101 Best Food Truck Feature: Komodo Truck

The Los Angeles-based food truck Komodo Truck made it to number 71 on our list of 101 Best Food Trucks in America 2013. The truck has gained fame and a following while serving a menu aimed at highlighting LA's diversity with Asian-Mexican fusion burritos.

We caught up with the truck after the release of our list to learn more about their story and future plans.

When did you launch your truck?
We launched in late 2009.

What was the inspiration for going into this business?
Chef Erwin was a fine dining chef at Hotel Bel Air for years and the hotel went on a renovation hiatus and furloughed everyone. Originally, chef Erwin wanted to do a hot dog cart that we would wheel out in the middle of the night after concerts. He had love for late-night snacks, growing up in East LA and eating delicious tortas and tacos at night. After much investigating, he discovered that going into a food truck business was pretty affordable during the recession (when most people are terrified of starting a business). He gathered a few partners and friends to back his idea of fusing good restaurant-style dishes into an approachable, affordable, accessible format and bringing them to the streets. There it was — Komodo was born. His inspiration was all about fusing his Southeast Asian background of home cooking, his classical French training, and his past work experience dabbling in coastal California cuisine. The menu is truly reflective of a melting pot of idea that is Los Angeles.

What's the story behind the origin of your truck's name?
Chef Erwin's dad grew up near the Komodo island. The Komodo dragons are an endangered species existing in Indonesia. Chef Erwin wanted to honor his heritage by naming the truck Komodo. The Komodo dragon is truly a suitable mascot for our business. As a lizard, it is large, fast-moving, and incredibly unique. They are essentially blind, possess poor hearing, and heavily rely on their tongues to hunt and get around their environment. Their sense of taste is their arsenal for survival, the compass to their everyday. 

How did you come up with your truck's design? Is there a designer you'd like to give a shout-out to?

 It was truly a collaborative effort between the partners. We wanted to keep the truck simple, sleek. At the time, all of the loncheras were white and we wanted something stark, graphic, and effortless. Hence the simplicity of our truck design; we wanted it to crossover to appeal to many different types of clienteles, whether super high-end or street food patrons. 

Does your truck have a vanity license plate? And if so, what does it say?
No.  

What's your signature dish? Is it also your most popular dish?
Our Komodo 2.0 Tacos, truffle fries, and meatballs with romesco Sauce.

What's the inspiration for your cuisine and recipes?
California coastal Asian fusion dishes. A blend of Southeast Asian flavors and ingredients and Baja California inspirations.

What's the most challenging thing about running your food truck?
Being outside in unpredictable weather conditions and the incredible physicality of the day-to-day tasks. It's truly a labor of love.

If you haven't already, would you ever go brick-and-mortar? And if you have, is there anything you feel gets lost in the transition?
We opened a brick-and-mortar location on our first year anniversary. Now with our third year anniversary at our first café, we're expanding to a second unit (launching in early September) in Venice Beach, Calif. We are so excited and proud. It is truly a dream come true. 

What's one piece of advice would you give someone looking to get into the food truck business?
Don't get into the food truck business to be in the food truck business, do it because you believe in the potential of your product/idea. In the end of the day, it's all about the food/great product, great service, and business ethic/integrity. If you can apply all of these things wholeheartedly, it doesn't matter if your business evolves to be a brick-and-mortar or a million food trucks — you will have business longevity and prosperity. 

Any new upcoming dishes planned that you can tell us about?  
We put out different specials every week, all fusing different inspirations and cultural ideas. We have been catering a ton of weddings and private parties, so that has given us great opportunities to experiment and push out new products. 

Any new plans on the horizon you can share?
The expansion of our food business into a second brick-and-mortar in Venice Beach.

Lots of things happen when running a restaurant, and that probably goes double on the road. As such, be it weird, funny, good, or bad, what's one superlative or particularly outstanding moment or story that's ever occurred with your truck be it with customers, in the kitchen, or just in general?

On the road and amongst our peers, we're known to be the Food Trucks to the Stars. We have been incredibly fortunate to be on set of terrific films, commercials, and TV shoots. 

Probably some of the most fun memories would be behind the stage catering some of our favorite shows/celebrities, meeting everyone, and making them fans of your food. Other fun moments are being a part of someone's special day — weddings, bar mitzvahs, first birthday parties, etc. — it's always super high-pressure and nerve-wracking because you always want to make sure you do everything perfect for your clients, no matter what the event may be. Other more memorable moments would be vending at large food festivals where fans would wait three to four hours just to get a glimpse of our tacos. It makes you feel like you've done something right and it's definitely exhilarating to be able to touch so many people's lives.