Travel Blog

There was a gathering of food trucks Saturday afternoon in Esplanade Park on the New River. We did a tour of the L-shaped formation and settled on Mr. Good Stuff ("Food from the soul - Stuffed with love").

I got the Sweet Caroline: BBQ pulled pork with melted cheddar cheese and coleslaw in a white cornmeal arepa. This was not the thick, sweet, greasy ballpark arepa; it was thin and toasty (but a lot tastier than toast). And it was stuffed with lean and delicious meat that was beautifully buffered by the slaw.

Finished, we headed over to the dessert truck parked in the middle of the park and got a spicy Mexican chocolate creme brulee. We found a seat nearby, where we ate the pudding while watching the people and admiring the dogs (including an albino boxer). A band played blues from the stage. This was pretty much what I had envisioned for the old Hyde Park Market lot, which has a better location on Las Olas (visible to clueless tourists) and still sits vacant after all these years.

Sunday we returned next door, to the Broward Center, for Indian Independence Day. Inside the Amaturo Theater, groups of children sang and danced. In the lobby, representatives from various Indian organizations sat behind tables, some handing out information on upcoming festivals. The growth of the Indian community is one of the encouraging and under-reported developments in South Florida (especially in Broward).

Two buffets were set up in the courtyard, serving black lentils, creamed spinach, spicy chickpeas, butter chicken, naan, dosas, mango lassis. For the second day in a row, we ate a meal sitting on steps. But here the people-watching was even better, as most of the attendees were Indian, and many of them, even the men, wore traditional dress. I felt a bit self-conscious showing my legs.