High-style cuisine on wheels in Burlington

We admit we were skeptical at first. A truck that serves first-class food and whose staff wears chef's whites. To us that sounded like gentrification of the lunch wagon. Please.

But David's World Famous, which parks daily in Burlington and serves such fare as grilled shrimp and blackened Cajun halibut, quickly won us over. This commercial kitchen on wheels, with its gleaming, stainless steel interior and its subdued art deco paint job, may be ahead of its time. Laments owner David Poritzky: "People come up and say, 'Wow! Grilled shrimp on a truck!' Then they buy a hot dog."

Not the smart ones. Poritzky, who did time at Au Bon Pain and TGI Fridays before enrolling at Boston University's Program in Culinary Arts, has…been turning out food that is several cuts above a Fenway Frank…

Poritzky designed his 21-foot truck himself. He had it built locally and "was there when every single nut and bolt went in." It contains, among other things, a full-sized oven and refrigerator, a six-burner stove, a steam table, charbroiler, microwave oven, deep fryer, griddle and freezer. Poritzky initially thought a kitchen on wheels would be cheaper than opening a fixed restaurant. "I was wrong," he says now.

Nathan Cobb

The Burlington News
Mobile kitchen delivers gourmet meals on wheels

There's a great new restaurant in Burlington with fresh-off-the-grill specials, homemade desserts, friendly service and a convenient location, but you won't find it on weekends or weeknights.

It's David's World Famous, an upscale breakfast and lunch eatery on wheels, located weekdays behind Somerset Bank on Mall Road. To call it just a lunch truck would be like calling it a chuck wagon.

…owner David Poritzky, fresh out of Boston University's Program in Culinary Arts, conceived of the idea as a way to create a niche for himself in the food industry.

His venture is turning into a success.

Fresh, top quality food at reasonable prices and catering to the customer's needs is making David's World Famous, famous, at least among local business employees and residents in the know.

In his tightly packed (mobile) kitchen, Poritzky bakes everything fresh for that day, including roasts and turkey breasts, french bread sandwhich rolls or pita bread, soups from scratch and desserts.

He uses no processed foods. Everything is made from raw ingredients, including the apricot-ginger-soy marinades for the chicken, which is also…cooked to order. He even hand-cuts the french fries.

On Sunday night, Poritzky faxes the week's specials to over 100 local businesses and takes orders from a cellular phone in the truck.

The Lowell Sun
…an upscale lunch wagon

Lunch time again. That roasted chicken sandwich with banana-guava chutney sounds good. Or maybe the blackened Cajun halibut with honey mustard. No, it seems more like a marinated, grilled shrimp with-roasted peppers and creamy salsa kind of day.

Sounds like a 45-minute wait surrounded by bentwood chairs followed by a $10 check plus tip. Guess I'll just hit the Roach Coach again.

But wait. This is the Roach Coach. At least it's got wheels and it's sitting out here in the middle of a parking lot. So where did all those people get that curry apple relish that's dripping down their chins and the eggplant soup?

They got it from David's World Famous, a mobile kitchen that spends its days in the parking lot of the Somerset Bank in Burlington, across from the Lahey Clinic and heads out nights and weekends to bring its goodies to wherever people gather.

At prices mostly in the $3-$5 range, David's World Famous offers gourmet sandwiches, homemade soups and fresh salads to what the owner, David Poritzky says is a growing number of people who want healthier, more sophisticated foods with the convenience of fast foods.

…"I'm not in business to give people 'a feed.' I'm here to give them quality, Poritzky said, as four employees in chef's whites put the kitchen back to order after the lunch hour rush.. "People come here because they appreciate real food. We can make everything fresh because we have a complete commercial kitchen. Even if what you want is sausage and peppers, the sausage is homemade and we roast it rather than grill it. People can taste the difference."