Slide Piece, the latest in a slew of new food trucks, aims to fire up the engine and serve sliders in downtown St. Louis by Monday, Nov. 9, pending inspections. Behind the wheel and the counter will be Tommy Lee, who most recently was the general manager at a restaurant in Denver, Colorado. A St. Louis native, Lee said he felt the time was right to return home to be closer to family and strike out on his own.
Breaking from family tradition – his sister is Katie Lee Collier of Katie’s Pizza & Pasta – Lee opted for a food truck for the flexibility it offers over a brick and mortar. “There’s more to a food truck than a means to a brick and mortar,” Lee said. “We want to use it to its full potential and be able to adapt to the environment and clientele as we go.”
To start, Slide Piece will serve a variety of house-crafted patties served on buns from Breadsmith. Beef, crispy tofu, smoked salmon and pork steak slider options are all in the works. Lee plans to pair the proteins with different flavor profiles like lamb with traditional mint, garlic and yogurt, and pork steak with Vietnamese-inspired flavors.
No burger is complete without sides; Lee plans to offer fries, wasabi fried pickles, crispy green beans and possibly tater tots. Follow the new truck on Twitter @slidepiecestl for location information when it hits the streets.
This article appears in November 2015.