Farms to Tables: Local Rolla food truck is pleasing crowds with farm-to-fork offerings
BY SCOTT STEPHENSON
Local Rolla is an exciting new farm-to-table restaurant in Huron County, and it can be found right down by Goderich’s beaches - that is, you can find it there most of the time. That’s because it isn’t a traditional brick-and-mortar restaurant at all - it’s a food truck! When they aren’t down by the lake, the team members at Local Rolla can be found at various festivals and community events, serving up their endlessly creative cuisine.
Executive chef Pat Church has been working in kitchens for over 25 years, but this is his first time running a restaurant on wheels. He handles all the cooking, while his partner, Jenn, deals with the customers as front-of-truck manager. Local Rolla has only been open a few months, but they’ve featured buffalo chicken Pop Rocks cones, rainbow Pride dogs, donut burgers, pulled pork grilled cheese, and so much more. His food philosophy is simple - to go as far away from the scale as they can with their food. They believe people these days want to eat healthier, cleaner food that still tastes great, and, to Local Rolla, that means food that comes straight from nearby farms and food producers.
When they first started their new business, neither of these entrepreneurs knew what to expect, but the response from the community has been tremendous. “It’s only been two months,” Jenn explained, “but we’ve actually gained a bit of a following! It’s been exciting to see it grow, but we are still getting our bearings.” Pat had hoped that his approach to locally-sourced food would appeal to people, but this summer has been busier than he ever dreamed it would be. “It’s been overwhelming - we didn’t expect that! We expected to just come to the beach, and do 500 a day. But that’s not the case - it’s tripled,” he explained. It’s not uncommon to see a line of people outside their truck, looking to check out their latest special or grab an order of Local Rolla’s signature duck fat fries. Even when closed for the day, customers tend to amble on over just in case they might have some smoked brisket on the go, somehow.
Pat feels that having Jenn working the windows is one of the keys to their success. “The food is a part of this business, but Jenn in the window has created a customer base that comes just for her.” Jenn thinks that Pat’s wild style has really been capturing the hearts of both locals and tourists. “It’s not food, it’s art,” she explained. “Pat is super versatile with his cooking - if you can’t have something, he’ll just try and create something on the fly... he’s a food rebel.”
Pat spent the first part of his culinary career out west. He did his apprenticeship at Lake Okanagan Resort, and worked at restaurants in popular tourist destinations like Jasper, Banff and Kelowna. His travels eventually brought him to Huron County, where he took a job as the executive chef at The Benmiller Inn. The onset of the pandemic put an end to that job, and he headed back to Western Canada where his interest in local food began. “That’s where I started learning about farm to table,” he said. “I was in a small town about 80 kilometres from the border, and it was just ridiculous, the prices we were paying for stuff.” Since he was constantly surrounded by cattle, Pat started buying whole cows from farms instead of individual cuts. “It’s a lot cheaper, it’s a lot healthier for you, and it’s the way to go.”
He learned a lot from that experience, and took his newfound passion for farm fresh food to the Kilmorey Lodge in Waterton, Alberta. He branched out from beef, finding farmers to grow tomatoes and peppers for their kitchen’s eclectic menu. Locals were impressed. It was rewarding work, but also very time consuming. “I was home about five times in three years,” Pat recalled. “Then Jenn said ‘enough - we’re buying a food truck.’”
Jenn may not have had any experience in the food service industry, but she had a feeling that owning their own mobile restaurant was the right move. “I had the idea of a food truck in the back of my mind for quite some time - I was tired of the travel. My son is going off to university next year, so I knew that there would be some quiet time in the house, so I thought - what better time to do it?” Though they’ve only just gotten going, it’s obvious that her instincts were right on.
They felt that Goderich was the perfect place to start out and try to build a following, and soon learned there was an available spot down at the beach. They wrote to the local municipality, and were approved to open up in the spring. Pat and Jenn sprung into action, found a suitable truck, set it up down by the water, and started sourcing local ingredients for their menu. As relative newcomers to the area, it took a bit of time to make connections, but they’ve been finding more and more businesses that are interested in working with them. “This community is amazing,” Jenn observed. “We all help each other. There’s a very generous undercurrent in Huron County.”
Going fresh and local is not without its challenges. “You really have to have the passion and the drive for it,” Pat stated. “When we’re lined up for five hours, we’re lined up for a reason.” Creating something as simple as a burger and fries involves a whole lot of planning and hard work. Every day that the truck is open, Pat is there at seven a.m., cutting fries. Their custom burger blend is prepared for them by Green’s in Wingham, their soft, fluffy, buns are baked fresh by Bartliff’s Bakery in Clinton, and their fresh, fabulous vegetables currently come from Firmly Rooted Farm in Belgrave. Even the ketchup is made from scratch! Pat believes all the extra running around is worth it. “At McDonald’s, it’s just a burger. For me, it’s more than that - I’m creating somebody’s meal.”
While not everything on their menu is sourced locally right now, they’re always looking for local farms with whom they can partner up. Jenn is a big fan of the vast variety of options available at Bayfield Berry Farm. “They have saskatoon berries that we love. And we use their jam! We did a peanut butter and jam grilled cheese on fresh sourdough bread from Bartliff’s.”
Since they opened, Pat and Jenn have found that their clientele has been subtly shifting - Local Rolla’s customers aren’t stopping by the truck because they’re already down at the beach, they’re down at the beach just to stop by the truck. Jenn thinks their generous portion sizes have something to do with that. “People are bringing their families here for dinner,” she said. Customers can either take their meals to go, or sit at one of the picnic tables set up near the truck for a unique al fresco dining experience near Lake Huron.
It’s Pat and Jenn’s eventual goal to feed as many members of the community as they can. They already have a “Pay It Forward” system in place, where diners can choose to purchase a meal for somebody in need. In the past, they’ve both experienced real hunger and homelessness - issues that are on the rise all over Canada. “Fifteen years ago, I was eating out of garbage cans,” Pat explained. “Now that we’re in a healthier place, we want to make sure that the community gets a little bit of that back. There were times when I was so hungry, or just wanted a cup of coffee, and there were generous people out there that helped me on my journey. And that's the whole idea behind this truck - we wanted to do something different, and we wanted to give back to the locals.”