A New Breed of Food Truck: Mastiff Sausage Co.

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Chef Eric Gallerstein cooked in several well-regarded San Francisco kitchens before returning to his hometown of San Diego in 2009. He's worked the line at Whisknladle, Flavor Del Mar and most recently, The Lion's Share, and spent four months at a Slow Food-focused restaurant in Italy. When he and Jacob Bartlett, a longtime friend and fellow San Diego native, decided to go in on a food truck, they set about building a serious kitchen on wheels, customizing a sturdy Mac Tools truck into a chef's dream; there's shelving for cookbooks, a breadbox, a unit of speed racks, a full size fridge and the crowing jewel, a 1,000 pound cooking range.

The handsome truck, decked out in the original San Diego Padres brown and gold, is the new rolling home for Gallerstein and Bartlett's Mastiff Sausage Company.

Gallerstein and Bartlett use a commercial kitchen to prep their menu, which centers around housemade sausages, with the meat ground and the casings stuffed by hand. The links, from a chicken sausage with caramelized mushrooms, white wine and parmesan to a pork bratwurst made with local beer, are tucked into sandwiches and topped with their own house made mustards, sauerkrauts, pickles and preserves. Mastiff also makes a sandwich with pork done three ways, a braised pork butt, a roasted loin, crispy belly, and a few other specials, salads and sides.

All the food is done from scratch, and as locally-sourced as possible. Instead of farm-to-table, they're calling it seed-to-street. The co-owners have a garden, so the cucumber pickles are homegrown, as are the chilies for their hot sauce.

They've got two upcoming events on the calendar, Escondido's Orfila Winery on Friday, February 15, and a 1 to 5 p.m. stop at Green Flash Brewing Co. on Sunday, February 17. The truck's still settling on a schedule, so for now, keep up with them on Twitter.
· Mastiff Sausage Company [Official Site]
· All Food Truck Coverage on Eater San Diego [~ESD~]