NY1.com

  59º

You are not signed in  |  Sign in here  |  Help

You're viewing a lite version of NY1.com

Time Warner Cable customers: Sign in with your TWC ID for video access.

Get my TWC ID. | Get TWC service. | Read the FAQ.

03/30/2012 11:53 AM

Edible: Gourmet Meltdowns The Norm At Morris Truck

  To view our videos, you need to
enable JavaScript. Learn how.
install Adobe Flash 9 or above. Install now.

Then come back here and refresh the page.

A former Per Se chef's food truck specializing in making unique grilled cheese sandwiches is really on a roll. Rachel Wharton of Edible Manhattan magazine filed the following report.

Featured in our current issue, the mobile sandwich stand, the Morris Truck, is the work of Michael Jacober. A French-trained cook who worked in some of the city's top restaurants, Jacober's truck skips American slices for locally made breads, cheeses and meats. He also has an executive chef who shops at farm stands, makes all the pickles, condiments and sauces, and even blends the fizzy fruit sodas fresh to order.

Edible: Gourmet Meltdowns The Norm At Morris Truck

"We're trying to get to the point where we make everything from scratch," says Jacober.

The menu changes with the seasons and what's available at the Greenmarket, where the truck shops a few times each week. Right now there's a grilled gouda with housemade herb butter and smoky bacon, or a pastrami and cheese with onion-caper mayonnaise.

You can spike a classic cheddar with horseradish mustard cream or even duck fat, or order a buffalo wing sandwich, layered with chicken sausage, blue cheese, pickled celery and homemade habanero hot sauce. But in a few weeks, expect all those roots and tubers to be replaced with fresh herbs and even green peas.

"It's going to be a cold sandwich on focaccia with feta and ginger pea pesto, and it's going to be great," says Chef Chris Austin.

And who is this Morris, you might ask? He was Jacober's great-grandfather, a Russian immigrant who ran a produce pushcart in the city.

"I just thought it was a cool homage to him, we're doing something similar, only in sandwich form," says Jacober.

Morris would probably like Jacober's favorite sandwich, a version of the Reuben.

"We exchanged the sauerkraut for pickled Napa cabbage, and instead of a Russian dressing we made a Russian tartar sauce. And that sandwich was just creamy and salty and crunchy," describes Jacober.

To find out where Morris Truck parks each day, follow the crew on Twitter at @morristruck.

They'll also be serving dinner at the Food Truck Drive-In Dinner on April 18.