It's A Potluck Earth: SAVANNAH FOOD FESTIVAL PART 2

Pooler, GA October 23, 2016, 7:00am, the morning of Savannah Food Truck Festival:

Chaz and crew have been preparing all night. There is little discussion. Everyone knows their part. Yet, Chaz is clearly the center of communication. “You are only as good as your team and I have a good one,” he said.

Of Hurricane Matthew, he remarks, “The original festival (scheduled for October 9^th), it did not set me back at all…. I didn’t lose power here,” Chaz said. “Me and a couple of other food trucks provided meals. We went to Chatham Parkway, 204, and downtown to serve fresh hot meals. Everybody discounted their food 20-25%.

A great deal of pre-positioning and planning makes loading the truck easier. A predetermined amount of Clorox wipes, cleaning cloths, and napkin racks go in each truck, a red one and a blue one. “Lines, lines, and more lines. I hope every truck has a record day,” Chaz remarked.

All loaded, Chaz’s father, J R, drives the blue food truck (Chazi-dos 2) out of the parking lot, headed for Daffin Park. He waves and shouts, “See you at the festival!”

A couple other staff members meet the trucks at the park. Chazito’s trucks are among the first to arrive and everyone knows their part. Chaz’s father moves into a leadership role in the Chazito’s-dos 2 truck. At 10:45 a.m., the crowds start to show up, scoping out where they want to eat. A cool beautiful day and music motivates the crew. By 1:00 p.m., there are, as Chaz had hoped, lines, lines, and more lines. I leave the event about 3:30 p.m.. Chazito’s is still at high-energy, serving a steady flow of customers.

Colombian restaurateur brings authentic Paisa to Savannah:

Rafael Reilvitz De Leon is going through the process of getting a food truck authorized to operate in Savannah. Currently, he operates one truck, Spanish Foods, at Ft. Stewart in Hinesville. He also owns Antojo Latino, a restaurant specializing in Colombian food, near Oglethorpe Mall.

Rafael is from Cali (Santiago de Cali), Colombia’s third largest city. “I have a paper (a university degree) as a Student of Administration, on the wall for my parents, but I wanted something different,” he said. He owned a pawnshop there but it closed down. A conversation with his sister brought him to the U.S. to join her.

He left Colombia for Miami in 2000. “In Miami, everything is always open,” Rafael said. “You spend your money all the time so I never had money. Always you have something to do.” Rafael looked for a smaller city; some place he could live and reestablish himself.

Then he drove through Savannah, stopped at a locally owned car wash and found his first job. Soon after, he had two jobs. When he would finish his first shift at the carwash, around 6:00 p.m., he drove down Abercorn Street where he worked at a steakhouse franchise.

Later, Rafael worked in yacht manufacturing. Then he started his own painting company and a cleaning company. “The idea of a restaurant came when I was working in my cleaning company,” he said. “Never before had I thought about a restaurant.” His wife had 20 years’ experience as a chef and she worked at the Ford Plantation in Richmond Hill. “I thought why not? So, I saved my money to build this restaurant.” He opened Antojo Latino in 2013.

“In Miami, there are lots of food trucks,” Rafael said. “People always running, I want this. I want that. A partner in Hinesville called and we decided to open a truck on (the military base) at Ft. Stewart. It was hard and a lot of money from your sales. The city is more complicated, but we are doing that now.”

Rafael spoke as he looked over at Emanuel Rivera, his main chef. “We have a different menu on the truck than the restaurant. We need something good and fast. It is for all to enjoy, but we want there to be very little difference from how someone from Colombia expects it to taste. My paisa– I have Colombian visitors from New York, Miami, New Jersey… they say this paisa is the best.”

Getting started: Emily Miller, Business Banking Specialist for Wells Fargo, sees expanded interest from the food truck industry. “It’s not just a food truck. It is a small business. At Wells Fargo, we want to do our part to help them grow and thrive by offering resources through our Wells Fargo Works for Small Business® platform.” When business owners visit wellsfargoworks.com, they can access free tools and resources – including the Business Plan Center and the new Business Credit Center – to help them start, run and grow their businesses.

“For food truck owners, personal credit profile is important because business credit profile can be tied to it.” Emily pointed out that understanding the food truck business and market are also important. Wells Fargo Works offers helpful information, such as videos on Managing cash flow with the right mix of credit options and Working with family. “Some of those interested in the food truck business are going to other cities to educate themselves and understand what to do. The bank offers general business seminars as well. Again, It’s not just a food truck. It is a small business.”

Indeed, the Savannah Food Truck Festival is a showcase of small businesses. To Chaz, Rafael and so many others, their food trucks also represent the hard work of bringing artful passion from an idea into a means of making money from a business. Cooking from the early hours of morning, working all day, their fortunes at risk from both market competition and government policy - all for the price of the payoff - an untethered pursuit of personal liberation. That makes the Savannah Food Truck Festival a living compilation of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, the American Dream on full display.

Think about that the next time you see a food truck rolling past.