By: Sarah Punderson
Philadelphia, Pa.- Ah the summer.
Hot days and cool nights. Ice of the creamed variety and juices from fresh
fruit dribbling down sunburned chins. Flip flops, sand between toes. Fryer oil?
Diesel fill-ups, propane for the generators and seven-day work weeks? Enter the
new life of Verna Swerdlow and her boyfriend David Jurkofsky- co-owners of
Vernalicious Food Truck, located in Philadelphia, Pa. If you ever dreamed of
packing up your office and saying sianara to your colleagues in pursuit of a
better life, where you can do whatever you want, whenever you want- Swerdlow
will give it to you straight:
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| Vernalicious Food Truck |
“It’s a hard life- we work a lot,”
Swerdlow said while chatting at Love Park in Philadelphia one afternoon while
Jurkofsky and employee Becca handled what remained of the lunch rush.
Summertime has changed for Verna.
“Some days we go out for 24 hour
shifts. I’m usually up between four and five o’clock in the morning to begin
prepping,” said Swerdlow. “We start with a day-time service, schlepping
everything into the truck and then we clean, lock and load for a late-night
service at Frankford and Girard- to get home at four or five in the morning.
Frankford and Girard is a busy
intersection of bars in the Fishtown neighborhood of Philadelphia, and
Vernalicious parks itself right between several popular spots including
Frankford Hall, Johnny Brendas and Barcade.
“The late night thing goes against
my body clock, but we love it,” said Swerdlow. “We love the people, we love the
energy. It’s not just a bar crowd- we get a lot of neighborhood people out for
a late-night snack.
Before she was driving a food truck with
a charicature of herself on it, Verna was an optician for 20 years. She owned a
high-end fashion forward practice in Bryn Mawr for 10 years and previous to
that was a glass artist (which she went to school for at Rochester Institute of
Technology).
“I wanted out of optical, and I
wanted to be in food, but food sales-like DiBruno Brothers, I wanted to sell
for a quality food distributor,” Swerdlow said. “I couldn’t get a nibble, I
offered my services for free- I couldn’t make anything happen.”
So on to Plan B, opening a food
truck. The life of a food trucker has similarities to restaurateurs, but one of
the biggest differences is the schlepping, according to Swerdlow.
“It’s hard to make this a
sustainable business, because there’s so much schlepping,” Swerdlow said. “It’s
like carrying in a restaurant everyday, and then taking it off, cleaning it and
packing it all up again.”
Not that she’s complaining now-
Swerdlow cooks whatever she wants every day of the week. When I stopped by to
interview her, I bit into a crispy on the outside, cheesy on the inside grilled
cheese for lunch.
“Everyday I cook my wish list,
because I’m not making anything in particular,” Swerdlow said. “I make whatever
I feel like.”
This summer, seafood is on the brain
at Vernalicious. Swerdlow has already done a shrimp roll and plans to cook up
lobster rolls in the next few weeks. With a fried oyster po’boy also in the
works, she’s keeping things straight up and simple.
“I’m not fancy. I prefer to eat that
way out but not on the truck,” Swerdlow said.
Hailing from the Main Line, Swerdlow
lives in Wynnewood, a suburb of Philadelphia and currently and can be spotted
shopping at the neighborhood Whole Foods. The Vernalicious truck was at the
Bryn Mawr Farmer’s Market last year and plans to return this fall (2012). Most
of the time white and green truck can be found at Frankford & Girard and
private events.
When she’s not noshing on her own
truck fare, Swerdlow likes to chomp down at The Smoke Truck, Delicias, Pitruco
Pizza and Nomad Pizza.
“We’ve got a really strong food
truck scene for a small city,” Swerdlow said. “I’m really looking forward to
see what comes out next- Mac Mart, Sum Pig and Sunflower Truck Stop are some of
the newer trucks to look for.”
With four stars on Yelp and robust Facebook and Twitter followings, Swerdlow finds herself updating these
sites late night or first thing in the morning to keep her fans, both old and
new, in the know.
“With the truck, you never know how
busy each day will be,” Swerdlow said. “I’ve had some of the best days in the
pouring rain. Using the social media sites makes it easy for people to find
us.”
Asked if she’s working on any other
projects right now, Swerdlow’s mouth curled into a bemused smile.
“If it weren’t for Dave, I’d be
stark naked right now,” Swerdlow dead-panned. “He does the laundry and he’ll
stop me if my clothes are inside out before I leave the house…other projects-
you’ve got to be kidding me.”
As for how she uses local and
seasonal ingredients on Vernalicious, Swerdlow says she uses produce that’s
close to home. The tomatoes and lettuce on the truck the day I interviewed her-
from her neighbor's garden harvested that morning. Blueberries for a blueberry
buckle she’s planning on making- from Jurkofsky’s mom’s house in New Jersey.
“I’m more local than organic- for me it’s about quality, as
long as it’s good I’ll use it,” Swerdlow said.
Keeping it local is more than food
for Swerdlow, who hasn’t ventured far from home and stays true to what her
parents taught her. She values a strong work ethic, and thinks that honesty and
integrity are among the most important traits anyone can have.
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| Vernalicious co-owners (l-r) Verna Swerdlow, David Jurkofsky and employee Becca. |
“Dave and I put in long days and we
have a great team- Becca, Jaryd and Andrew, and we all work hard and have fun,”
Swerdlow said.
And what about working in a space of
about six feet with her business partner and boyfriend, with no escape on busy
days.
“Not only are Dave and I partners,
we’re lovers and we’re together 24 hours a day, seven days a week,” Swerdlow
said. “We had the advantage of being together for five years before
Vernalicious and have worked together in the past. We work really well together
and we get results.”
One final question Verna, any good
stories from all of the people watching you’ve been doing while on the truck?
“People just never cease to amaze me,”
Swerdlow said, shaking her head.
Some things you just have to see for yourself.
