Introducing: Per Se Mobile, a Miami-inspired food truck serving Colombian fare
(Image: Karolyne Ellacott)
The latest mobile kitchen to join this year’s flood of new food trucks is Per Se Mobile, a moving kitchen serving comfort food tinged with the flavours of Colombia and Florida. Caterer Luis Olarte witnessed first-hand the truck scene blowing up in Miami, where he was working at the time. Back in Toronto, he joined forces with Florida pal William Gavilan and James Lariatt-Smith, and got in on the street food frenzy.
An offshoot of Olarte’s catering company, the group’s first gig saw them shelling out around 1,700 meals on wheels at the Digital Dreams electronic music fest a couple weeks back. We caught up with them at their Bay and Front location, although they’ve also made appearances at Queen and Jarvis, and, thanks to their ability to whip out a dish in under a minute, the team plans on hitting up various other festivals in the near future.
The menu itself keeps things simple. To date, the shrimp tacos ($8) have been the hottest-selling option: three corn tortillas are filled with tiger shrimp, tomatoes and onions and finished with cilantro. Meanwhile, the porchetta sandwich ($8) tucks Italian-spiced roast pork inside a brioche bun, with an apple and caramelized onion marmalade and house-pickled banana peppers. The Colombian heritage that Olarte and Gavilan share is represented in the raw sugar cane lemonade ($4), made using sugar cane from the Valle del Cauca with fresh lime juice adding an acid kick ($4). We’re told the Colombian drink is traditionally sipped piping hot, and acts as a perk-me-up for folks feeling under the weather. Their chilled version is certain to quench thirst after a sweaty stint in line.
153245 Raw sugar cane lemonade with fresh lime juice ($4) (Image: Karolyne Ellacott) Introducing: Per Se Mobile Introducing: Per Se Mobile https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/jul12PerSe_01-96x96.jpg https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/jul12PerSe_01.jpg https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/jul12PerSe_01.jpg 624 416 [] https://torontolife.com/food/introducing-per-se-mobile/slide/jul12perse_01/ jul12perse_01 0 0
(Image: Karolyne Ellacott)
153248 Porchetta sandwich ($8): tucks Italian-spiced roast pork inside a brioche bun, with apple and caramelized onion marmalade and house-pickled banana peppers (Image: Karolyne Ellacott) Introducing: Per Se Mobile Introducing: Per Se Mobile https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/jul12PerSe_04-96x96.jpg https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/jul12PerSe_04.jpg https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/jul12PerSe_04.jpg 624 416 [] https://torontolife.com/food/introducing-per-se-mobile/slide/jul12perse_04/ jul12perse_04 0 0
(Image: Karolyne Ellacott)
153246 Shrimp tacos ($8): three corn tortillas filled with tiger shrimp, tomatoes and onions, topped with cilantro (Image: Karolyne Ellacott) Introducing: Per Se Mobile Introducing: Per Se Mobile https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/jul12PerSe_02-96x96.jpg https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/jul12PerSe_02.jpg https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/jul12PerSe_02.jpg 624 416 [] https://torontolife.com/food/introducing-per-se-mobile/slide/jul12perse_02/ jul12perse_02 0 0
(Image: Karolyne Ellacott)
153250 (Image: Karolyne Ellacott) Introducing: Per Se Mobile Introducing: Per Se Mobile https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/jul12PerSe_06-96x96.jpg https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/jul12PerSe_06.jpg https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/jul12PerSe_06.jpg 624 416 [] https://torontolife.com/food/introducing-per-se-mobile/slide/jul12perse_06/ jul12perse_06 0 0
(Image: Karolyne Ellacott)
153252 (Image: Karolyne Ellacott) Introducing: Per Se Mobile Introducing: Per Se Mobile https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/jul12PerSe_08-96x96.jpg https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/jul12PerSe_08.jpg https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/jul12PerSe_08.jpg 624 416 [] https://torontolife.com/food/introducing-per-se-mobile/slide/jul12perse_08/ jul12perse_08 0 0
(Image: Karolyne Ellacott)
153251 (Image: Karolyne Ellacott) Introducing: Per Se Mobile Introducing: Per Se Mobile https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/jul12PerSe_07-96x96.jpg https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/jul12PerSe_07.jpg https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/jul12PerSe_07.jpg 624 416 [] https://torontolife.com/food/introducing-per-se-mobile/slide/jul12perse_07/ jul12perse_07 0 0
(Image: Karolyne Ellacott)
