Terra Firma parked outside Saco River Brewing in Fryeburg. Photo by Emma Kilbride
When I decided to try farm-to-table food truck Terra Firma, I figured I would visit one of its usual Portland haunts. For most of the week, it pivots between Austin Street Brewery on Fox Street, Definitive Brewing on Industrial Way and Bunker Brewing on Westfield Street, all of which are a reasonable 30-minute drive from my Brunswick apartment.
As I prepared to set out on Tuesday night, I checked the truck’s Facebook page to discover that it spends Tuesdays and Wednesdays at Saco River Brewing in Fryeburg, approximately an hour and 30 minutes away.
After braving winding backroads and torrential rain to reach my destination, I can say it was worth it.
The truck comes from a 65-acre organic farm of the same name in Acton owned by Dane Giallongo and John Flood. The farm specializes in “slow-grown,” pasture-raised lamb and chicken, both of which are front-and-center on the truck’s menu.
The offerings reflect well-loved food truck fare: meat-and-veggie kebabs, smash burgers with all the fixings, and hand-cut chips and fries as sides. The selection feels upscale but unpretentious, serving up simplicity in the best possible way.
The atmosphere at the Fryeburg location could not be beat. The truck was tucked away in Saco River Brewing’s outdoor seating area, where the downpour’s end made way for live music and plenty of dancing.
In the interest of getting a thorough assessment of the menu (and also because I forgot to pack car snacks), I ordered three dishes to sample.
Lamb is Terra Firma’s specialty, so I knew I had to try the lamb smash burger ($14) with a side of hand-cut fries ($8). Consistent with my personal burger-and-fries ritual, I dove in fries-first. Packed with rosemary seasoning, these fries were crisp on the outside and soft on the inside – the ideal fry anatomy. Each one was delicately dusted with parmesan as if tended to by a tiny parmesan angel. Not a single fry survived.
Terra Firma’s lamb smashburger and hand cut fries. Photo by Emma Kilbride
The lamb burger was moist and flavorful. The pièce de résistance was its tzatziki topping, which was bright and dill-forward. My only complaint is that I didn’t have more of it, but I have been told in the past that my sauce needs are “unreasonable,” so take that with a grain of salt.
For the vegetarians in the crowd, I sampled the veggie kebabs ($16) – charred zucchini, grape tomatoes, peppers and onions carefully skewered and laid on a bed of rice pilaf and pita. Though this summer veggie combo is time-honored, it felt far from tired. These kebabs boasted textural loveliness and a char that made itself known without overpowering each component’s freshness. The stars of the show were the tomatoes, roasted to burst-in-your-mouth perfection.
My impromptu voyage to the New Hampshire border wasn’t the night’s only surprise. The other was that it was Terra Firma’s Taco Tuesday, the one night a week when the truck adds pork, chicken, veggie and lamb tacos to its usual rotation. I went with the pulled pork tacos ($16), which also featured jalapeños, pickled red onion, pico de gallo, cotija and chipotle crema, all swaddled in corn tortillas.
Terra Firma’s pork tacos. Photo by Emma Kilbride
Each taco was endowed with a generous portion of meat and topping. For someone like me, who is personally offended by an understuffed taco, this is important. The pulled pork was tender and unexpectedly refreshing – it shone on its own without being overly spiced. The marriage of jalapeño and crema created a satisfying kick, and the pickled onions provided a welcome touch of acidity.
As I enjoyed my smorgasbord at one of Saco River Brewing’s communal picnic tables, listening to the live band cover the Grateful Dead’s “Casey Jones,” the hour-and-a-half drive home suddenly didn’t seem so bad.
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