Since opening the Still Point spa nearly 15 years ago in Takoma Park, owner Tori Paide wanted to offer healthy food to complement her acupuncture, massage therapy, and other services. “It just flows in with what we’re doing with wellness,” she says. “But there’s just no way we could do blenders and food service inside a spa.”
Instead, she’ll park a food truck outside.
Starting next month, The Green Rooster, a modified bus with green paint job, will offer plant-based breakfasts and lunches alongside a beverage menu featuring coffee, juices, teas, shrub shots, kombucha on tap, and chlorophyll water. The latter, proponents say, stimulates the immune system, detoxifies blood, and neutralizes toxins, among other benefits.
The truck isn’t strictly vegan. There’s a little dairy in the mix, including feta and Greek yogurt, and cooks will use eggs on occasion. The menu is still in flux, but breakfast could be a yogurt bowl and lunch could be a soup or a grain salad. You can add superfood supplements, such as sesame seeds, goji berries, and pepitas. “I don’t think healthy food needs to be boring or not taste good,” Paide says.
A small team of consultants devised the menu at Paide’s truck with moderation in mind. “To us, moderation is 80-20,” Paide explains. “Eighty percent of the time we need to eat food that has proper micronutrients that fuel our body’s guts, brains, etcetera. But a cookie here and there won’t kill you.”
Danny Wells, Republic’s former executive chef and the co-founder of Civilitea tea company, initially helped devise the concept and the menu. Another food consultant, Carolina Gomez of Food Biz Mentor, finished the project.
Next, The Green Rooster needed a manager. “What I was looking for in a manager was someone who holds the same vision and dream but wants to do it on their own,” Paide says. “I didn’t want someone who looked at it as just a job.”
She found a match with Victoria Moreno, whose resume includes stints at The LINE DC hotel and the former Dupont Circle speakeasy The Sheppard, where she trained in cocktails with owner David Strauss. This summer, Moreno ran the coffee-focused Café Tunibamba when La Tejana popped up in Mount Pleasant.
The truck will feature products from a variety of local producers, including greens from Little Wild Things, syrups from Pratt Standard, tinctures and elixirs by Kiyoshi Botanicals, Keepwell Vinegar, Civilitea, and Lost Sock Roasters coffee.
Expect dishes and drinks to evolve with the weather. “We have a lot of other ideas we’ll be rolling out as the season changes,” says Paide, who aims to sell multi-day cleanse packages in January and is looking into doing nighttime pop-ups at the truck.
The Green Rooster will make its debut on Dec. 10 from 5 to 9 p.m. in the Takoma Park-Silver Spring Food Co-op parking lot at 201 Ethan Allen Ave.
Then, starting Dec. 11, The Green Rooster will park at its permanent home outside the Still Point spa. The hours will be Wednesdays through Sundays from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m.
The Green Rooster, 6 Grant Ave., Takoma Park; greenroostertruck.com