Today was my very first food truck experience here in Washington D.C. To be honest, I’ve never really eaten at food trucks that many times before… normally the lines are too long and I just don’t have the time or patience. But today I was feeling adventurous, and since I read last month in the Washington Post that my favorite chef Jose Andres just started his own food truck, I had to try it out. My foodie buddy here in D.C., Ms. Lindsey Ito, was on board to see what “Pepe” (JA’s food truck) had to offer us this sunny but windy Thursday afternoon. I had been wanting to try a food truck in D.C.- the best website to see where all of the D.C. foodtrucks are is http://foodtruckfiesta.com/. It gives the menus, locations and prices of all the food trucks in the city. 
The line was a little long when Lindsey and I arrived- Pepe tweeted that they would be at Union Station today. I’m not going to lie, I definitely checked out the menu ahead of time online, but I still couldn’t decide until I got there what I wanted. As we got closer to the window, I decided that I wanted to try the Spanish Grilled Cheese (fresh, thin baguette with manchego cheese, murcia cheese, valdeon cheese, membrillo and fresh goat cheese). By the time we got to the very front they had sold out! I’ll definitely have to try it another time. Instead I ordered the Pepito de Ternera (fresh, slender baguette with seared beef tenderloin, caramelized onion, piquillo pepper confit and blue cheese- I requested manchego cheese instead 🙂 ) with a small cup of non-alcoholic sangria (total price= $17- $14 for the sandwich and $3 for the sangria). I was blown away! This mini-baguette sandwich was perfect- the beef was seasoned extremely well and the peppers and onions complimented the meat and cheese splendidly. Too bad the sangria wasn’t tinto de verano- I’ll have to go back to Pepe once summer arrives. They also have gazpacho.. one of the most amazing soups that I consumed on the regular while I was in Spain last summer. Lindsey ordered the butifarra burger (fresh, slender baguette with Spanish pork burger, alioli and brava sauce) and we shared the chocolate and hazlenut ice cream flauta. Her sandwich was mouthwatering.. I literally was so impressed by our amazing lunch that was pretty spur of the moment- both sandwiches took me back to my amazing summer in Madrid last year. One of my favorite places to relax after class was the local cervecería called Cien Montaditos (a “montadito” is a mini sandwich on a fresh, thin baguette). I loved to people watch in at the Cien on Calle Montero and catch up with our favorite waiter- Enrique! I miss those 2 euro jarras de tinto 🙂 The sandwiches being produced at “Pepe” are montaditos but a little bit longer. One sandwich is plenty for me. I highly recommend all you food truck lovers to try “Pepe.” You might just possibly get to experience a little bit of Spain in your quick lunch hour. 
littlechefmary 