On A Roll: The Four Seasons Food Truck Pulls Into New York

Sandwiches are not the first thing that leaps to mind when I think of Four Seasons hotels. Neither are food trucks. But what do I know?

Rolling into town

Last year Four Seasons kitted up a food truck and cruised along the West Coast.

Turns out the truck is bicoastal. Earlier this month it visited Boston and Philadelphia. And on Monday it pulls into New York for a six day stay before heading off to Baltimore on October 6.

A rolling locavore, the truck serves up five-star riffs on home town fare cooked up by each hotel’s executive chef. They dispatched cheese steaks in Philadelphia, sold 400 lobster rolls a day in Boston.

And for New York?

The headliner is a house-made grilled pepper and Italian sausage hoagie devised by Executive Chef John Johnson.

Food truck hoagie

Sausage not your thing? Scroll down the menu for Captain Lawrence Stout braised short rib sliders on cheddar brioche, pastrami soft pretzels with purple mustard, kale salad cones and green gazpacho shots with bourbon bon bons, with black and white cookies for dessert.

Not for the day you start your diet, in other words, but kind to your wallet (everything is $10 or less, and a portion of the proceeds goes to New Yorkers for Children, a program that works to improve prospects for children supported by the child welfare system).

Here’s the schedule if you’re hungry in New York:

Monday, September 29: Four Seasons Hotel New York, 57 E. 57th Street, 7:00 – 8:30 pm

Tuesday, September 30: Follow #FSFoodTruck on Twitter @FSNewYork for details

Wednesday, October 1:  New Yorkers For Children Office Building, 450 Seventh Avenue between 34th and 35th Streets, 12:00 noon – 2:00 pm

Thursday, October 2: Chrysler Building , 405 Lexington at 43rd Street and 666 Third Avenue, 12:00 noon – 2:00 pm

Friday, October 3: 375 Hudson Street between West Houston and King Streets, 12:00 noon – 2:00 pm

Saturday, October 4: Kleinfeld Bridal, 110 West 20th Street between 6th and 7th Avenues, 11:00 am – 1:00 pm

Plus: Captain Lawrence Brewery, 444 Saw Mill Road, Elmsford, New York from 5:00 to 7:00 pm on Friday, October 3 and from 4:00 to 6:00 pm on Saturday, October 4

Here’s where to catch the truck after New York:

October 6-11: Baltimore, Maryland

October 13-18: Washington, DC

October 20-25: Atlanta, Georgia

October 27-28: Orlando, Florida

October 30 – November 4: Palm Beach, Florida

November 6-11: Miami, Florida

Should you want to try John Johnson’s New York hoagie, aka Grilled Sweet Sausage and Pepper on Green Olive Baguette
 at home, here’s the recipe. (It’s easier to hunt down the food truck.)

Ingredients:

1 green olive baguette (or ficelle bread), approximately 8–10 inches long

1 sweet sausage of your choice

¼ cup red and yellow pepper, julienned

¼ cup white onion, chopped

¼ cup canned San Marzano crushed tomatoes

1 tsp tomato paste

1/8 tsp garlic, minced

1 garlic clove, peeled

Pinch smoked paprika

Pinch Espelette pepper powder

2 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil

Salt and pepper, to taste

Sweet hot cherry peppers and sliced olives for garnish

Method:

1. Fill a medium pot halfway with cold water and add sausage. Bring to a boil and shut off the flame. Let sausage sit in water until water has cooled to room temperature. Remove sausage from water. Grill sausage and put aside until peppers are cooked.

2. Heat a large sauté pan over medium heat and add 1 tablespoon of extra-virgin olive oil. When oil is hot, add sliced onions and minced garlic. Cook until tender and then add peppers, tomato paste crushed tomatoes, Espelette powder and smoked paprika. Lower temperature, and add a splash of water. Continue to slowly cook down the peppers and onions until soft. Season peppers with salt and pepper. Slice grilled sausages once cool.

3. Cut baguette lengthwise (but not all the way through) and drizzle with remaining olive oil. Rub the inside with peeled garlic clove. Grill bread, butterflied open and face down on the grill.

4. In a heavy sauté pan, heat up the pepper mixture and add sliced grilled sausage. When entire mixture is warm, place it into grilled baguette. Garnish with sweet hot cherry peppers and sliced olives.