Comfort food, rocking music and the winter sun — Delhi Food Truck Festival has a high fun quotient

With December ringing in the festive times, foodies and party lovers are in for some fun. Winter is the season for green, leafy vegetables and the palate is ready for innovations. “The third season of the Delhi Food Truck Festival (DFTF) is going to be bigger and better,” says Abhishek Deo, founder and festival director, DFTF. Delhi also gets to swing to the tunes of Sunanda Sharma, Jash Manak, Ninja & Ragini and more live performances. There will be global cuisine on offer and plenty of trucks to choose your dish from.

Some well-known trucks coming to the festival are Lalit Food Truck, Flip on Wheels, Masca Bites and more. Besides the trucks, some food brands with pop-ups are Café Coffee Day, Keventers, Chicago Pizza and more. “All in all, around 25 trucks, 60 food stalls and an amazing flea market,” adds Deo, who loves travelling and trying out different flavours. “Being a foodie, I wanted a change in the way of tasting different varieties of food. Tasting dishes is nothing less than a festival in itself, so I thought of starting this festival. And then research showed the popularity of food trucks. It finally became the Delhi Food Truck Festival.”

But nothing comes without challenges. “Convincing exhibitors was not a cake walk. We had to prepare a detailed strategy to make them participate in this. We created a big happy team which includes our exhibitors and performers. Well, big things do require time and efforts,” Deo goes on.

Varun Agrawal, who runs Flip on Wheels with his father Pulek Agrawal, serves sandwiches, burgers, pastas and more outside Amity University in Noida on weekdays, keeps going to festivals. “Festivals give us brand recognition. But there is need for some favourable laws to make the truck food business professional. We invested quite a lot in getting this truck customised. With a lot of preparations taking place in a bigger kitchen, there is minimal work to be done in the truck.”

Masca Bites is normally seen on the main road of Sector 25, Noida, but “when we go for festivals, we tell our customers where to find us in those days”, says Kshitij Deopujari, a hospitality professional who stepped into this business a few months back. Having worked in eminent five-star hotels such as Intercontinental, Country Inn & Suites, it was natural for him to turn to this business, when he decided to have his own venture.

With his son and wife chipping in, the menu includes kathi rolls, Chinese and munchies besides other comfort food. Beverages such as juices, soft drinks, coffee and mocktails are also popular with trucks. “Festivals give us good exposure and also keep us abreast of the trends.” He designed his truck himself and has some energy efficient systems in place.

On what’s going to be the highlight, Deo says, “People can dig into waffles, ice-creams, BBQs, potato-tornado, shakes and more.”
When: December 14-16, 2018
Where: Jawahar Lal Nehru Stadium, Gate No 14, New Delhi
Time: 12 pm-10 pm
Entry Ticket: Rs 249 per person
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