Executive chef Elliott Moss of the Admiral is the latest local chef to get into the food-truck game.
The truck, which will likely open in the summer, will operate like an old-school, mobile dairy bar set up in a circa-1958 truck that once served as the Henderson County bookmobile, says Moss. From the as-yet-unnamed truck, the local chef will serve desserts and burgers, hot dogs, shakes, fried-chicken boxes, hand-cut fries and kids’ meals. He’ll also serve floats made with homemade root beer and sodas. He wants the concept to fit with the bygone era of his split-front Ford truck. “I want it to be a fun, cool thing for kids and have the truck [outfitted] with vintage things to go with it,” he says.
It’s a take on a brick-and-mortar concept that Moss likes to frequent when he’s visiting his hometown of Florence, S.C. “They’re everywhere there,” he says. He’ll serve ice cream from the Hop Ice Cream Café and Ultimate Ice Cream Company, he says. He’ll also offer a soft-serve machine filled with homemade “crazy” flavors.
The burgers will be served thin, single, double- or triple-stacked and will be made with local meat. Moss may enlist the Chop Shop Butchery to make hot dogs. “It will be really good fast food,” he says.
Prices will be quite cheap, from $5-$10. Moss hasn’t managed to secure a downtown permit, but is eying property in various places in West Asheville.
“I’d like to have it open for the summer, for sure,” Moss says. He adds that he’s going to stay on as the chef of the Admiral, operating the food truck on his days off. “I’ll definitely be there — it’s in my best interest,” says Moss, who indicates that he now owns a small share of the mightily popular restaurant.
Moss says that his goal as a cook has always been to open something of his own — and the truck satisfies that. “It’s what I’ve been aiming for,” he says. “I have so many concepts for restaurants in my head.”
In other Admiral news, chef Drew Maykuth, former winner (with Moss) of Top Chef in Xpress’ Best of WNC readers’ poll, has left the Admiral indefinitely, and is currently living in Maine.
Moss says that things at the restaurant “shouldn’t really change,” though diners should expect to see a more unified menu. “I never wanted the Admiral to be a fusion place at all — like having something really simple and traditional and then having some Asian entree right beside that. If anything, you’ll see a more cohesive concept in the menu — that may be the only change.”
On the heels of news that the Admiral will be featured in Garden & Gun soon — that’s a good thing.
“I’m excited to have the Admiral completely to myself and have it done the way I want it to be done. Drew will be missed completely, but we get to start fresh,” Moss says.
Elliot Moss + Food Truck = Unfathomable Hunger!!! Good luck, bro!