Pierogi Take Church Street
It's the summer of the food cart — in Burlington and beyond. Tomorrow, a well-known team debuts a new mobile eatery just in time for the Burlington Discover Jazz Festival.
Pirogi Union Food Cart is a collaboration between the Skinny Pancake/Chubby Muffin and David Miller of dumpling delivery business Pirogi Union.
The first pierogi will hit the griddle tomorrow at 10 a.m. in a custom-designed cart parked between Sweet Thing and Sox Market. To start, Miller says he'll offer his three classic flavors: potato, cheddar and garlic; farmer's cheese; and the Kapusta blend, a mix of cabbage, onions and sauerkraut from Flack Family Farm.
What distinguishes these pierogi from the City Market variety is the preparation. The dumplings are served with caramelized onions and a choice of sauces including sour cream, hot sauce, sweet vidalia onion sauce and Miller's new invention, beet sauce. "I would love to be able to throw some really nice borscht on the cart," he says. Since he doesn't have room, he's recreating the flavor with the sweet red sauce.
Miller hopes to add beer-boiled kielbasa to the menu soon, the only non-vegetarian option in his immediately foreseeable plans.
Skinny Pancake cart manager Jeremiah Vogelman, also of the Chubby Muffin, says he's helping Miller to use resources such as the Intervale Food Hub to get even more unconventional Vermont ingredients into his already largely locally sourced pierogi. Look for wild foods, including "fancy wild mushrooms" to soon give the Polish fare a Burlington-only twist.
On weekends, Skinny Pancake cart staffers will bring their supplies to the Pirogi Union cart around 10 p.m. to merge the two. From then until about 3 a.m., the bar crowd will have their choice of pierogi or Skinny Pancake's classic crêpes. Vogelman also hopes to one day create a fusion — Polish placki, or potato pancakes, served with vegan goulash.
As Miller puts it, "The Union part of the name isn't an accident." Now, it's just up to diners to organize a meal.
