The Moral Omnivore food truck
The Moral Omnivore
Who here remembers the beet-sliders at Moral Omnivore? Pillowy ‘lil bun, sweet, charred, and meaty-tasting (but actually meatless) slices of beet, I think they were my favorite veggie burger in the history of the Twin Cities.
But then, tragedy. I mean, beet-slider wise. As food trucks do, one year Moral Omnivore simply didn’t return. Co-owner Linnea Logas had finished grad school and hung out her shingle in family therapy and relationship counseling. Co-owner Ross Logas went back to 9-to-5 living, and the couple had two little ones and lived happily ever after, so we should feel joy for them instead of longing for what we cannot eat. But still, Moral Omnivore was missed—the sustainable sourcing, the great flavors, the whole shebang.
No one missed MO more than Phil and Megan Gaffney, of Mid-Nord Empanadas, the Spanish empanada and churro masters. “We were young couples starting food trucks together when this all began," Megan Gaffney told me. "We instantly became huge fans of their food. We’d trade lunches, then we’d request to serve next to each other when we did festivals. We always did better when we were next to each other—something meaty like we have next to salad bowls, people would just get both, or stand together on the separate lines.” The couples kept in touch as friends, too.
You see where this is going, right? Mid-Nord has been part of Graze Food Hall in the North Loop since they opened in September, and when the Gaffneys learned that a space would be opening up, they contacted Ross and Linnea. Now, Mid-Nord has purchased the brand, the social media presence, and all the recipe books. Linnea is going to come in with some new Moral Omnivore branding, while Ross will help get it up and running. (The truck itself is still for sale, in case you’ve got $50,000 and a dream.)
“It was kind of a simple story,” Megan Gaffney told me. “We called them up. We said: We love Moral, we love you guys, we have this opportunity—Ross and Linnea were really into it, so we wrote a purchase agreement. It’s not so much as we’re buying it, it’s more Moral is coming back.”
Target opening, early April?
Till then, Gaffney also got me up to speed on the goings at Graze, which she said has been finding they need to operate more like a collective than individual restaurants. Gerard Klass from Soul Bowl has taken over operating the space, Catherine Eckert from Gastro Truck handles events, and Megan is doing all the Graze PR. “We had maybe a bumpy opening, and found we had to all pitch in and work together for this to work at all.” Graze has been experimenting with different ways for customers to be able to try more items from more stalls. For instance, there’s now a daily Happy Hour with 22 items at Graze for under $6, and you can assemble a low-key feast from the different stalls. Groups of over 20 can work with Catherine from Gastro Truck to get passports for everyone in the group, for, say, a selection of entrees, snacks, or drinks from different stalls.
And now Graze will have Moral Omnivore too, amping up their attractiveness to the vegetarian and vegan crowd. “I can’t wait to have the Moral Omnivore mushroom fries again,” Gaffney told me. “You don’t remember how much you miss them till you actually start thinking about them and you’re like: Actually, I really need some Moral Omnivore beet sliders and mushroom fries.” So she’s bringing them back, soon!
Graze North Loop, 520 N 4th St., Mpls.
