Star Ginger UC Davis Grand Opening Expands Food Truck Options

The brand-new, bright orange Star Ginger Southeast Asian food truck held its "Grand Opening" Monday beside the . That means there are now a total of two food trucks available to hungry Davis-area fast-food eaters.

It's no coincidence both (the other is the Shah's Halel food trailer also parked beside the Silo Union) are located on the UC Davis campus and not inside the Davis city limits.

The Ten Minute Rule

This is due to the City of Davis's "Ten-Minute Rule." (a.k.a., "Mobile Food Vendor Requirements") which mandate that food trucks operating on public property inside city limits can park in one location a maximum ten minutes.

The "Ten Minute Rule" was instituted because many Davis restaurant owners believe that food trucks parking on public property take an unfair advantage. This is because food truck owners didn't pay taxes to buy and develop that public property.

As Bob Bowen, City of Davis Public Relations Director, was quoted in a recent Bob Dunning column in The Davis Enterprise as saying, “When you’re dealing with parks and streets, you have a taxpayer-supported venue, but you’re not paying any rent on it. Of course, it would be an advantage for businesses to come to Davis and do business as opposed to everyone else who’s trying to do business here and pays a mortgage.”

We asked Star Ginger proprietor Mai Pham about the time limit. 

"Ten minutes? That's extremely fast food," Pham said with a laugh.

The "Ten Minute Rule" won't apply to the Star Ginger truck, Pham explained in an interview with Davis Patch. Pham is a nationally renowned chef, television personality and author of three cookbooks (including The Flavors of Asia, published by the Culinary Institute of America). She developed the Star Ginger food truck menu based on street foods she had enjoyed in her native Vietnam and later in Thailand. Including Banh Mi sandwiches (meat or tofu, pickled carrots, cucumbers, aioli and other veggies on a baguette) and various rice bowls, the food truck menu is themed "Asian food-on-the-run."

Pham signed a master retail license agreement with Sodexo, Inc., which manages food service operations at UC Davis and other campuses around the U.S. Since the Star Ginger truck is going to park on a daily basis outside the Davis city limits, parking time will be unlimited.

"We're not here to compete with the dining operations available next door," said Pham, indicating the UCD Silo Union. For one thing, she noted, there are no other eateries housed in the Silo featuring Southeast Asian cuisine.

Also, the new food truck on the block could be seen as enlarging the customer dollar pie rather than diminishing the size of slices of it.

Limits in the City

In Sacramento, food trucks are allowed to set up for thirty minutes in one spot. "Having twenty more minutes really makes all the difference for us," said Davin Vculek, owner of Miniburger, Sacramento's first gourmet food truck, which hit Sacramento streets in January.

"The city isn't so friendly with ordinances, but I've found some ways where you can work it out. In 30 minutes, we can serve a good amount of people. Mainly for us, we just want to be respectful of restaurants and won't park in front of them," Vculek told The Sacremento Bee in January.

Chris Jarosz, owner-operator of the Wicked 'Wich food truck fleet which rolled out on Sacramento streets a few months ago, agreed thirty minutes is ample time to serve a lot of people his "'wiches." That includes his "one-handed four-course burger" as well as sides like coleslaw and fries piled on the bun with meat and cheese, inspired by the Primanti Bros. deli in his native Pittsburgh.

"Actually, the City of Sacramento's thirty-minute rule is a bit flexible we're finding," Jarosz said. "Depending on where we park."

Davis Patch caught up and spoke with Jarosz outside TreyBcakes Gourmet Bakery and next to one of his Wicked 'Wich trucks parked on L Street in Midtown recently.

"We've been here three hours and the meter maids have just let us slide. And the bakery owner, who invited us to come park for lunch today, says he noticed a lot of new faces coming into his shop since we set up outside," Jarosz said.

Apparently, a food truck can act as a sort of social scene catalyst, attracting followers of its Facebook pages and Twitter.

"Some of our customers tell us they've driven across town to catch us here and there," Jarosz said. "Then there's a synergy that happens. Like today, for example, folks enjoy our sandwiches and then head in TreyBcakes for dessert."

Jarosz says there are a lot of Pittsburgh transplants in Sacramento and especially Davis.

"There's a lot of huge Steelers fans in Davis," he said. "They drive across the Causeway to work and come to us for lunch. They tell us they go to on Sundays to watch Steelers games, and ask how come we can't set up there and serve Primanti Brothers 'wiches?"

Jarosz says he's considering approaching with the idea of having a Wicked 'Wich truck set up during Steelers games.

"In these hard economic times, we should be trying to figure out ways we can work together to expand the pie," Jarosz said. He also said he's looking into expanding Wicked 'Wich hours on Fridays and Saturdays to cater to nightspot and bar customers after last call. 

In his Davis Enterprise column, Dunning also quoted a comment from Davis owner Rhonda Gruska, who said, "There's not a lot of good food in Davis...I say, bring on those gourmet food trucks and give everyone, including my chef Tony, a run for their money."

Like Davis Patch on Facebook for news directly to your wall.