By John Birdsall, SFoodie Editor
Yesterday, SFoodie pondered a mystery ― a sidewalk sign in Potrero Hill with an advance tease about new Peruvian food truck Sanguchon, including a link to an inactive website. Today, thanks to hints from a pair of tipsters, the mystery is solved. Chef/owner Carlos Altamirano (Mochica, Piqueo’s, La Costanera) tells SFoodie he hopes to roll out the truck in 6 to 8 weeks, same spot (17th Street and Carolina) we spotted the sign. The concept: the sanguchon, a modern Peruvian sandwich Altamirano calls “the new thing” in the land of his birth.
“Peru culture is about love,” Altamirano says, and right now Peruvians are loving on the sanguchon. Once it’s up and revving, the Sanguchon truck will serve up several variations on the sanguchon, though Altamirano warns he hasn’t nailed down the final menu. But expect beef, chicken, pork (i.e., adobo de cerdo), tuna, also crispy chicharron of both chicken and pork. For vegetarians, a portobello variation called el campesino (“the farmer”). Altamirano’s Peruvian fusion place in Bernal, Piqueo’s, already has a sanguchon on the menu (pulled pork with salsa criolla). Expect salsa criolla (onions, cilantro, lime juice, chiles) to show up on Sanguchon’s sandwiches, too; also aїoli with rocoto and aji amarillo chiles.
Altamirano says he’s narrowed down the bread (crusty French rolls) to two vendors, Acme and Panorama. And there’ll be a fryer on the truck to do yuca, platano, and potato fries.
The chef already has a street permit for the spot in Potrero, where he plans to park the Sanguchon truck 10 a.m.-5 p.m. daily, though he’d like to find an additional spot downtown, too. Food prep will happen in the Mochica kitchen in SOMA.
