Le Tigre food truck owners opening Torafuku Modern Asian Eatery

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      Fans of Le Tigre food truck will soon be able to find a bricks and mortar location serving its modern Asian cuisine. Co-owners and chefs Clement Chan and Steve Kuan are planning to open Torafuku Modern Asian Eatery (958 Main Street) in May.

      “A lot of people thought we were just going to name it Le Tigre again, but we wanted to identify that we’re doing something totally different but with similar flavours,” Chan told the Georgia Straight in a phone interview today (March 4). Torafuku, he explained, plays on the Japanese word for tiger.

      Chan and Kuan have been running Le Tigre food cart for nearly three years. The bright orange, yellow, and red truck can be found parked in different spots around Vancouver most days of the week.

      In a previous interview with the Straight, Chan described Le Tigre’s menu as a blend of different Asian cultures, including Chinese, Japanese, Taiwanese, Korean, Thai, and Vietnamese. Dishes include beet fries served with togarashi mayo, steamed pulled-pork buns, and fried chicken with nam jin sauce.

      At Torafuku, which will house 50 seats, diners can expect tapas-size dishes for under $16.

      “We’re going to be doing some ramen,” Chan confirmed. “We’re also definitely going to be doing some fried rice. You’re going to see really classical dishes from different Asian cultures presented with a more West Coast feel.”

      Since Le Tigre is open during daytime only, the food truck will be parked outside the restaurant at night. Chan said that customers will have the option of ordering items from the food truck in addition to Torafuku’s menu. A communal long-table in the middle of the dining room will give customers ordering takeout from either Torafuku or Le Tigre a place to hang out and have a beverage while waiting for food.

      “I’m going to operate the first two-in-one restaurant,” Clement said of his food truck-meets-bricks and mortar setup. “The food truck will be operating at lunch in its normal spots but for dinner, it will be operating as an extension of the restaurant.”

      Torafuku Modern Asian Eatery will open for dinner initially, with plans of adding lunch and brunch service later.

      You can follow Michelle da Silva on Twitter at twitter.com/michdas.

      Comments

      1 Comments

      Robb Tidd

      Mar 5, 2015 at 2:59pm

      congrats can't wait to experience it .