By Jordan Frias
Four different food trucks will be stationed at Brewer Fountain Plaza on the Boston Common this spring season.
Bon Me, Blazing Salads on Wheels, Heritage Food Truck and Cookie Monstah were chosen through an RFP process through the Boston Parks and Recreation Department, with help from the Friends of the Public Garden (FOPG), to operate in the Common from April 1 to late November.
“We wanted to have multiple trucks cycle through the Common,” said Elizabeth Vizza, FOPG’s executive director. “We think we pulled together a nice variety of food venues offering different options and menus.”
Vizza said the vendors were chosen through “a combination of criteria” and competed against more than a dozen others. Each food truck had to have a good reputation in terms of cleanliness, quality, affordability and sustainability, Vizza added.
Bon Me, a Vietnamese food truck, and Blazing Salads on Wheels will be in the plaza twice a week between 11 a.m. and 3 p.m. and Heritage Food Truck will be there on Fridays during the same timeframe.
Debbie Chemey, president of Blazing Salad on Wheels, said she is excited to be located in the Common, after operating a restaurant on Washington Street for several years.
“We started up again in October,” she said, referring to her Washington Street business adopting a food truck model. “The whole atmosphere [of the Common], it’s exciting with tourists, business people and residents. It’s just attracts such a perfect blend of people so we thought it would be an exciting place for us to be.”
Chloe Jankowitz, Heritage Food Truck events manager, said being at “the center of tourism in Boston” is big for her company, which has plenty to offer, including pulled pork and vegan options.
“We can’t wait to share our farm-to-truck cuisine at the Brewer Fountain,” she said via email. “We have something for everybody on our truck, for every demographic.”
Cookie Monstah, a food truck that specializes in dessert options, will be in the plaza on Saturdays and Sundays from 12 p.m. to 6 p.m. Vizza said the food truck can appeal to visitors and tourists who frequent the Common on the weekends compared to the business crowd that comes to the Common on weekdays.
Clover Food Lab, which operates a food truck in the Longwood Medical Area, will no longer be stationed at the plaza. The company had a presence in the Common for four years.
Jazz performers and piano players from Berklee College of Music will return during lunchtime and Thursday evenings, as expected, to provide light background music during the warmer months.
Food trucks at the Brewer Fountain last year.