Small Bites: Pink tacos and fry bread

Pink tacos? Marni Graves, pictured with her daughter Ivy Fritsch, will sell Indian fry bread tacos out of her truck, the Roadrunner. Her “pink tacos” were created as a fundraiser for a local nonprofit that supports women who have or are recovering from cancer.

A new food truck joins the growing fleet next month: The Roadrunner, also known as Ashevile’s Pink Taco Truck. Marni Graves, a local architect — whose credits include the former Rocket Club and some pro bono work for the North Carolina Organic Bread Flour Project — is at the helm. Graves grew up in Arizona, where Native American reservations abound. She also lived in Mexico for a spell. Those regions have influenced her style of cuisine, which she describes as Southwestern with a Native American twist.

Her Navajo-style tacos feature Indian fry bread shaped into big-as-your-head edible bowls that she fills with adobo chicken, green-chili pork, barbecued beef or vegetarian fillings. She'll also turn out roasted-poblano queso and handmade tamales. Graves will also serve breakfast tacos and the dessert tacos, aka the "pink taco,” which some have speculated is suggestive. 

Not so, says Graves. A two-time breast cancer survivor, Graves will donate part of the sales of each pink taco to Beauty Through Cancer, an Asheville-based nonprofit that offers support to female cancer patients and survivors with an emphasis on helping women maintain a positive self-image and confidence. "I'm trying to raise awareness and help women in the community as well," she says.

Graves and her truck will be up and running this week. Follow @PinkTacoTruck on Twitter for updates on her progress, or visit the Pink Taco Truck Facebook page.

— Send your food news and story ideas to food@mountainx.com.

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One thought on “Small Bites: Pink tacos and fry bread

  1. The Trolls Troll

    It doesn’t matter what she meant by naming her business Pink Taco. It is slang for female genitalia. Period.

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