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Off the beaten path: Chris Midyette creates balanced dishes with Ocean Desert food truck
Chris Midyette often travels the streets of sa国际传媒官网网页入口 with his food truck.
Since June 2022, Midyette has been the mastermind behind Ocean Desert LLC.
鈥淚鈥檓 just about to hit two years now,鈥� he says. 鈥淎round last May, I left the job I had been working to do the truck full-time. I was working for a logistics warehouse. It wasn鈥檛 really my passion. I鈥檝e always been an avid cook. I鈥檝e worked at various restaurants 鈥� fast food was where I started.鈥�
Off the beaten path: Chris Midyette creates balanced dishes with Ocean Desert food truck
The opportunity for a food truck came when Johnny Rockets closed in Cottonwood Mall and Midyette was working there.
鈥淚 helped the owner, Kevin Thompson, close down Johnny Rockets,鈥� he recalls. 鈥淚 asked him if he could hook me up with some restaurant equipment to get the ball rolling for the truck. I was already saving money for years to get the truck going. Now we鈥檙e here and running it.鈥�
The food truck is 26 feet and 90 inches wide.
鈥淪he鈥檚 a big girl,鈥� he says with a laugh. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a fully mobile kitchen. We have a five-foot flat top and there are two, 35-pound deep fryers and I have a four-burner range and oven, and I have a reach-in fridge that we prep our sandwiches on, a steam table and a back storage area. I was lucky to find this truck, honestly, I was very lucky.鈥�
Ocean Desert focuses on gourmet New Mexican food.
Midyette says there are a lot of surf and turf items, as well as some fusion stuff going on.
鈥淲e have Octopus Tacos which have a spicy garlic sauce on it, kimchi, cilantro, green onions and queso fresco,鈥� he says. 鈥淏aja Fish Tacos is what basically got the ball rolling with everything. I used to make Baja Tacos for my friends and family at home all the time.鈥�
The Baja Fish Tacos are two tempura-fried tilapia that are cooked on the truck and is topped off with coleslaw, pico de gallo and queso fresco on a flour tortilla.
鈥淲e do our Green Chile Chicken Alfredo, which is actually one of our most popular dishes,鈥� he says. 鈥淓verything on the truck is made to order.鈥�
Ocean Desert also serves burgers, which originally weren鈥檛 on the menu.
鈥淲e had a client request them and we ended up keeping them on the menu,鈥� Midyette says. 鈥淲e have two different burgers. One of them is the Cracking Burger and it has the cracking sauce that we make on the truck. It鈥檚 a rendition of Thousand Island dressing, basically. We put onions, tomatoes, lettuce, green chile and American cheese. We actually won an award at the Food Truck Festival last year in sa国际传媒官网网页入口 at Cliff鈥檚.鈥�
Midyette is always looking to reimagine his dishes.
He says the chicken tacos used to just have pico de gallo and queso fresco on them.
鈥淚鈥檝e been doing them Baja style and putting coleslaw,鈥� he says. 鈥淚t鈥檚 one of the changes that I鈥檓 going to be making here pretty soon to the menu.鈥�
Ocean Desert typically operates Wednesday through Sunday and their social media accounts will let people know their location.
Midyette says the locations are updated every Monday or Tuesday on Facebook and Instagram.
