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Dining With Dara: Vellee Deli Food Truck

Posted at 7:28 AM on June 29, 2011 by Steve Seel
Filed under: Dining with Dara

Our food and dining guru Dara Moskowitz-Grumdahl says the taste of the upcoming weekend is undoubtedly Vellee Deli, the Hmong (and Vietnamese, and Korean, and Thai) Food Truck, to Celebrate The Annual 4th of July Hmong Sports Festival. Dara writes:


"The big news in downtown Minneapolis lately has been Vellee Deli, a three-week-old food truck with an instant, almost cult-like following. Why?

Good food, mainly; I stood on a line in front of the truck for an hour and twenty minutes on Tuesday trying to score one of their burritos; at the end of it I was compelled to get two, the Korean barbecued short rib burrito with kim chi, and the Thai chicken curry burrito. (Thumbnail reviews: The savory, salty, Korean beef subsituted beautifully for a traditional burrito filling like carne asada, sliced romaine gave the whole liveliness, and the kim chi and salsa gave it oomph; the Chicken "currito" (curry + burrito, get it?) might have been even better, the coconut rice was thick and rich and creamy, the shredded chicken and bits of potato that flavored it gave it great weight and dimension.) I did not, however, get to try the two banh mi that Vellee Deli serves ­- they sold out. The "Mojo" is something new under the sun: ­a banh mi based on a traditional Hmong lemongrass pork sausage. It came about because one of the truck's two owners, Will Xiong, is of Hmong descent. The other banh mi is Vietnamese, and comes from his girlfriend, and truck co-owner and chef Joyce Truong. Vietnamese and Hmong, living in perfect harmony, and setting Minnesota on fire with Asian fusion truck excellence!

Which seems particularly fitting for this weekend because: Did you know this is the weekend of the annual Hmong Sports Festival? True, thousands, if not tens of thousands, of Hmong will be flying in from all over the world, and driving in from all over the country, to meet at Como Park and connect with relatives, watch soccer and volleyball matches. Some call it J4 (July 4, that is) some call it the sports festival, the sports tournament ... whatever you call it, it's a huge event, and it's happening this weekend, at Como Park in St. Paul.

The Vellee Deli truck will be there, selling their new Asian fusion to Hmong visitors from all over the world. The world! Especially France and California, where there are other big Hmong communities. The name of the Vellee Deli is actually from a nickname of a French uncle of Will Xiong's, who couldn't say "Willy", but called him Vellee. This uncle operates a Thai and Chinese restaurant in Texas, and the "Currito", the chicken burrito, descends to us from that restaurant. So: International currents and big doings, all in a couple of great sandwiches.

Vellee Deli is best followed by Twitter and Facebook, just like all the food
trucks."


Dara Moskowitz-Grumdahl, veteran Twin Cities food and dining authority, is a five-time James Beard Award-Winning food writer who is also Senior Editor at Minnesota Monthly and author of Drink This: Wine Made Simple.

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