the nation (Los Angeles and New York were first), the phenomenon is slowly creeping southeast and making itself known in Miami. We’re not talking hot dog vendors or kebabs here—some of Miami’s best-known chefs are jumping on the bandwagon, bringing their food to the people instead of the people coming to them.Sometimes though, it’s a challenge to find these food trucks—the folks who love them will do anything to chow down on their favorite eats. It’s mostly a matter of checking on a website or signing up to receive a tweet advising where the next location will be. That’s how they do it at Latin Burger and Taco, where they post truck locations on their website latinburger.com and Twitter feed. Chef Ingrid Hoffman, of Food Network fame, is at the helm here, creating gourmet burgers and tacos like the Latin Macho, a pattie combining chorizo, chuck and sirloin topped with Oaxaca cheese, caramelized onions, jalapeños, avocado, and red pepper sauce. The truck’s easy to find too—it’s painted black and hot pink!Miami’s own chef extraordinaire Jonathan Eismann, whose latest venture is Q American Barbecue in the hip Design District, popped up on Miami Beach’s Lincoln Road in early April with offerings of pulled pork and beef brisket sliders. There’s no telling where he’ll show up again but he’s been known to park his truck right out front of Q, a nice way to get a barbecue fix without the fuss of getting a table. Visit his site at qamericanbarbeque.com to see what's next.Neighboring restaurateur and James Beard winner for Best Chef in the South, Michael Schwartz of Michael’s Genuine Food and Drink, joined the food truck craze temporarily in March and for a good reason, to handle a packed restaurant. For folks who just had to have a taste of his food, he served up homemade sausage sandwiches and buttered popcorn ice cream out of a hot dog cart. Now that’s how to keep hungry customers happy. When he’ll pull out the cart again is anyone’s guess—it's best to check the site at michaelsgenuine.com.Unlike these moveable feasts, there are some trucks that stay put in one location—like the bright yellow Los Primos truck stationed at 2306 NW 36 Street, open Tuesday-Sunday 6 p.m. to 6 a.m. Their name is emblazoned on the side below the words “Chimi Churri” but we’re not talking the green sauce that’s put on steaks in Nicaraguan and Argentinian restaurants, chimis here are burgers, and they’re served up on toasty Cuban-like hoagie bread with a special pink sauce and shredded cabbage instead of lettuce. It’s a unique take on a traditional burger for sure.And achieving two trends at once is the chef of Gastropod, a Johnson & Wales University grad who goes by the name Chef Jeremiah Bullfrog. He’s got a more sophisticated mode of transportation for his mobile feast, it’s a sparkling silver Airstream trailer where he serves up gastropub fare, another trend that’s been moving around the nation and may now make its way to Miami. It’s a fancy and ever-evolving menu Chef Bullfrog prepares, and there’s not much to it. Sliders, hot dogs, sloppy joe’s, pulled pork and a vegan dish are some of the items that have shown up on his menu. He prepares them with flair though, incorporating gourmet flavors like curry and a homemade 10-ingredient slaw. Find out where he’ll be next by visiting their Facebook page or their Twitter feed, @gastropodmiami.Let's hope more of these keep popping up around town—it'll make all the foodies in Miami grin from ear to ear. After all, we want good grub anywhere we can get it!