In July of 2009, Jeff Kraus and his wife took a vacation to France. Kraus, an Arizona foodie confined to corporate America (working for two major media conglomerates selling, training, and managing online advertising), avoided the typical tourist traps in favor of two truly French locales: the kitchen, where he learned how to prepare traditional macarons, and the local market.

“I took a practical and pasty cooking class at Classic Cooking Academy in North Scottsdale and my passion grew from there. When we went to Paris, there were street crepes everywhere, and it was the coolest thing ever,” he said. Kraus knew he had to bring a piece of this home to Arizona, and with that he came back with a business idea.

In November 2009, Kraus and his wife, Erin, started Truckin’ Good Food, a Parisian-style street food truck specializing in crêpes and other French goodies.

Chef Kraus originally wanted to create a full bistro truck offering a load of French fare, but his voice of reason (his wife) brought him back to reality and simplicity. “We ultimately decided to specialize in crepes because you can put anything in a crêpe and he loves all things French,” she explained.

Their take on today’s street food is that is must be, “authentic, approachable, portable, and honest food that is served by passionate people.”

Truckin’ Good Food’s crepes proves that you don’t have to travel to France to enjoy a tasty French crepe. They offer an amazing menu selection of dessert and main course crepes which consist of natural, locally & regionally sourced ingredients. The crepe creation possibilities are endless. Filled with a glorious assortment of jam, Nutella, cheese, fresh fruit, veggie, meat and anything your heart desires and your taste buds crave. And last but not least their pommes frites are how fries should be made; they are crisped in duck fat.

They use quality and fresh ingredients for all their crêpes and buy local as often as possible. Their crepes are served warm folded into a convenient triangular to go paper cone, so there is no need for traditional plate and knife.

“Every single detail that makes up Truckin’ Good Food is equally important to me. No shortcuts, quality ingredients, affordable prices, and I only serve food that I’m proud of. I’m obsessed with creating an eating experience that’s like nothing else. It’s pretty safe to say there’s nothing else like having eaten Truckin’ Good Food.”

Not only do these culinary entrepreneurs provide their community a valuable alternative to fast food or brick and mortar dining, they are very active with other local charities. Truckin’ Good Food works closely with the Phoenix Children’s Project to help improve the lives of children living in poverty in Phoenix.

Earlier this year 120 lucky boys and girls had the chance to take part in chef Kraus’ “Experience” at a downtown pop-up restaurant named Cycle.

When asked what advice he would give to aspiring chefs looking to enter the mobile food industry Kraus replied, “Write your dreams, thoughts, and goals down and ask yourself if being a food vendor is a good fit – if yes, then shadow a vendor for a day. Take risks and push the envelope just enough to surprise people. And, if you won’t eat it don’t serve it!”

Truckin’ Good Food can be found in Phoenix and the surrounding metro areas as well as farmers’ markets special events, and private parties.

Updates are posted on https://truckingoodfood.com, and Twitter.

Our recommendation:

The “My First Time” Crepe: For those of you crepe novices (well, even for the crepe expert), this is the crepe for you. It’s hard to go wrong with Nutella, banana, and spiced walnuts

What their fans have said:

I’ll keep this one simple. Do yourself a favor and hunt this truck down. I’ve had crepes from a street stand in Paris. TGF makes you feel like you never left (oppressive heat notwithstanding).

Chris C. Tempe, AZ