Photography by Eliesa Johnson
By Anna Robertson Ham
This time of year, ones palate tends to shift towards summer favorites. When you think of summer eats, fresh fruit and seafood is at top of most lists. Thankfully right here in our own backyard, in the form of a food truck, we can find both!
Most hold out to eat seafood on their vacations to the coast, but that doesn’t have to be the case. Cousins Maine Lobster is a favorite in middle Tennessee and offers up some of the most amazing lobster one can get...right here in Tennessee.
Cousins Maine Lobster was launched in 2012 by two cousins, Jim Tselikis and Sabin Lomac, who grew up in Maine. They wanted to bring authentic Maine lobster outside of the state and serve it from a food truck. Jim and Sabin pitched their idea to the popular television show, Shark Tank, which culminated in a deal with Barbara Corcoran. “In 2015, the franchise began with a group of ten of us,” explains Craig Betts, who owns the middle Tennessee Cousins Maine Lobster with his wife, Quinn. “We were all extremely excited and terrified at the same time! Since then, the cousins have been adding to the family by linking up with local entrepreneurs like us who share not only their love for Maine lobster, but also the desire to serve our communities, and to offer them a really special meal that they’re not going to be able to get anywhere else.”
Cousins has two food trucks currently serving middle Tennessee, as well as a restaurant in Smyrna. Their food trucks are on the roads daily with locations and a schedule available on their Facebook page and website, cousinsmainelobster.com. Their most popular items are the lobster rolls, with a traditional Maine style and the Connecticut style. Other popular items are the lobster grilled cheese and lobster tacos, and they also serve Haddock fish and chips for the non-lobster fans... But who doesn’t love lobster?! “We also offer gluten free options for many of our items and both our hand shucked clam chowder and lobster bisque are gluten free,” says Craig. “And of course our authentic whoopie pies are a crowd favorite.”
When COVID began in March, Craig and Quinn were worried about the uncertainty of what may come for their business and staff. “When you run a business, a lot of people depend on you. We realized right away we still needed to serve our community and knew we could figure out a way to do that,” Craig says. “We immediately reached out to those very people we had built such great relationships with over the past five years and began bringing our trucks right into their neighborhoods. We focused less on large events, and instead looked to small communities and neighborhoods whose residents were looking for a treat and a bit of normalcy amidst uncertain times. With this approach and these measures in place we are able to offer everyone a safe and convenient experience they’re excited for while also keeping our staff working and supporting their families.”
“We’re blessed to wake up each day and run a business together that we love with the people we love. There’s something humbling about serving people a great meal, and to be that treat that they look forward to at the end of the day, or the lunch break they can’t wait for, or the reason a family gathers around the dinner table,” says Craig. “Our goals revolve around continuing to do what we love, continuing to serve our community, and to keep providing the Nashville fans the lobster they love.”
Another favorite treat in the warm, summer months is fruit...in particular, peaches! Peaches are one of the staple delights in summertime and many search and search for the best, most ripe peaches locally that they can find. Luckily, the search is over... The Peach Truck travels locally bringing the sweetest peaches to the community throughout the growing season.
When Stephen Rose moved to Nashville in the summer of 2010, he could not find the fresh, flavorful peaches like he had grown up with at a peach farm in his hometown of Fort Valley, Georgia. “After my wife, Jessica, and I took a trip back to my hometown farm, it was then that we began dreaming of a way to partner with these farms to bring their prized peaches not only to Nashvillians but to households nationwide,” says Stephen. Shortly after their wedding in 2012, they began bringing Georgia peaches to middle Tennessee. “All of our peaches are grown in Fort Valley, Georgia, in the heart of Peach County, where I grew up eating fresh peaches right off the tree. Fort Valley is southwest of Macon, towards the middle of the state. It has mineral-rich red clay, cold winters, and hot summers, which provides ideal growing conditions for peaches,” he says. “We have booths set up daily in Nashville and surrounding areas, including Williamson County.” The schedule can be found online at find.thepeachtruck.com/#calendar- nashville.
“In addition to our booths, this year we're visiting eleven states where we'll make stops on The Peach Truck Tour. We also ship nationwide straight from the farm. The truck itself serves as our mascot and an homage to where Jessica and I started, selling fresh peaches off the back of it in 2012,” Steven says.
Along with bringing the tastiest peaches to the community, they recently released The Peach Truck Cookbook. “We published it last year and it was truly a labor of love,” says Stephen. “We worked with an incredible recipe developer (Torie Cox) and local chefs to ensure we got it right and highlighted what the Nashville food scene has meant to us. Each recipe is personal to us and above all delicious and accessible! It’s a staple cookbook for anyone that loves to celebrate and cook with summer vibrant harvest.”
Stephen says the main value that The Peach Truck strives to embody is to create joy for their customers. “Every decision we make, whether it's launching a new product, expanding our peach reach or resolving customer issues, is impacted by this value. We have so many ideas for what the future could be, but we always wanted to stay rooted in creating joy through the simplicity of a peach.”
Don’t miss out on the sweet summertime goodness... Visit both Cousins Maine Lobster and The Peach Truck and enjoy every sweet bite of what these mobile food businesses have to offer.
