Last night, Gourmet Bitches, the newest entry into Toronto’s gourmet food truck scene, hosted their launch party and menu preview event at the Boiler House in the Distillery District.
On display outside the building was their brand new truck freshly painted with a matted black finish, a slick design and purple LED lights that give the truck some serious attitude.
In case you’re wondering why their name is spelled backwards on the truck, they explained that it’s to ‘soften the look’ for the younger generation.
On hand at the event were owners Shontelle Pinch and Bianka Matchett who greeted guests and introduced them to the dishes they are currently testing.
The purpose of the event was for the new food truck owners to get feedback on their food and upon entering the venue each guest was given a feedback card to fill out with a handful of questions.
Each dish had it’s own station that you could go to whenever you liked. Dishes included balinese chicken and corn tostada, tamrind beef streak sandwich, kale and arugula salad, sweet potato fries with cuban pulled pork and mahi mahi and shrimp ceviche.
There was clearly an emphasis on having some healthy options and both the tostada and steak sandwich were gluten free.
This was a soft launch and they are still working on their menu but I will say my favourite dish of the night was the chicken tostada which had a great texture contrast between the tender meat and crispy chip.
A few weeks ago, I caught up with the Gourmet Bitches and interviewed them about their new truck. Here’s what they had to say:
TFT: Where did the idea for the Gourmet Bitches food truck come from?
GB: Shontelle has been working in the hospitality industry since she was 18. She’s always had that entrepreneurial spirit and her and I have always felt that we would eventually start a business together. We loved traveling and trying new foods wherever we went and always try to recreate the foods of our travels when we got back home. Everyone we cooked for would tell us we needed to open a restaurant. Then last year the idea of a food truck started bubbling….We always loved this little ceviche truck on the beach of Miami and to our dismay it wasn’t there the last time we went…we both were like “we need this in Toronto!!!”
TFT: What is the theme of your truck?
GB: We are women promoting healthy lifestyles, whether it’s Shontelle and her Muay Thai boxing or the ridiculous punch of our hot sauce, we want to promote health with attitude in our food and our truck.
We have a balinese chicken that will keep you coming back for more, the kale salad with a spicy cayenne dressing, a cuban pork thats unreal and of course the freshest ceviche to remind us how this all started!!… just to name a few!
TFT: Are you worried the name might be too risque for some people?
GB: As far as the name goes… we are redefining the word “bitch”, we say a bitch is a strong fiery women who gets things done! She doesn’t mince words and she speaks her mind. She has the courage to start something new and different and the strength to sustain it.
We live life with a certain confidence and this shows in our food and our name!!! But yes we see that some people may doubt the choice and we want to remind everyone it is not intended to offend and we hope people can see that and have fun redefining the word with us. 
TFT: Can you tell us a bit about the specs of your truck?
GB: The truck is your typical 18ft food truck but it’s fully loaded and has a stove top, oven, griddle, grill, deep fryers, etc.
TFT: Obviously Toronto is pretty restrictive about where you can vend but do you have any locations in mind for where people might be able to find you?
GB: Well when we decided to make our idea into a reality, it was a business associate of ours that worked out in Vaughan complaining that he needed healthy food delivery for his hundreds of employees… ding ding ding!! So while we wait on our permits etc. in Toronto, we will start out in Vaughn with private permits. But ultimately we want to be EVERYWHERE!! Bay street, Universities… anywhere there are hungry people in need of quick, healthy, incredibly tasty lunch items… we want to be there!!
TFT: Where can people follow Gourmet Bitches?
GB: You can follow us on Twitter or Facebook or our website to find out where we are going to be serving up our bitchin’ treats on the streets… near you!!!
You can also sign up for email updates below and we’ll let you know when you can get your first chance to try some of Gourmet Bitches food.
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About the Author: Mark Macdonald is the Founder of Toronto Food Trucks. He is a Toronto freelance web designer and a street food movement supporter. Get more from Mark on Twitter and Google +.
