There’s always an exciting new creator to discover at our Off the Grid events. Each week, we highlight one of our favorites and share them on our weekly newsletter. Make sure to sign up here so you don’t miss out.
Kuker
Kuker is a love story. Kuker is owned by a first-generation immigrant husband and wife team, Evgueni Koulikov and Jivka Koulikova, sharing their love of Bulgarian food with the Bay Area. We’re big fans of their banitsa, a traditional Bulgarian hand-rolled phyllo dough, which is shaped as a beautiful spiral. It’s made with egg, ricotta, yogurt, and Bulgarian white cheese — they also offer a variation filled with leeks and chives. Don’t miss out on their kebapche, a picturesque plate of sausage, potatoes, cucumber, and a pillowy soft roll. The sausage is a combination of wagyu beef and pork that’s seared to develop a dark crust while remaining juicy and springy. The rich and creamy gold potatoes are perfectly accompanied by their bright roasted red pepper spread. It’s like a leveled up version of ketchup and fries. If you prefer white meat, try their yogurt marinated chicken paired with a mixed green salad, herb polenta cake, and housemade eggplant and fennel relish.
Cochinita
Cochinita deals in the cuisine of the Mexican state of Yucatán. You’ll find regional specialties like panuchos, poc chuc, and cochinita pibil. Owner, Sergio Albornoz, started his food truck to share his culture through his passion for food. We love their panucho, fried handmade corn tortillas stuffed with puréed black beans and topped with meat, lettuce, and avocado — it’s also Albornoz’s favorite! The food is as bright as their colorful food truck thanks to their use of citrus-based marinades. Try their Yucatán-style pulled chicken in a burrito where it’s combined with cheese, rice, and a guajillo salsa. Visit on the weekend or during a special event to try their elote tots — tater tots topped with corn, mayo, crema, cotija, hot sauce, tajin, cilantro, and meat. Keep an eye out for their specials like spaghetti, ceviche, and chiles rellenos!
D’Grobak
D’Grobak is an Indonesian food truck owned by Yohanes Ng and Christina Lim. They opened D’Grobak to share their love for Indonesian street food — specifically, bakso, a beef ball soup. It’s a dish that’s difficult to find in the Bay Area, but Yohanes and Christina make several varieties of the savory, bouncy meatballs from scratch. The signature bakso comes with five bakso (including one made with quail egg), tofu, fried chicken and shrimp wontons, beef tendon, grilled steak, bone marrow broth, vegetables, and mixed noodles. The bakso iga bakar includes sweet and spicy grilled braised beef ribs, five pieces of bakso, bone marrow beef broth, vegetables, and mixed noodles. There’s also a vegetarian option made with Impossible meatballs, plant-based stuffed tofu, vegan BBQ steam, fried spinach wontons, and mixed vegetables. They’re all served with a side of homemade sambal, lime wedge, sweet soy sauce, green onion, and fried shallot. Visit D’Grobak at an Off the Grid event near you!
Gregoire
Grégoire is a French restaurant in Berkeley run by French-trained Chef Grégoire Jacquet. The restaurant opened in 2002, but this year they’ve expanded by opening a food truck. The food truck is equipped to serve the full Grégoire menu which is all about fresh, clean flavors. The menu changes with the season — their fall menu highlights squash and alliums. The roasted butternut squash sandwich is filled with caramelized onions, gorgonzola cream, and candied pecans. The leek and smoked Gouda quiche is served with roasted brussels sprouts and balsamic vinaigrette. Pair your sandwich with crispy potato puffs or poutine, a Canadian dish of french fries topped with cheese curds and gravy. For dessert, try their blueberry cobbler or white chocolate and macadamia nut bread.
Jolly’s Old-Fashioned Teas Cream
Jolly’s Old-Fashioned Teas Cream is a mashup between an ice cream truck and a tea parlor. Their most popular flavor is the chocolate ice cream infused with the smoky flavors of Lapsang Suchong. The Southern Sweet Tea with Lemon Sorbet, which they refer to as a Cryogenically Frozen Arnold Palmer, is a bright, sweet scoop you won’t find anywhere else. Top your scoop with housemade boba, pocky, sprinkles, or whipped cream. Keep an eye out for their food truck adorned with flowers, wood panels, and ice cream doodles on a chalkboard. You can also get your ice cream in the form of a sundae or boba drink. The business is run by Jason “Jolly” Herrick and Vanessa “Essie” Greene.
