by Ari Bendersky | Eater Chicago
Chicago really needs to hurry up and change the legislation surrounding food trucks as more and more chefs and restaurant owners are launching trucks to sell everything from wagyu to froyo. Elate and Jam owner Anthony Fiore is the latest to jump in on the action.
Over the weekend at Lollapalooza, Fiore chatted with The Feast about his concept for the Traffic Jam food truck. Fiore told Eater that he’s taking an old Meals on Wheels truck and having a designer create a new wrap for the outside of the truck to display the new logo. The truck will feature sandwiches from Jam and possibly hot falafel and other vegetarian items from Chickpea, which Fiore is also a partner in.
Fiore said that depending on the timing of the opening of the new Jam location in Logan Square, which he hopes will be sometime in the next few weeks (it’s been delayed due to construction issues), they’ll prep all of the sandwiches from there. However, if the truck is ready sooner, they’ll prep in the current Jam location in Ukrainian Village. He’ll also likely sell a variety of artisan popsicles based on the success of sales of their watermelon jalapeño popsicle at Lollapalooza.
Speaking of Jam in Ukrainian Village, Fiore said that once Jam opens in Logan Square, they’ll likely move the entire staff to the new location and shutter the original spot. He said the front of the building needs tuckpointing work, the air conditioning doesn’t work well, there are electrical issues and they aren’t getting any help from the landlord. “The location needs a lot of work. We’ll have to move,” Fiore said. “You can’t operate a restaurant out of that building. We’ll close as soon as we open Logan.” He added they’re looking for a new location to re-open that spot, but as for where, that’s still up in the air.
