Island Style Food Truck founder Nicholas DeCaro has never heard of John Donne, a 16th-century English priest who wrote what's now known as the poem "No Man Is an Island." Although they're centuries apart, the two men have some things in common. Both triumphed over personal setbacks, employing the island as a metaphor to inspire others.
Most people today, in fact, have never heard of Donne, yet modern audiences might remember the latter part of Donne's phrase: "never send to know for whom the bell tolls; it tolls for thee." This phrase is part of Donne's larger message that humans are connected; whatever happens to one, happens to us all — no one is an island.
In modern parlance, Donne might have used the word community, a word that resonates with DeCaro.
Later this month, for example, the mobile eatery will be at a local nonprofit's "chef's camp," teaching teens and preteens about the benefits of being good to their bodies and to the earth through organic gardening.
"Our motto on the truck is 'Island style is a lifestyle of building community through the universal language of food,'" DeCaro says. "Food is a language that everybody speaks."
Indeed, Island Style Food Truck is multilingual, with a panoply of cultural influences: Korean beef bulgogi ($14), Chinese-inspired sesame chicken ($13), and French fries with a Japanese seasoning called furikake ($7). Spam musubi is often associated with Hawaiian cuisine and appears on the truck's rotating menu, but Filipino lumpia is a staple (three for $6).
"Last year we sold 11,000 [lumpia], all hand-rolled by me and my fiancée," DeCaro says.
In addition to catering and farmers markets, Island Style can be found at assorted community events. The mobile food business has partnered with Bellwether Brewing Co. to benefit people from Ukraine and with Feast World Kitchen to benefit families in the Philippines. Island Style also frequently works with schools such as Liberty Lake Elementary for its art festival and a STEM class held at Whitworth University for upper elementary age kids.
He's big on helping kids, especially teenagers, says DeCaro, who considered pursuing teaching before he immersed himself in cooking.
Six years ago, while enrolled at Spokane Falls Community College for sculpture and arts administration, DeCaro created a life-size self-portrait titled Footprints using skull forms, metal chains, pill bottles and broken glass. It symbolized DeCaro's struggles with drugs and the death of several immediate family members in a short time period.
The artwork, which was displayed outside the college library, impacted many of his peers who sought out DeCaro to share their stories.
"I decided at that point, I was gonna get my master's and I was gonna teach art because I could reach out to people and understand pain and hardships and hurt," DeCaro says.
But instead of art, DeCaro ended up developing a food truck in a narrative that underscores the power of community.
According to DeCaro, shortly after transferring to Whitworth University, he noticed an old utility truck in his cousin's auto body shop. The two men casually discussed starting a food truck business. Next thing he knew, his cousin had bought preliminary equipment to make that happen.
But other than his parents' place, the former DeCaro's Italian Restaurant, DeCaro had never run a food business, so he leaned on faith and family to guide him. He says one thing his father, Frank DeCaro (who works in the Inlander's circulation department), taught him is not to think of other restaurants as competition, but as opportunity.
DeCaro employed social media to understand the market and build relationships among the food community. He also built up excitement for what would become a thriving business.
DeCaro is currently working on a larger trailer and looking for a brick-and-mortar location. The truck is so busy with catering clients like Phat Panda, Avista and Amazon that Island Style has only a handful of regular markets on its schedule (check facebook.com/I.S.FoodTruck to see where it will be next).
And when opportunities to contribute to the community come along, DeCaro likes to say yes, like to the upcoming Growing Chefs Camp (Aug. 22-26, noon to 9 pm, growingneighbors.wordpress.com).
The free event ($150 suggested donation) is geared toward preteens and teens, says organizer John Edmondson, director of ministries for Shadle Park Presbyterian Church, where the camp will be held.
Some of the produce for the camp will come from the Growing Neighbors garden at Shadle Park Presbyterian, meaning DeCaro won't know until closer to the event what he'll actually be cooking. He does know, however, how he'll approach teaching.
"The thing I really want to keep in mind is some of these kids don't have the same resources, so I want to keep things simple — basic — and give them an understanding that everything comes down to salt, fat, acid, heat, right?" says DeCaro, echoing the popular cookbook and television show by chef Samin Nosrat.
Once the event is over, DeCaro will remain involved with Growing Neighbors, serving on its strategic planning committee.
"In life, my experiences have been: The more involved you are and the more you give of yourself in the community, everything else comes back tenfold," DeCaro says. "And I don't give to get that tenfold back, but it seems like it's always been that way — to think about others and take care of others. And I just grew up with that lifestyle." ♦