COVINGTON, Va. – Tasty Tuesday shoots are always fun, but this was probably the most fun we’ve ever had doing this segment. It’s all thanks to the two masterminds behind a new food truck called Island Wheels. Eric Vasson and Josh Buckmire are from Grenada and St. Lucia, both trading their chef hats for something more fitting to what they want to do.
Buckmire says he felt the need to, “Get away from all the private cooking and commercial chef life. Just enjoy life.”
Buckmire was a chef in New York, but got a timely call from Vasson months ago. He recalls Vasson asking, “Do you want to start a food truck? So I was like, why not? Just fly to Virginia, and he never disappoints. So yeah, I’m actually happy with that.”
How could you not be happy with that? Especially with Vasson’s vision, who says, “The biggest thing is you don’t want to go to work every single day and be upset…all stressed out. You want to make it a fun environment for everyone, when you’re dancing and having a good time.”
It’s a job they like, cooking food they like too. They do have to dial it back a little bit, though, says Vasson.
“If we gave you guys what we had in the Caribbean, it is very hot.”
Trust me. We tried their hot sauce. It tastes great, but it’ll get ya! So, they fuse Caribbean and American food together, especially when it comes to the cheesesteak. They walk us through the process.
“Get a whole ribeye, smoke it, then we slice it to order. We put our provolone, our American our smoked cheddar. We chop that up. We have two secret sauces that we put on. We can’t tell what it is…that’s our secret.”
The wings will absolutely blow you away, as will the jerk chicken and their brand new jerk chicken pizza!
The proof of their success is in the pudding...or more like their key lime pie and cheesecake.
Vasson says, “We’ve been blowing up since we hit the road. We’re just driving from location to location, and we’re having an amazing time.”
Locations include Covington, Great Valley Farm Brewery in Natural Bridge and Parkway Brewing in Salem. All you have to do is look for the wrap on the truck.
Very modestly, Vasson points to the truck and says, “That handsome cartoon man…that is me. I am very gorgeous.”
Make sure to like Island Wheels on Facebook and on Instagram to see where this dynamic duo will be taking the party to next.