Bonnaroo Food Survival Guide
Bonnaroo, a four-day music festival in Manchester, Tenn. that begins this Thursday, draws at least 80,000 people a year — that's a lot of hungry mouths to feed. But they've got your back with food trucks from across the country that know how to serve up quality mobile food.
Located on the west side of Centeroo between "This Tent" and Splash-A-Roo, the Food Truck Oasis will host food trucks that range from gourmet grilled cheeses at The Big Cheese (Arlington, Va.), fusion at Roti Rolls (Charleston, S.C.), to meatballs at Eatbox (Asheville, N.C.).
One of the new trucks entering the festival this year is The Cracked Truck from Urbana, Ill. The truck only serves gourmet breakfast egg sandwiches and hash browns.
"Eggs are kind of a blank canvas to pair with so many flavors and combinations," said Daniel Krause, one of the three owners. "Along those lines, breakfast is a universally loved meal. You really can eat it any time of the day."
Krause, Jeremy Mandell, and Sean Baird started the truck last August after graduating from college in May 2012. With degrees in food science and human nutrition, economics, and hospitality management, the three owners make a good team, balancing each other out and "filling in information the others don't know," Krause said.
The Cracked Truck caters to the University of Illinois campus, but the trio have always been interested in serving at music festivals.
"Bonnaroo has such a cool vibe with so many great people walking around — everyone is so happy to be there," Krause said. "We're really excited to be out there and be a part of the atmosphere serving food to all these people."
Every sandwich has a fried egg and hash browns on it, with cheese or meat, like salami and bacon, or spinach and tomatoes. Or it can be ordered plain just eggs, cheese, and hash browns. Certain spreads like pesto or cream cheese are also available, all served on a ciabatta roll.
Savory & Sweet from Knoxville, Tenn. first worked Bonnaroo last year. The experience was so positive, there was no question about returning this year.
"It's a lot of work, but a lot of fun, too — it's a good time," said Byron Sambat, co-owner of Savory & Sweet. His wife Kiki owns it with him.
The menu will feature a "Jumpin' Java" taco, a coffee chipotle braised pork with cilantro lime slaw, and a beer battered fried avocado taco with washer limes with cilantro lime slaw and chipotle cream.
"We try to do as much local, seasonal food as possible with an emphasis on southwestern tacos," Byron said.
The Broo'ers Festiva l, a beer oasis for festival attendees, will feature 25 breweries from across the country, from craft beer to crisp Vermont cider. It is located next to "Which Stage," so you can grab a beer without missing any music. Next door, Broo'ers University will hold seminars and discussions dedicated to the "art and awesomeness of beer."
New to this year's festival is FatBack Collective, a group of chefs, restaurateurs, thinkers, and entrepreneurs who "believe in the possibilities of heritage breed livestock, the farmers who humanely raise them, the cooks who coax flavors from them, and the celebrants who commune around them."
The Alabama-based Jim 'N Nicks Bar-B-Q will lead FatBack at Bonnaroo, and a different chef from the group will roast a whole hog each day.
A full menu of what each truck will be offering can be found on the next page.
* signifies new to Bonnaroo
On the menu at Bonnaroo:
Eatbox (Asheville, N.C.), a prize truck known for top-notch meatballs: meatballs, meatball Sandwich, breakfast
Gastropod (Miami, Fla.), a gourmet food truck with fusion cooking and an emphasis on local, seasonal ingredients: short rib sliders, pulled pork sandy, curry in a hurry, white corn cake
Petro's Chili & Chips (Knoxville, Tenn.), loved for its original take on chili bowls, known as Petro Bowls: Petro Chili & Chips (regular, barbecue chicken, buffalo chicken, Baja)
Roti Rolls (Charleston, S.C.), centered on creating seasonal fusion food that is Asian, Indian, Caribbean, Latin, and Southern-inspired: featuring locally-sourced meats, vegetables and cheeses
Savory and Sweet (Knoxville, Tenn.), gourmet Southwestern specialty tacos: "Jumpin Java," fried avocado, Cuban picadillo, fried cheesecake
*The Big Cheese (Arlington, Va.), known for gourmet grilled cheese sandwiches made with all-natural, local ingredients: Midnight Moon, Full Vermonty, lemon fig, caprese, thrilled cheese, watermelon feta salad, breakfast
*The Cracked Truck (Urbana, Ill.), a new twist on breakfast food: fried egg sandwiches, hash browns
Prater's BBQ (Morrison, Tenn.), Bonnaroo veteran and Tennessee icon, will return for its twelfth year with a menu of barbecue sandwiches, riblets, smoked wings, and cheese sticks.
Solar Café (Norwood, N.H.), a mobile cafe that uses solar panels as its energy source
Planet Roo Café, Bonnaroo's 100 percent waste-free café, will be serving burritos, quesadillas, breakfast, stir-fry, teas, coffees, juice, and smoothies. Planet Roo will also be home to the Bonnaroo Learning Garden where guests can learn about sustainable eating and how to grow their own garden.
Broo'ers Festival Participants:
Abita Brewing Co. (Abita Springs, La.)
Asheville Brewing Co. (Asheville, N.C.)
Blue Moon (Golden, Colo.)
Brooklyn Brewery (Brooklyn, N.Y.)
*Crazy Mountain Brewery (Avon, Colo.)
Crispin Cider (Minneapolis)
Elysian Brewing (Seattle)
*Flat 12 Bierwerks (Indianapolis)
Good People Brewery (Birmingham, Ala.)
*Harpoon Brewery (Boston)
*Henry Weinhard (Portland, Ore.)
Highlands Brewing Co. (Asheville, N.C.)
*Kentucky Ale (Lexington, Ky.)
*Lagunitas (Lagunitas, Calif.)
Jacob Leinenkugels Brewing Co. (Chippewa Falls, Wis.)
Magic Hat (South Burlington, Vt.)
Narragansett Beer (Providence, R.I.)
North Coast Brewing Co. (Fort Bragg, Calif.)
Schlafly Beer (St. Louis)
Sierra Nevada (Chico, Calif.), returning with its Bonnaroo Brew
Starr Hill Brewery (Crozet, Va.)
Sweetwater Brewing Co. (Atlanta)
Terrapin (Athens, Ga.)
Woodchuck Cider (Middlebury, Vt.)
Yazoo Brewing Co. (Nashville, Tenn.)