May 15, 2025

You Ott to Read This: May 13th Newsletter

As the last recorded Newsletter was dated January 24th, and today is May 13th, I am really understanding that it has been a while. And I know now why so many have been chastising me or asking if they were removed from the list and what can be done to get back on!

A lot has happened in a few short months. The world seems to be rapidly changing, the food truck has been changing, and even our lives have been evolving. The discussion of politics is something I usually avoid because we have customers on both sides of the aisle. Donald Trump is the now the 47th President of the United States. Many are celebrating. Others, not as much. In just our area, thousands of government employees are no longer working. And the new tariffs affect us, too. [Oh Johnnymac, you run a food truck. What does that have to do with you?] An example that drove this home to us was being invited to a manufacturing facility to offer lunch recently. Because of the tariffs making it impossible to get raw materials, 1/6th (so far) of their workforce had been laid off. Fewer customers equal less business. So, a tariff which is meant to bring other countries into line hurts a US manufacturing plant, who lays off workers, giving less opportunity to those who would feed those workers. Anyway, that’s the world for now. We will just adjust and overcome.

Ott Street Eats pretty much took the winter off. It was a very cold winter. When it snowed, it stayed and stayed. When it’s 18 degrees and 6 inches of snow on the ground, no one comes out to a food truck. Spring has sprung, though! The phone started ringing early and often! We are pretty much booked every Saturday now through the end of summer! And plenty of other events on other days as well. For all of that, we are happy, proud, and grateful. And it seems our reputation is spreading far and wide. We are booked in Staunton, Waynesboro, Elkton, and even Luray! (For those at a distance, they are nearby towns and cities, though some take an hour to get to). April 26th was our 2 Year Anniversary of being open for business. That first summer we served people we knew, our friends and neighbors. They brought a few folks along and slowly word of mouth brought some more. By year two we had started to go to a few events at breweries and wineries. We started building our catering with a few meetings and weddings. Year three started well with so many bookings, many places where we have never been. It is quite exciting. When people call and say, “I had your food at such and such”, or “You guys have great reviews!”, or You come very highly recommended” it helps quell the angst or frustration. It says we are doing it right and people are noticing and talking. Thank goodness for Google Calendar. “Can you do this event for me on that date?” Pull out the phone…” Oh yes we can! We don’t have a booking that day!” So, yeah. The food truck is evolving in that we are not in Downtown Harrisonburg as much this summer and we miss you.

As for our lives, it has been an interesting start to 2025. Leigh Anne took a Cologuard test, and it came back saying she should have a colonoscopy. So, one was scheduled. During the exam, the doctor saw things that he didn’t like and took a biopsy. He had been doing this a while though and knew what he saw. He sent her to have a full ‘CATSCAN’ within two hours and she had a surgical consult arranged three days later. It all came back that she had colon cancer. The surgeon was able to cut out the affected area and resection everything, so no need for long recovery. Surgery was on a Friday and Monday she walked (gently) out of the hospital. She was tender for a while as the incisions healed, as well as her colon. But now, she is a cancer survivor. As fast as everything was happening, it was nerve racking. Nothing keeps Leigh Anne down, though.  And three days ago, she celebrated another year of strolling this Earth!

Though we live in the City of Harrisonburg, we have a garden, and it is growing! We have already used arugula, leaf lettuce, spinach, rhubarb, rosemary, sage, and basil in recipes on the truck! And there is so much more to come!!

There are many people growing a lot of great things around here right now. We are going to be at the Bridgewater Farmer’s Market from 5-8pm on June 6th, and then at the Elkton Farmer’s Market on June 7th from 8am-12. We have been to both of these recently and have bought great stuff at each!

I haven’t typed out our full menu this week, but we have talked about:

Shrimp Poutine

Bacon Turkey Burger with Chipotle Mango Spread

Ultimate Tuna Melt

Tott Dogs       We started these recently. We take footlong all beef hotdogs and grill them. We then fry tater tots. In a boat we put down tater tots. We cut up the hot dog and spread it over the tots. Then we drizzle an amazing Ott Dog Sauce over it all. This dish has been quite popular and may well stick with us for the summer.

Potato Ribbons

Pretzel Sticks

And a Rhubarb Dessert

May 17th, we will be at a church fundraiser in the morning and then serving food at a Dayton Concert that evening.

May 24th, we will be at Endless Caverns

May 28th, we will be serving lunch at Innovative Refrigeration

May 30th, we will be at Coal Ridge Brewery in Stanley

May 31st, we will be in Staunton in the morning serving a fundraiser called ‘Run for Cam’. Then we move up to Luray to be at Vintage Barrel (a new wine and beer tasting room.)

I won’t even bother telling you about June, yet.

I have a daughter getting married to a great guy in September in the Orlando area. It’s great to see her so happy. And my son has found an amazing girlfriend. So, so far so good on that front! Unfortunately, my daughter’s wedding is the same weekend as the Open Doors Food Truck Fest this fall, so we will not be there this year. However, I urge all those local to the area to go because it is a big fundraiser for Open Doors who help the homeless of our area.

Culinary tip of the day: have a good knife. No, seriously, a really good knife. Pick it out yourself. Spend some money on it. Don’t go broke, but spend enough you will actually take care of it. Spend enough that the word ‘disposable’ doesn’t even enter your head. Get one well balanced and with good steel. Take care of it, and it will take care of you for many, many years. Get either a chef’s knife or santuko. Never put it in the dishwasher, the heat and chemicals will hurt it. Wash it by hand, gently. Dry it immediately with a towel. Keep it sharp by using a steel each time you pull it out. And use a stone per manufacturer’s directions. Sharp knives cut food; dull knives cut people. Use your knife! Take pride in your knife. Then start adding other quality knives. When we think of chef symbology today, it involves knives. It's who we are. The symbol is not an oven. It’s not a frying pan. It’s not even fire! It’s a knife, for a reason.

I have been told, on more than a few occasions, that these newsletters are way too long. I doubt this is much shorter. But hopefully it is informative and entertaining!

Thank you all for your continued support! This food truck would not be the same without each of you!!

Johnnymac