Not all waffles are created equal
The Greenway Mobile Eats program is now in its 9th and largest season yet, with the 2018 season including 35 trucks and trailers across 7 locations! We take pride in knowing our vendors and supporting their businesses. Mayor Walsh said it best when he described how the Greenway Mobile Eats Program, “not only offers residents and visitors alike an array of food options, but also helps support local food entrepreneurs.” With that in mind, we are excited to share the story of one of our food trucks, which is now in its 4th year of vending on The Greenway, Zinneken’s Waffles!
Written by our friends at Zinneken’s Waffles
The story of Zinneken’s starts with Nhon T. Ma, a Belgium native who grew up immersed in the food and the restaurant business. Both of his parents owned a world-renowned restaurant in Belgium, where at the time his mother was the only female Asian chef to attain the coveted Michelin Star Award. Nhon grew up taste testing the food and working alongside his parents. He became friends with Bertrand Lempkowicz while at school in Brussels. They bonded while feasting on Belgian waffles after classes.
Later in 2000, while traveling in the US, they discovered that there were no authentic Belgian waffles sold there. All “Belgian waffles” were different from what they’d known from their childhood. Some were fuzzy imitations, others not even close to the original. These two boys missed their waffles!
Those two boys are now men. Both spent many years working successfully in the business world, but due to their ongoing passion and affinity for waffles, they quickly traded their old jobs for a new endeavor! They decided to take the waffle problem in the United States into their own hands. Their solution was to pack up their cast irons for the U.S. and start baking authentic Liege-style waffles the way they are supposed to be!
They were later joined by Anh-Phi Tran, also a Belgium native who grew up with the smell of Belgian waffles. In college, Anh-Phi drafted an idea about a start-up business and one of his ideas was to bring Belgian food specialties trucks into the City of Boston. After knowing Nhon T. Ma, and sharing a common passion for tennis for a couple of years, he decided to bring the project on the table again: the creation of a mobile point-of-sale of Zinneken’s waffles. The Zinneken’s truck was born to bring the waffle straight to the streets of Boston.
What is your favorite Greenway event?
Our favorite Greenway event has to be the Spring Food Truck Festival! We get to see how food trucks bring the community together and it is a pleasure to serve the public that comes out for this.
What is your favorite Zinneken’s dish / what would you recommend to customers?
The Zinneken’s waffle combination we recommend is probably the Fruit Delight, which consists of healthy fruits of strawberries and sliced bananas, yet has the decadent taste of the Belgian chocolate on the waffle which makes for an amazing combination!
Besides Zinneken’s, what is your favorite Greenway Food Truck to grab breakfast/lunch/snack from?
The Zinneken’s waffle truck team are huge fans of the Moyzilla truck for their Japanese fried chicken and dumplings. Who knows, there may be a chicken and waffle collaboration one day if we are parked close enough to them?
Where can you find Zinneken’s on The Greenway?
You can find the Zinneken’s waffle truck at Dewey Square for breakfast on Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays, and at the Carousel on Thursdays during lunch.
Check out The Greenway food truck schedule here: rosekennedygreenway.org/FoodTrucks