Bill’s Guide to the Food Truck Fête in Lausanne

On Thursday, as an appetizer for the annual Lausanne À Table summer food festival, La Place de la Riponne was circled with savory-smelling little trucks offering international street food.
 

 

Eating my way around the world

You did not even need your passport to sample Argentine empanadas, Japanese gyoza, American steak sandwiches, Greek filo vegetable pastries, Palestinian hummus, Mexican tacos, Indian curry, Italian pizza (with foie gras and truffle oil!), plus local Swiss artisan tapenades and oils, crepes, fresh salads and sausages.

And yes, of course you could get a Swiss beef burger topped with melted Gruyère.
 

Apart from the food, the colorful trucks themselves would whet the appetite of you mechanically minded design freaks.
 

By 6 PM, the Place de la Riponne was packed with adventurous people hungry for something interesting, and soon, lines began to form.

 
I already have a strategy for next year's Food Truck Fête:

1. Arrive early.
2. Quickly walk around and scan the menus.
3. Return to the 3 or 4 trucks you want to order from.
4. Order from one, pay, and tell them you will be back in a few minutes to pick up your order.
5. Move on to the next truck and do the same until you have all your orders in.
6. Your first order should be ready just about the time you go back to pick it up.
7. Eat!

My advice: Oddly, for a Swiss event like this, neither wine nor beer are sold, so you will want to either BYO or go to one of the nearby cafés offering drinks in plastic take-out glasses.

Why wait for next year? There are food trucks most summer weekdays in La Place de la Riponne.