What’s brown and sticky? A stick. What’s brown and delicious? The brown food truck, or more accurately, its food.
But this isn’t a tasting review. Any UofT student can attest to the delicious, gravy-y goodness of the brown food truck poutine and the familiar face inside, happy to take care of one more hungry student and making sure they have enough to drink.
I approached the food truck, ready with the following questions for our friend inside.
What’s your name? Where are you from?
Hatice. [Pronounced He-ti-jey] I’m from Turkey.
How long has the truck been in operation?
Fourteen years.
Was it anywhere else first?
For two years I was at city hall. And then twelve years here.
What’s the funniest thing you’ve seen from the truck?
I don’t know what is the funniest. Kids are sometimes very funny, especially engineers, I like them.
What’s the most ridiculous set of toppings you’ve seen somebody do?
Sometimes they put every stuff on one hot dog. Just some of them. I find it very strange.
What’s your favorite thing to eat from the truck? What’s your favorite topping?
My favorite is, I can’t always eat [it], halal sausage, sometimes a very, very small poutine. That’s it, nothing else. I put usually only ketchup.
What do you like to do with your time off?
I like to watch movies. I like to walk, usually I’m walking in some park. I used to read books, but now not so much; I feel tired. That’s it and cleaning.
How do the different people on the food trucks treat each other?
We are nice. We don’t like new trucks. Some new trucks start to come in the last two years, they have broken our business. Chinese truck has been [here] more than 30 years.
What’s your pet peeve?
They order and I make [it] ready, and they say “oh, I don’t have cash, do you have a card machine?” They have to ask me before the order. Or when they say, “We changed our minds.” But I made it, I spent my time. For me, it’s not nice.
If you could visit anywhere in the world, where would you visit?
Paris, I like. I like history.
What is hard about working here?
I start in the morning and I go home at midnight. My English is not good, sometimes I use wrong word, but they understand me. When I started I didn’t know any English, I got scared a lot. Slowly, they teach me.
What do you like about working here?
I got some card from them, truck’s picture, it says “anything to drink for you.”… I like this location a lot, I like the people here, students are so nice. Young people I like. When they smile, it’s real. That’s why I can work here with the long hours.