Heritage Truck Catering

10/02/2020

Our partnership with the city of Chelsea is continuing, thanks to the crucial roles played by the Shah Foundation and the Boston YMCA. We are currently serving two locations twice a week: the Salvation Army on Chestnut Street on Tuesdays and Thursdays (10 am-noon) and Temple Emmanuel on Mondays and Fridays (also 10 am-noon). Effective Tuesday, October 13, we will add a third location at 292 Spencer Avenue. Stay tuned for hours. This should allow us to serve 1,600 food-insecure kids in this economically-disadvantaged, Covid-threatened city. The meals are a co-production between one of our star member companies at Stock Pot Malden, Farm Girl, run by its highly talented Brazilian founder Lorena Lorenzet, and the company-owned Heritage Catering Division.

We periodically have to present our strategy to our existing investors and other potential funders and get legitimately challenged because our business plan changes all the time. Our strategy has to be more than responding opportunistically to the pandemic, but right now, it seems to drive everything, both the bad (losing a couple of important clients six months ago) and the good (being able to serve the needs of Chelsea at decent, if not barn-burning economics). At the end of the day, the smile of a kid and the thankful look of a mother are what motivates us more than anything.

09/04/2020

Over the last two months, we have prepared and delivered 120,000 meals to the children and adolescents of Chelsea, MA, as part of a free meals program sponsored by the Shah Foundation, the Boston YMCA, the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education and the USDA. For out-of-towners, Chelsea is a low-income city of immigrants in the Boston suburbs with a high incidence of Covid-19. Our kitchen is buzzing again. Tacos and enchiladas have replaced boeuf bourguignon and boar boulettes. And I get to drive my own truck. I may even learn to back it up in tight corners at some point.

06/04/2020

We are beginning to get new inquiries about wedding events and it feels wonderful just discussing menu options and the pageantry of young people (and some older ones too) wanting to celebrate their coming together through a festive bash in their backyard. It is like hearing the first bird songs after a long silent winter.

We're also learning that food truck weddings are enjoying a new popularity, as they can take place outdoors with less fear of virus transmission than in a traditional closed venue (in good weather). Move over, Marriott, with your white gloves, chandelier and closed air system.

05/08/2020

We expect a last onslaught of "frozen mix" winter weather in greater Boston tonight. To most of us, this is an amused annoyance. To my friend Jim Ward from Ward's Berry Farm, this may hurt his peaches, strawberries and tomatoes, three crops for which his farm is highly acclaimed and on which he depends for the livelihood of the farm . So Jim and his team have been working overtime, doing a lot of covering, wrapping and invoking of weather gods. As if the collapse of his restaurant market because of the pandemic was not enough! We'll be thinking of you tonight and tomorrow, Jim.

05/05/2020

Sometimes happiness is just a wave and a smile from two Chelsea kids through a door window because we bring their family a meal while they are quarantined because of Covid-19. We'll never know who they are because of confidentiality and yet there is a wonderful connection. Will they like the rainbow trout as much as the grilled cheese sandwich? There is some poetry in this unanswered question. I'll keep imagining them voraciously devouring everything...

04/28/2020

Week 4 of our 10 week “Free Food for Malden and Chelsea” program. On the menu today, parsnips and bean ragout with first-of-season fiddleheads and ramps from our chef Emmett Ledbetter. Chelsea is still struggling with a lot of Covid-19 infection and its inhabitants are disproportionately impacted by the shutdown of the restaurants where many of them work. Also they tend to crowd many family members inside small apartments, further contributing to contagion. As many of them are undocumented, they’re reluctant to sign up for the city program that would offer them free food and shelter during their quarantine. Some problems are so hard to disentangle that all you can do is offer a bit of humanity, a meal in our case.

04/21/2020

Supply chain whack-a-mole! We are struggling to find packages for our meals. Just when we had successfully lined up the kitchen, the cooking staff, the volunteers for distribution and the vulnerable people in Malden and Chelsea who need the food we are donating. At least we're not competing with the federal government for those packages ...

04/20/2020

Now would be an excellent time for our food retailers and distributors to build a local supply chain rather than rely on Big Ag, Big Food and Big Distribution. Let's not waste this pandemic! Yes, Wholefoods/Amazon, Stop & Shop, Market Basket, Roche Bros., Donelan's, Crosby's, I'm talking about you. You probably sell a whopping 5% of your products from local sources (if that). Have you called a local farmer or a local food producer today? And have you asked your regional distributors to source from them? Yes, Costa, Katsiroubas, Baldor, I'm also talking about you. We can all do more than we do, as we are learning how risky our global supply chains are. Now is the time to act.

04/20/2020

Hungry? We are still delivering fresh meals for home delivery! Visit https://heritagefoodtruck.com/ for fast, fresh seasonal deliciousness!

Farm to Table Catering in MA

04/17/2020

Our colleagues at Fruition Vegan Kitchen are preparing 100 free meals for Malden residents. Moroccan Tagines, in honor of our Moroccan residents, but the meal is of course available to all residents. Check them out at http://www.fruitionvegankitchen.com/. Bob Bouley also helped prepare Heritage meals for the first two weeks of our Free Meals for Malden program. Bob, you're the man!

Experience nutritious and delicious vegan comfort food. We offer an eclectic selection of entrees from around the world.