It took a while to finally come together and to remodel the vehicle itself as a rolling kitchen but Dave Trinkle’s “Fork in the Road” food truck has finally joined a growing fleet that can be found outside local microbreweries, at festivals and local businesses.
Trinkle – who works for Carilion and is also a member of Roanoke City Council, owns two traditional restaurants that do not have wheels – Fork in the Alley (his first, now ten years old) and Fork on the Market. He sold Fork in the City (now Old Southwest Grille) last year.
“We started this about six-seven years ago, we thought we’d be the first ones [out there],” Trinkle said recently. But the truck makeover got bogged down and the Noke Truck, Bruno’s Gastro Truck, the Rock N’ Roll Diner, etc. debuted during that time period.
Trinkle said Fork in the Road was aiming for an antique feel. “I told the guy to go slow – and he went very slow.” A company in Salem has been finishing up the process over the past few years.
Trinkle said yes, there is room for another food truck in Roanoke. During a recent trip to Richmond he heard there were fifty or more in the area. “The food truck business is not an easy business – I’ve looked into it and talked to the other big trucks in Roanoke. I think everybody agrees the more the better. Once you reach a good number and customers can predict where they’re going to be and have some choice … the better.”
Fork in the Road features a wood-fired brick oven used to make pizzas, and “a lot of the Fork fare” like specialty burgers and gourmet hotdogs that other Fork locations also serve.
Look also for calzones and what Trinkle calls “classic” brick oven s’mores. “The more the better for our community,” said Trinkle as to the number of rolling food options now seen in the valley; “we still have a lot of room to grow in the food truck area.”
By Gene Marrano
