Food truck inspired by movie, Netflix hit launches on the Strip

Roy Choi is back on the truck. And he’s brought Jon Favreau with him.

The famed L.A. chef, who helped start the modern food truck movement with the launch of his Kogi BBQ in 2008, worked as a culinary consultant on the 2014 movie “Chef.” Favreau (director of “Iron Man,” creator of “The Mandalorian”) wrote, directed and starred in that film, about a chef who quits fine dining to open a food truck selling Cubanos.

Later, the pair collaborated on “The Chef Show,” the Netflix series, airing in 2019 and 2020, in which they explored cooking and the food world, sometimes with celebrity pals.

In late November, Choi and Favreau drew on their longtime friendship and culinary bond to open The Chef Truck, a food truck on the casino floor of Park MGM (where the chef already has Best Friend, his bodega-bar-restaurant).

For Choi, this latest truck reflects a continuing source of personal and professional nourishment stretching back to Kogi.

“That truck saved my life, so I’ll always end up coming back to the truck. Like the way of the orcas. For some reason, my life always ends up back in the streets, in the truck. I don’t ever want to run away from that.”

For Favreau, the truck fulfills his wish — expressed in a yearly call to Choi since “Chef” wrapped — to open a restaurant with him inspired by the film. This year, the elements came into conjunction: timing, location and a concept the partners could significantly contribute to without affecting other commitments.

“Because of Best Friend, Roy had a really good experience here, and that partnership with MGM made him confident that this would be the right circumstance after 10 years, that we could finally do something together,” Favreau said.

“I finally got the call from Roy. He said, ‘Let’s get a real food truck and put it on the casino floor, and just have it right there, and people could grab a sandwich on the way or sit down, and enjoy the feeling you got in the movie or the show.”

Food from the screen

Vegas being Vegas, a town where simulacra flourish, it was important for The Chef Truck to be an actual truck, Choi said. “It’s not a reproduction. It’s not a pre-fab. We put Armor All on the tires in the morning.”

Golden rays of sunshine bursting on the exterior of The Chef Truck recall the rays on the El Jefe truck in “Chef.” People can grab-and-go at The Chef Truck or head over to the seating area defined by striped awnings, populated by slatted-wood tables and garnished with potted palms.

The menu features versions of several dishes from the movie (that also made their way to the Netflix show).

The famous Cubano is rendered vegetarian with eggplant, portobello and grilled mojo tofu. Roasted mojo pork anchors a bowl also provisioned with fried plantains and pickled red onions. The grilled cheese makes an appearance, sandwiching Gruyère, Parmesan and cheddars between griddled sourdough. The chocolate lava cake? It’s (oozy) here, too.

One other dish worth noting: mozzarella or ham and cheese croquettes, savory addictive little tots accompanied by gusty salsa verde.

Expanding, physically and virtually

Netflix thrived during the pandemic, with so many people stuck at home. “Chef” and “The Chef Show,” both on Netflix, gained new fans (or entertained old ones). Many of them approached Choi when they’d see him at Best Friend.

“They would just come up and say how much ‘The Chef Show’ meant to them, how much the movie meant to them,” Choi said. “That got me thinking: How could I bring this thing to life that Jon really wants?”

Now that The Chef Truck has been brought to life, what’s next?

“Even if this is all we end up doing on the food front, to me, it’s a dream come true,” Favreau said. At the same time: “The good news is, there’s a template now. It’s scalable if we want to do it in another location.”

Choi added “If it ends up going into stadiums, airports or other MGM properties, that’s great, too.”

There’s also the opportunity, Choi said, to blend The Chef Truck concept with the enveloping world-conjuring technology Favreau is working on back in Hollywood.

Cue the virtual reality Cubanos.

Contact Johnathan L. Wright at jwright@reviewjournal.com. Follow @JLWTaste on Instagram and @ItsJLW on X.