Street Eatin’
Kurt Beecher Dammeier takes a love of pork to a new level.
Posted by: Nick Feldman on Aug 11, 2009 at 02:00PM
1 Comments
Owner Kurt Beecher Dammeier stands outside the Maximus Minimus pig, which sports the license plate “SOMEPIG”—a Charlotte’s Web reference.
View Slideshow » Illustration:“The Pig” sits at its usual spot on the corner of Second and Pike.
View Slideshow » Illustration:A maximus pork sandwich, minimus cole slaw, and hibiscus nectar to drink.
View Slideshow » Illustration:Employee Corinne Shaffer helps customers with their ticket.
View Slideshow » Illustration:Employee Vanessa Wong takes an order outside “The Pig.”
View Slideshow » Illustration:Hibiscus nectar pours from the spout on the side of the Maximus Minimus pig.
View Slideshow » Illustration:Cook Tristan Stewart hands food out the window.
View Slideshow » Illustration:Ian Brewer (left) and Tristan Stewart (right) work the kitchen.
View Slideshow » Illustration:(Clockwise from left) Marianne Leba, Paul Lau, Cole Young, and Mara Ratiu enjoy food and drinks at the lone table outside “The Pig.” The sidewalk chairs and tables are “coming back soon,” according to Dammeier.
View Slideshow » Illustration:Marianne Leba dives in to her pulled pork sandwich.
By now you’ve no doubt noticed, or at least heard of, the giant, metallic trailer of a pig on wheels that is Maximus Minimus, the creation of Pasta & Co owner Kurt Beecher Dammeier (of Beecher’s Handmade Cheese).
For the last two months Dammeier has received mad press and a faithful following of fans pigging out (har har) on sloppy pork and vegetarian sandwiches and cole slaw. The menu’s small, but the food yields big flavor, and despite its weekday lunch location just a block from Pike Place Market, the tourist saturation point is surprisingly low; most of the clientele is people working nearby.
When ordering, you get two options: maximus or minimus (hence the name). The former is a pleasantly spicy sauce, while the latter is mildy sweet. If you need a little more kick, ask for “the hurt,” an I’m-not-messing-around spice that workers will sprinkle on top of your order.
With a $10 bill, I snagged a hearty maximus pork sandwich ($6) and tangy minimus cole slaw ($1.50), and washed it down with a syrupy sweet hibiscus nectar ($2).
How long have you been truckin’?
It’s been a little over two months—we opened in early June.
Where do you post up, and why?
Monday through Thursday we’re at Second and Pike, and we go to Mariners games and Sounders games. We’ve been up on Capital Hill and out to Ballard, gone to U Village… we’re just experimenting around with when and where. There’s no roadmap for where to drive a mobile pig, so it’s really all on the fly.
Why did you choose the mobile life?
It all started with pork. I started making pulled pork sandwiches for charity and in the office, and everyone liked them. The short answer for “why” is that I wanted to eat pork for lunch. The long answer for “why” is that we couldn’t find a place to open that was close to the office. We checked out a few spots, but none of them worked. I knew the owners of the parking lot, and it started to fall into place. Then one day it just hit me: We should do the truck as a pig.
What’s the must-try item?
It really depends on whether you like spice or not. The minimus sauce is a little sweet, starting with vinegar and then balancing out the sour, where the the maximus starts out with tomato and beer and gets a little spicy. Last time I ate I got the maximus vegetarian sandwich, the maximus slaw, and chips, but I like to mix it up.
OTHER POSTS IN THIS SERIES:
• Rodney Jones serves delicious soul food at Gert’s BBQ
• Meet Roz Edison of Marination Mobile
• Meet Adria Shimada of ice cream truck Parfait
PLUS: Map out these and other street carts according to their daily locations.
hellol