153247 A pig about to be roasted for the porchetta (Image: Karolyne Ellacott) Introducing: Per Se Mobile Introducing: Per Se Mobile https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/jul12PerSe_03-96x96.jpg https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/jul12PerSe_03.jpg https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/jul12PerSe_03.jpg 624 416 [] https://torontolife.com/food/introducing-per-se-mobile/slide/jul12perse_03/ jul12perse_03 0 0
(Image: Karolyne Ellacott)
153253 Luis Olarte at the veggie station (Image: Karolyne Ellacott) Introducing: Per Se Mobile Introducing: Per Se Mobile https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/jul12PerSe_09-96x96.jpg https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/jul12PerSe_09.jpg https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/jul12PerSe_09.jpg 624 416 [] https://torontolife.com/food/introducing-per-se-mobile/slide/jul12perse_09/ jul12perse_09 0 0
(Image: Karolyne Ellacott)
153249 James Lariatt-Smith, William Gavilan and Luis Olarte (Image: Karolyne Ellacott) Introducing: Per Se Mobile Introducing: Per Se Mobile https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/jul12PerSe_05-96x96.jpg https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/jul12PerSe_05.jpg https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/jul12PerSe_05.jpg 624 416 [] https://torontolife.com/food/introducing-per-se-mobile/slide/jul12perse_05/ jul12perse_05 0 0
(Image: Karolyne Ellacott)
153254 The truck, parked at Bay and Front (Image: Karolyne Ellacott) Introducing: Per Se Mobile Introducing: Per Se Mobile https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/jul12PerSe_intro-96x96.jpg https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/jul12PerSe_intro.jpg https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/jul12PerSe_intro.jpg 656 384 [] https://torontolife.com/food/introducing-per-se-mobile/slide/jul12perse_intro/ jul12perse_intro 0 0
(Image: Karolyne Ellacott)
Per Se Mobile Food Truck, 416-807-8945, persemobile.com, @PerSeMobile
where the hell is the columbian inspired fare?? they have mexican tacos and an italian sandwich? I hope this shit doesn’t get to the point where people will think it is good just because it came out of a truck! Oh wait sorry the drink….the drink is columbian inspired!
We were hoping for a gourmet approach of the typical colombian hot dogs…
First of all its spelled COLOMBIA!!!!!!
Second, the have a hamburger on their menu that is a typical COLOMBIAN hamburger (i tried it)
Third, they did a festival at Salsa n St Clair where they had Lechona n Arepas also COLOMBIAN dishes now if this writer didnt put all that SMH!!!!
Try the burger…. wow.
Is it just me or are all the foodtruck dishes starting to look the same? Soon they’ll all be as boring as the trucks posted outside Nathan Phillips Sq. And at ANDRES, who felt the need to yell at Pollux. Toronto Life’s depiction of what Per Se is (Colombian) and what they offer (Italian and Mexican) wouldn’t give anyone a clue that they in fact have “Colombian” fair somewhere on the menu. Toronto Life doesnt mention it or photo it- which is either there fault or the foodtrucks. You taking it so personal makes me assume you are associated with the truck and you yelling at a potential customer is just bad for business. So whether someone bothers to spell it COLUMBIA or COLOMBIA (we’re not in English class here) you pointing it out in caps multiple times is rather lame. Besides you didnt capitalize your “i” so why bother pointing out other peoples mistakes without correcting your own?
when did hamburgers, tacos and porchetta sandwiches become ColUmbian??
You know you are in hell when Truck Food is exciting!!!!
Per Se was parked outside of the Royal Bank Plaza on Front Street today, and so I decided to give it a try. I ordered the porchetta sandwich and a lemonade. The sandwich was a total let down: the porchetta was inadequately spiced and the so-called apple and caramelized onion marmalade was either totally insipid or absent altogether, it was hard to tell which. The pickled pepper, which was not particularly peppery or pickled, was stringy and tough. I choked down one and removed the other. The lemonade was reasonable, but unreasonably priced at $4.00. So, parking the debate about whether Per Se is actually peddling Colombian inspired fare, do yourself a favor and save your cash for another truck.
first time going to the food trucks parked in the financial district as i was not entirely convinced about the hype. aaaaaaaaaaand i shoulda just went down to the PATH for some lunch. $8 porchetta sandwich that was dry and not very flavourful? the pork just looked so drab- even with that pickled pepper. the food was fast but $8?? come on, now…
I know this site provides quality based posts
and extra data, is there any other web page which provides such stuff in quality?
Here is my webpage :: Impotency
Cure