Montauk Chef Starts Kickstarter Campaign to Help Fund Food Truck

Local Montauk resident and chef Shawn Christman recently started a Kickstarter campaign to help fund his food truck, The Sea Bean Natural Foods Co. in Montauk.

The company is a mobile caterer specializing in seasonal, local and organic produce and seafood from Montauk, the Hamptons and surrounding areas.

According to a video Christman posted on the Kickstarter page, he spent my youth in Montauk, and left to travel the world in places such as Australia, California, Thailand and Alask in search of “new experiences”.

He has now returned to Montauk and hopes to start his new life here, according to the video.

Since returning he has worked with celebrity chefs like Tom Colicchio, head judge on the Bravo reality TV show Top Chef, and has worked in restaurants such as Nick and Tony’s, Topping Rose and The Crow’s Nest.

He recently decided to venture into mobile catering by opening up the food truck with business partners, Mary Jo Fuoco and Courtney Fruin who are dedicated to making The Sea Bean a staple food source in Montauk, according to the Sea Bean website..

He hopes to raise $15,000 which will go towards attaining approval from the Department of Health, new water heaters, plumbing, sink, electrical and new waste water tanks, according to the page.

So far, $7,365 has been raised with only 11 more days in the campaign.

Christman also anticipates some risks and challenges including long slow winters in the area.

“We’ll be expecting a baby in September and we plan to close down the retail portion of our business at the end of November and re-open May 1st,” he wrote on the Kickstarter page. “This will allow for maximum profitability and lower over head and for one of us to be home with the baby.”

Check out Christman’s Kickstarter video below.

To read more or to donate to Christman’s cause, visit his Kickstarter page.

Photo: theseabean.com

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