Cirque Cuisine, DC

It's officially food truck mania in DC. And although the city isn't quite as food truck-friendly as Portland or Austin, there still seem to be more and more food trucks appearing every day. I see them outside my office window lining up in the early hours of the morning hoping to get a spot for the lunch crowd, but yet I almost never consider them as a lunch option. For one, I haven't had the best experience with food trucks in DC. They just don't seem to have healthy vegan options like other cities. So when I was in my trapeze class one day (yes, I do trapeze) and discovered that one of my instructors owned a food truck with his girlfriend and that they served organic vegan food, I knew this was a food truck I had to check out.

So on a Wednesday, I headed out to Franklin Square to the line of food trucks. As I passed by some nasty mystery meat trucks and others that appeared to also have a few vegan options, I came upon the bright purple striped Cirque Cuisine truck. The name is inspired by Sean Swartz's career as as circus performer and the cuisine is inspired by Jessica Shields, a CIA-trained chef. Together, they started a food truck to serve healthy organic food in DC with a vegan option each day.

The menu changes regularly so I had no idea what to expect. To my delight, the vegan item of the day was Tofu-Charred Veggie Tacos and they were even marked as vegan. At $10, I thought the price was a bit steep for a food truck lunch, that is, until I actually saw the lunch. The plate they gave me of three corn tortillas loaded with blackened chipotle-mango tofu with charred onions, peppers and zucchini topped with pico de gallo, salsa rojo and verde, cilantro, and crisp radish was as good as it sounded. I have never seen such fresh delicious food from a food truck in my life.

I also ordered their fresh made Honeydew Cucumber Mint Limeade, which was deliciously fresh and refreshing.

I enjoyed my meal so much that I came back a few weeks later and ordered the Quinoa Veggie Burger. Oh my goodness, was this good. It was a thick housemade patty made with quinoa, sunflower seeds, and other good-for-you stuff topped with tomatoes, avocado, sprouts, and lettuce on this amazing grilled multigrain bun with sunflower seeds. It was served with a mango-jalapeno sauce that really made the meal.

I am so impressed. Yes, my lunches with a drink cost $14 in total and no, I wouldn't buy an expensive lunch like this every day. But, once every couple of weeks, I plan to splurge. This is great, healthy, organic food and I am proud to spread the word about this one. Bravo Sean and Jessica! Keep the vegan specials coming!