[CLOSED] The Cats Meow Culinary Express – Spud Subs Sound Amazing!!

For the upcoming March of the Food Trucks event we’re interviewing a few Food Truck Chefs prior to Saturday. Making their debut @ March of the Food Trucks is the Cat’s Meow.  We are irrationally excited about Spud Subs!

1. Introduce us to the chef and the type of food you plan to serve at your food truck.
Kinter Rivers, Fawn Turner and Tom Allen – We do everything from scratch. We have several ideas that we do not think other Jacksonville Food Trucks are offering, but, our focus is being creative with fresh made ingredients. We will stick to the same concept, however, will change up the ingredients based on our demographic. Our concept is as follows:
– Stuffed Risotto balls served with a scratch made Marinara
– Spud Subs, both Sweet and Idaho potatoes will be used. This is a concept where we use a potato for a sub rather than bread. The potato, once assembled with the fillings of our choosing will be deep fried. When eaten, you will crunch into the outer skin, sink your teeth into the fluffy potato, become aware of the flavor of the meat and experience the ooze of the cheese in the center
– Navajo Taco. This is a taco utilizing a Indian Fried Bread opposed to a typical shell. For the one we will be creating for the Taste event we will be using a slow smoked pulled pork that has been tossed in a cilantro garlic olive oil sauce, we will then top this with shredded cabbage, scratch made pickled red onions and crumbled queso fresco
– Wafflewich. Sandwiches made with savory waffles. For the Taste event, we will be making an herbed waffle smoked shredded chicken BLT. In this case this will be a shredded chicken with bacon, Tomato jam aioli and field greens.

The Cats Meow Culinary Express

2. Can you tell us about your cooking background?
We have all been in the food industry for quite sometime.
-Tom has been cooking in restaurants and creating their menus for years. He also owned a coffee shop with fresh made pastries and soups in Gainesville,FL. Tom decided that he wanted to hone in on his skills by attending and graduating Magna Cum Laude from the Art Institute for Culinary.
– Kinter grew up loving delicious foods due to her moms creations. She has had the amazing opportunity to of traveling the world and tasting all kinds of cuisines. This love for food lead to her desire to learn how to create deliciousness in her own kitchen, she enrolled and graduated Magna Cum Laude at the Art institute for culinary.
– Fawn also grew up being exposed to delicious food. Her mom was always exposing her to new and exciting cuisines, in addition to constantly throwing parties and entertaining. Upon graduating from High school, Fawn had the amazing opportunity of gaining employment at the Ritz Carlton in Amelia island. Being exposed to the sheer magnitude of the Ritz’s culinary department and service offered at the Ritz Carlton, Fawn knew that the service and culinary industry would be her future.

3. How long did it take to go from concept to reality?
10 years

Cats Meow Mini Cupcakes

4. What is the one dish of yours diners shouldn’t miss?
SpudSub

5. What’s your favorite place to eat in Jacksonville and why?
Blacksheep and Restaurant Orsay. Their concepts are delicious and they use fresh local ingredients. Their creativity has proven to be endless. We also love Marker 32 and their family of restaurants, from the Fish Camps to the Smoke Houses.

6. Comments on #Foodtruckfiasco2014?
It is a shame that as a new business we have to worry if we will be regulated out of business. The citizens of Jacksonville have embraced this Food Truck movement. They are incredibly supportive of all of us. It is our opinion that the individuals bringing this legislation are not listening to the people they represent.

7. What’s been the most surprising part about launching a catering business and now a food truck?
Hands down all of the hoops you have to jump through to be legal. It is our desire to ensure we do everything legally, but we had no idea how many permits, insurances and licenses you must have to operate within the perimeters of the law. Honestly, we thought it would be allot easier. As soon as we thought we had all of our ducks in a row, we would realize there were 10 more steps necessary to become legitimate. One of the other most surprising things to us was the support we received once we joined the Jacksonville Food Truck Organization, they were warm and welcoming and make a huge effort to welcome every Food truck into their group. In this group there is no sense of competition, just a sense of family and community.

8. Do you have regular location picked out you’ll be setting up at?
We have not gotten that far yet. We will set up anywhere there is a need and anywhere we are invited.

Cats Meow Catering Photo

9. Anything else our readers should know?
Kinter and Fawn have been friends for 20+ years. They have worked many functions together and have always found a love for food that is very similar, yet different. Kinter and Tom met in culinary school. They immediately hit it off and were inseparable at school. They were always on the same team and always in the same classes. Kinter introduced Fawn and Tom and the three of us hit it off and the Cats Meow was born.