No One Is Allowed To Cook In The Car

Unlike New York and Los Angeles and even Portland, Chicago is not down with the food trucks.  Which is sucky.  I love food trucks.  We’re so missing out.  Apparently, the policy is: no one is allowed to cook in the car.  And that’s that (for now, anyway – there’s a whole movement working to change this – and soon-to-be Mayor Rahm is (pretty much) on board).

In the meantime, these cheeky little mobile bakeries are showing up all over the place.  They are technically within the ordinance – nothing is being prepared in the trucks, that is.  And the novelty goes a long way.

The other day, on our way back from lunch, Sara, CG and I ran into Sweet Ride Chicago on Dearborn, just south of Madison.Sweet Ride is Lupita Kuri’s “gourmet dining adventure on wheels” and she’s totally rocking it.  She was recently featured on the Daily Candy and she is going to be on Cupcake Wars in the upcoming months.  She’s sweet and unassuming.  Maybe not business savvy.  This is clearly a new venture for her, too.

The thing with bakery trucks, when you find them, is that buying something is basically an obligation.  Or maybe that’s the thing with Sara and me.  Anyway, we were on the later end of Sweet Ride’s lunch hour in the loop, so our options were limited.  A box of three mini cupcakes (banana chocolate chip, mocha, and vanilla bean) or black and white mini-lollipop cupcakes (Sweet Ride’s website features a number of other cupcake flavors, as well as pies and puddings and other treats). We went with the lollipop cupcakes.  I’m a sucker for gimmicks.

They were honestly delicious.  The cake was amazing – like a cross between chocolate pudding and cake.  The vanilla buttercream was rich and sweet.  No question, real vanilla.  I could have done without the milk chocolate cup that the entire thing was resting in.  It made it too sweet.  But otherwise, it was one of the better cupcakes I’ve had.  Perfect with an earl grey tea from Starbucks.  And some office supplies.  I take what I can get.  There is one downside: the cupcakes are a little overpriced ($5 for three mini cupcakes, $3 for a cupcake pop).  But hey gas is expensive.

Overall, love this.  Love the movement, love the cupcakes, all of it.