Food Truck Heaven is Just Across the Border

If you’re a regular at Greenwich Polo Club, the food truck lineup might be as familiar as the players on your favorite team. If you’ve never been, food trucks might be the last thing you’d expect.

But the hungry hordes — 3,000 fans on a recent Sunday — have spoken. What began with a few trucks several years ago has grown to a modest parade of about 10 this season, their names printed in the day’s program.

Everything else you might imagine is alive and well: VIP dining under a tent, Champagne and straw picnic baskets, elegant dresses and floppy hats, Bermuda shorts and bow ties. 

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But at the truck end of the food chain, not only are you still on elbow-rubbing turf, you’ll find plenty of VIP-worthy eats to bring to the bleachers. 

photo courtesy of Greenwich Polo Club

Get there early: Gates open two hours before the match, and the trucks are up and running. Make your first stop Caffe Bon, an espresso and panini bar outfitted with a striped awning and painted, hanging flowers. Sip at a picnic table, or stroll across to the Brant Foundation Art Study Center; swing back between chukkas (that’s a time period in a polo game) for an affogato or homemade tiramisu.

If getting sozzled is the goal, sidle up to the Pony Bar during the pre-game happy hour for a polo-themed cocktail. Hall of Famer (bourbon, lime juice, and club soda) hits the mark, and then there’s the Argentinian darling, Fernet and Coke with lime. Then, let a glass of rosé be your Birkin bag — you’ll want it in hand when you trot onto the field during halftime for the “stomping of the divots,” a crowd-sourced human Zamboni.

We were determined to sample each truck or go down swinging. We’ve waited on some crazy lines at many a fest only to find a truck sold out of what we wanted or worse yet, everything (would it kill them to put up a sign?).

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photo by Leslie-Anne Brill

But lines were not an issue. Hapa Food Truck, with its Asian Pacific spin on US street food, is usually mobbed, so we were happy to taste their crispy cauliflower, soft and curryish under a chickpea-flour casing, and phenomenal burger: grass-fed beef topped with pork belly, Vermont cheddar, caramelized onions, lettuce, tomato, and aioli on a purple bun made with purple yam flour.


 Related: 6 Food Trucks to Book for Your Wedding


But I would be remiss not to tell you to make a beeline to Boothbay Lobster Co. (based out of their restaurant in Stamford), whose Connecticut-style warm lobster roll with butter was the best thing we had that day. 

photo by Leslie-Anne Brill

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As the match drew near, a perfect June day collapsed into a downpour. We tore into our Dough Girls wood-fired pizza under a tree, its warm, fresh vodka sauce slipping off a thin, charred, crust with arugula, pancetta, and shavings of Parm.

The national anthem struck up in the rain, but sun prevailed. Up in the bleachers, we could hear the players’ shouts and the thundering of hooves, and the play-by-play soon got us involved in the game. Groups picnicked below us; across the field, Three Little Pigs Truck BBQ of Hawthorne, whose menu includes a pork belly “PBLT,” joined the party. Two girls in dresses made off with a ball whacked into the sidelines.

photo by Leslie-Anne Brill

Kids are welcome, and you’ll be hard pressed to find one who wouldn’t enjoy a cheese quesadilla from Boxcar Cantina, of the few trucks with a kids’ menu. As at their Greenwich restaurant, sustainably sourced ingredients shine in items such as kale salad with lemon-cilantro dressing. Christie Caters Farm to Truck is also a sustainable-minded option, with choices such as the Zen bowl (udon sesame peanut noodles with kale slaw) and vegan chocolate truffles. But if you just want to dive into chicken shawarma or lamb kofta slathered with tzatziki, go for Pappi’s Mediterranean (which you might otherwise have to chase down at Mohegan Lake). And hope to find Longford’s Ice Cream or Kona Ice before you call it a day. 

Now, we’re not suggesting you go to a polo match just to chase down your favorite food truck (then again, maybe we are). But if you’re choosing tickets on a mission, check the individual event dates on the club’s ticket page.

If you go: Polo matches are open to the public Sundays â€ªAugust 27th – September 10th. Tickets may be purchased online and range from $40 per car for lawn seating, $60 per car for grandstand seating, $300 for box seats (seats 4) and $500-$600 for VIP private cabanas (seats 8). Gates open â€ªat 1: p.m. and matches â€ªstart at 3 p.m. The field address is â€ª1 Hurlingham Dr, Greenwich.


Curious for more insight into everything from health, weddings, and local business happenings to golf and hearty Westchester eating? Make sure to surf through all of our daily blogs

 

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