Fins on the Hoof Swims/Stampedes onto Food Truck Scene

By Luis Chong Fri., Jul. 8 2011 at 11:09 AM

Categories: Street Eats

Luis Chong

Basque moules frites and cauliflower soup from Fins on the Hoof

Last Saturday, SFoodie went to check out Fins on the Hoof, a food truck which debuted in late May.

The clever name for this coastal Mediterranean-style menu doesn't mean chef-owner Todd Middleton is serving hybrid lab critters; instead, he offers seafood (unusual for food trucks) as well as meat from hooved animals (i.e., pigs).

Luis Chong

Middleton, a Baltimore native, spent more than a decade working at resorts in Florida and Hawaii, as well as a few Wolfgang Puck restaurants, before launching his Bay Area catering and cooking class business, Saveurs.

Then the gourmet food truck trend arrived in San Francisco, and like many other food professionals, Middleton saw an opportunity to challenge his culinary skills.

The truck has been making the rounds at several Off the Grid locations. Unlike many food trucks, Fins on the Hoof seems to do a good job of updating where it will be on its website.

Luis Chong

We had heard that the green bean salad (with smoked trout, lardons, and mustard vinaigrette) and the fried oyster BLTS (bacon, lettuce, tomato, and slaw) sandwich were popular. But the special of the day caught our attention, so we ordered Basque moules frites ($7) and cauliflower soup ($5). The friendly cashier advised us that it would take at least 10 minutes to prepare the mussels.

The food was well worth the wait: top-notch quality, everything you'd expect from a good seafood restaurant in the city. The mussels were properly cleaned, plump, fresh, and hot: simple and delicious. We greedily scavenged leftover juices, bits of chorizo, and red bell pepper from the bottom of the paper tray. And the frites were absolutely perfect, very crisp yet soft inside. The cauliflower soup was creamy and light.

Though we had no fins and only a hint of hoof, our first impression of this food truck was a good one.