The Sunflower Cafe

I love food trucks. Love. It must go back to my horse show days when I’d roll up to the show grounds at 6:00 am, ride three horses by 7:30 am, and then be in desperate need of a breakfast burrito – extra hot sauce, please – in order to go on living.

Once I stopped riding and went off to college in the middle of Boondocksville, food trucks became a rare treat. And then once I became a vegetarian (now pescetarian), I thought food trucks had exited my life for good. Because, as everyone knows, food trucks = bacon. And I wasn’t about to be one of those “vegetarians” who eats bacon. That’s all kinds of wrong.

Anyway, food trucks also = awesome.

Imagine my absolute giddiness when I noticed a particularly attractive food truck set up earlier this week at the intersection of Route 73 and 9N in between Keene and Keene Valley (right by the old red barn). It caught my eye because it’s cheerful and colorful, with flowers on the counter and a big ol’ sign out front with two of my very favorite words of all: “tacos” and “vegetarian.”

I just noticed that the sign out front doesn’t actually say “tacos.” I must have seen “tacos” elsewhere. Or maybe it’s on the other side of the sign? Either way, I somehow KNEW this place had tacos and it was a big part of its appeal.

So I immediately hit the brakes, did a 180, and squealed into the parking lot. Ok, not really, but that’s what I would have done had I felt compelled to endanger the lives of my friends and husband. Instead, I made a quiet mental note to return to this lovely oasis of a food truck someday soon.

So today, while out running errands, Willa Jean and I decided to pick up some lunch at the Sunflower Cafe. Judging by the tail wagging and rump-shaking that commenced when I pulled the car over, this was as exciting for her as it was for me.

Turns out the owner of the Sunflower Cafe is totally fun and quirky. If you tell her a life story – and what you learned from it – you get a free hot dog. And if you do a Bill Murray impersonation or sing a song you get a free drink. Since the free hot dog doesn’t really apply to me and I am a painfully shy pansy-ass when it comes to anything resembling a “performance” (I don’t even sing in the shower), I declined the free goods. But you should totally take advantage of it. I swear I won’t laugh at you if we happen to be there at the same time.

I ordered the Vegetarian Special (a portobello mushroom quesadilla), two smoked black bean tacos, and two peppermint, green tea and rose hip iced teas. What? Willa Jean was hungry. And so was Dave.

The iced tea was delicious and the tacos and quesadilla were also pretty darn good. The taco was more like a burrito, but this is upstate New York and I admit I am an unreasonably harsh judge of Mexican food due to the proximity of my childhood home to the Mexican border. In any case, the food was fresh, flavorful, and not terribly unhealthy. And it came from a food truck.

It’s a new breed of food truck and I’ll definitely be going back. If you’re in the area you should stop by, channel your inner Bill Murray, and have a taco or two.