Today we’d like to introduce you to Alli and Tommy Stein.
Alli and Tommy, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
Tommy and I met in Margaret River, Australia. He was running the kitchen at a local wine bar, I was running the bar – at the other wine bar in the small town. We both come from a background in hospitality – he in the kitchen, I in the front-of house. Tommy has been working in kitchens since he was 14. When he turned 18, he took off from his hometown in FL to pursue a career in fine dining – he attended the California Culinary Academy and worked in some of the Bay Area’s best restaurants. Before he was head-hunted over to Australia, he was sous at the 2-Michelin-star restaurant, Aqua, in San Fransisco. I worked my way through every style of food service before discovering fine-dining, craft cocktail bartending and wine. I studied as a somm though the International Sommelier Guild and the Court of Master Sommeliers. We left Oz to be closer to family when we started a family of our own. Where Tommy grew up in northwest Florida, there is a small town on the Gulf Coast called Seaside, and here we opened our first small restaurant together in 2014.
Sóng was a take-out-only style restaurant out of a 1975 Airstream International that we converted ourselves. We served southeast Asian-style street food to visitors and locals 354 days a year. I nursed our new baby, sitting on a milk crate in the dish pit while working shifts (otherwise, he was strapped to me). Tommy worked seven days a week and endless hours, adapting his years of experience and food knowledge to making honest, beautiful food fast, and in a small space. Sóng was a hit and we were busy from day 1. We loved it but there were two things we learned in the first couple years – one was that neither of us missed fine dining. We loved being close to people – families, locals and friends- and serving them good, real food that we made with love. We also knew that we were being called away – the west coast holds our hearts and we wanted to raise our babies out here. We packed up our zoo which by now included two kids, a rescue dog and an Airstream restaurant and headed west! I had studied Paso Robles through my wine training but we literally found SLO county on a map and checked it out.
This incredible region is full of entrepreneurs and farmers, mountains and surf, wine and food. This area is rife with so many things we love and since being here, we have discovered the absolutely wonderful community and people who call this corner of the world home. Setting up the Airstream in Cali proved complicated so we started out with a Santa Maria BBQ grill trailer that we set up at local wineries and breweries. We began catering winery events and private parties. In 2018, we bought our food truck and rebranded as Hungry Mother. Tommy and I work as a team – he cheffing and running the show in the truck; I work behind-the-scenes as accountant/social media manager/administrator. Recently I have added homeschool teacher to my CV 🙂 We are a truly small, family run business. We work directly with farmers to get the best local produce we can year round – changing our menu with what is available and delightful from our Earth. We feel so grateful that we are able to make a living for our family through hard work, passion and grim determination.
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
I would say that since March the road has not been smooth haha! When we all got shut down Hungry Mother did a quick pivot to home meal delivery. Even with all events canceled we have been able to go back to setting up at breweries – we are lucky to literally be an outdoor/take-away restaurant! We filled some of the ‘down’ time brought by hazardous air conditions in August by hosting a fundraiser — we raised over $3000 in 3 days and went up north to the CZU Lightning Complex Fire in Santa Cruz county. We gave out free meals over two days to firefighters, first responders and evacuees. To say 2020 has been a whirlwind would be an understatement, but we are not special in that regard. We, I believe, are some of the lucky ones. We are working and paying rent and our kids are thriving. Before that we have still been incredibly fortunate. Tommy and I are a great team and we have just the most wonderful kids who are our purpose. We have been able to weather some weird ups and downs, twists and turns along the way.
The toughest may have been packing up Sóng in Florida, a thriving successful business with incredible staff members, to start fresh in a new state. We arrived in California late in the summer of 2017 and knew literally no one. We had no connections or local support and straight-up cold-called on businesses to let us set up in their parking lots! We made it happen though and Tommy’s food spoke for itself. Before long we had a loyal following and were booking winery events with just the grill. It’s been a crazy transition and it feels like it’s ages since we arrived in SLO county but looking back, I guess it’s all happened very fast.
Hungry Mother – what should we know? What do you guys do best? What sets you apart from the competition?
Though Tommy is “classically trained” as they say, his cooking style is much more oriented to what is delicious and satisfying – and grown locally – than what is “fine” or french. What draws us to street food style of cooking is the honesty. Around the world, the best food is being cooked by people for the people on the street. These are the artists that are not only sustaining families and communities but also influencing chefs and restaurants all over the world (like us). We take inspiration from traditions around the globe and work to bring that flavor and vigor to the twists and variations we offer from the truck. We cook with what is coming out of the ground locally and change our menu to follow the seasons and produce. We always try to offer some options that are a little bit creative or different from what is typically found in this region, and some comfort foods – still made with that love and dedication to flavor.
I think one of the things that set us apart is the mostly-invisible work that goes on before we’re plating up your food and sending it out to the world through our little window. The care and time that goes into our prep may not show up on the ‘gram but it is what makes us different from your average food truck out there. We make our own pickles, sauces, hot sauce, vinaigrettes. We smoke all our proteins, always seasoned with house rub. We insist that the integrity of our ingredients shines through in each dish.
What is “success” or “successful” for you?
If you look on our logo, there’s a little line that says “against the grain”. In everything we’ve done as a team Tommy and I feel like we do things the ‘hard way’ or at the very least, we never seem to follow the path of least resistance! We have made some pretty major life decisions based on what we feel is important to us – having real-time together as a family, getting to be feral outside, being a part of a supportive and healthy community, and being able to get in the ocean! We love to spend time together as a wee family. We’re nerds like that. We choose the four of us together over anything else. Working for ourselves means we work A LOT, but the work is often at home or the kids are toted with us (pre-COVID) so we get time with each other and our young kids.
It takes a lot of hard work and long hours but we make a living rocking our food truck together and we’re proud of that. If there was one financial milestone in our journey, I would say that I can remember when it got to where I could put gas in the car without checking our bank balance – that was a truly beautiful feeling. Beyond that, we feel like if we’re together and can get our feet salty periodically, we’re totally winning. 🙂
Contact Info:
- Website: www.hungrymothertruck.com
- Phone: 805-776-8055
- Email: [email protected]
- Instagram: @hungrymothertruck
- Facebook: @hungrymothertruck
Image Credit:
Papaya Salad and photo of Tommy prepping: Brittany Godbee, Red Curry: Hugo Martinez, All other photos: Alli Stein
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