LOS ANGELES. — Local man Derek Mitchum regretted attending a show at The Smell music venue on a work night until a local food truck parked outside to sell artisan poutine, several gravy-stained sources report.
“I immediately had remorse going to this stupid show, but I knew if I didn’t end up going, my lousy conscience would kick in every time I saw my coworker who invited me to watch his band in the first place,” said Mitchum. “And by the time 11 o’clock rolled around, and his band hadn’t even started yet, I was ready to lose it. Then the beautiful smell of gravy, french fries and truck exhaust permeated through the venue. My savior that night came in the form of Pappy’s Poutine. It was the best $27 dollar food truck order I’ve ever eaten.”
Dillon Randoph, guitarist of the band Flow Glow and Mitchum’s coworker, felt the timing of the truck could have been a little more thought-out.
“To be perfectly honest, I think it’s incredibly unfair for these mobile restaurants to come in and take all the attention away from performing artists like myself, regardless of how many local ‘Most Delicious Food Truck to Make Any Event Better’ awards they win,” Randolph stated. “Out of the 15 to 20 people there, I’d say two or three actually saw our set because the rest were clamoring to get in line for food. Hell, even our bass player left the set midway through to order food for himself. The nerve. I mean, he didn’t even get me anything.”
Owner and operator of Pappy’s Poutine Richard “Pappy” Paulson has been the saving grace during many events during his long history in the food truck business.
“Yup, for 12 years now, I’ve helped people cope with the misery of everything from visiting historic museums to parents having to sit through their child’s school plays,” Paulson explained. “I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard people tell me, ‘I was about four seconds away from throwing myself in front of a bus out of sheer boredom, then you came along.’ I get this feeling almost like I’m letting those folk into my home, sort of taking them under my wing. Maybe it’s the savior thing, or maybe it’s because I literally live here inside the truck. Either way, it’s a reward only a person living the life of a food truck vendor can understand.”
At press time, the venue had to cancel the following night’s show after Paulson and his truck were unable to make it.