Lahore Di Kushboo
Lahore Di Kushboo is a pink Pakistani food truck run by Shumaila Ali. She opened her food truck to connect with members of the Bay Area through dishes like lamb biryani and masala chaat. A must try dish is the Halwa Puri platter, a mixture of four different curries served with two types of puris for dipping. You also don’t want to miss the Lahori Chargha hot chicken which is fried chicken made with warm, aromatic spices like cardamom, nutmeg, and cumin. You can also enjoy classics like chicken tikka masala in wrap form, so you can enjoy it on the go. Shumaila’s experience as an artist is seen in every aspect of her business — from the beautifully designed truck to the presentation of her dishes.
Basil the Bold
Basil the Bold combines Thai cuisine with the flavors of California. It’s owned and managed by PanPan Thira, a Bangkok-native. We’re big fans of her fried tofu larb made with hand-marinated garlic soy tofu double-fried in a thin layer of crispy corn starch, tossed with a citrus and toasted rice “Larb” spice mix, aromatic fresh herbs, and just the right amount of chili. The fried chicken burrito is packed with chickpeas, Thai purple rice, rainbow veggie mix, and fried shallots wrapped in flour tortilla. You can get the burrito flavored with a larb spice mix, herbs, and spicy aioli or a tomyum variety made with spicy makrut coconut cream. Their impressive turmeric chicken salad is loaded with chick peas, tofu, cucumber, and leafy greens — top it with your choice of coconut-peanut dressing, tomyum dressing, and lemongrass vinaigrette.
Da Boot to Da Bay
D’Angelo Robinson opened Da Boot to Da Bay to bring Southern Cajun cuisine to the Bay Area. One of their Louisiana classics is the Crawfish Étouffée that combines crawfish, sausage, and spices into a saucy dish enjoyed over rice. You also find cheesy crawfish served in a bread bowl, firecracker shrimp, and smoked oxtails with gravy. You don’t want to miss their red beans and rice with sausage and cornbread. Keep an eye out for the shrimp, catfish, or oyster po’ boys. Finish off your meal with a round of their crispy, fried beignets topped with powdered sugar.
Los Kuyas
Los Kuyas is a Filipino-Mexican fusion food truck run by Edgar Gonzales and Joseph Santos. Their rich, heavily-spiced longanisa is topped with tomatoes and green onions for a burst of freshness. We love their tender sisig topped with pickled jalapeños. You don’t want to miss out on their most unique creation, lemon pepper chicken adobo, which is acidic and sharp — you won’t find it anywhere else. Each of these options is available in the form of a taco, rice plate, or burrito. Keep an eye out for their specials like nachos topped with longanisa or lumpia Shanghai.
Miss Subi
Miss Subi offers traditional Hawaiian dishes like huli huli chicken coated with a sweet and savory sauce; crispy mochiko pork; and loco moco (an egg and meat patty loaded with gravy). Their musubi creations are available in traditional renditions like spam and egg, but they’re also cooking up something new by introducing flavors from across Asia. The shrimp “ha gao” draws inspiration from Cantonese dumplings and the miso tofu and sweet potato draws inspiration from Japan. Their chicken cutlet musubi is layered with cucumber, yuzu aioli, shiso rice, and nori. There’s also a Vietnamese-style pork musubi. For a twist on the classic take, consider Miss Subi’s musubi made with spam, tamago (in this case, a sweet egg cake), furikake rice, and seaweed. Don’t miss out on the POG lemonade, a popular drink in Hawaii made from passionfruit, orange, and guava juice.
Tokachi Musubi
Tokachi Musubi was started by Chef Erika Yokoyama Sanchez to bring the flavors of her hometown (Tokachi, Japan) to the Bay Area. The musubi here looks a bit different than your traditional musubi, balls of rice are wrapped in nori, sliced open, and stuffed with Japanese favorites like karaage, mentaiko, and tempura. We love their ikura crab musubi which pairs salmon roe and imitation crab in a roll along with mayo, corn, and lettuce. If you want to try a bit of everything, go for their musubi bento which includes two musubis, chicken karaage, edamame, and miso soup. Don’t miss out on their bowls of udon served in dashi and topped with tempura.
