Jacob Elsenheimer has worked in restaurants for decades, in northern Michigan and out west.
He's cooked at the Peninsula Grill — "back when it was the Bower Harbor Inn," he explained — and crossed the country from Idaho to Michigan working at Outback Steakhouses.
There, he had big kitchens, with cooks and servers running in and out. But now, he’s the server, chef and owner of his own spot: a food truck tucked away on the side of J. Maddy Parkway. It’s called De Food Truck.
He's serving up classics like ribs, fried fish and chili — and some more specialty items, like scallops, falafel, Korean rice bowls and walleye.
"Everybody in northern Michigan loves walleye, and this is locally sourced walleye too, so it's not frozen from Canada," said Elsenheimer. "This is Michigan walleye."
And he’s doing it all with a twist. The whole menu is gluten-free.
Elsenheimer bought the food truck at the start of September from its last owner, Toby Dune, who retired recently due to some health issues. Dune spent years building up a fan base of gluten-free customers across Michigan, and still owns the land where the truck is parked.
"I have people coming from Ann Arbor," Elsenheimer said. "People stay at the state park just to come eat here."
About one percent of Americans have Celiac disease, which can only be treated by a gluten-free diet. That means an estimated 100,000 people in Michigan alone are gluten-free.
"A lot of people have one or two options at restaurants, and they come here, and they look at the menu, and they're kind of amazed," said Elsenheimer. "They have a whole menu of things to choose from."
For locals without many gluten-free options, this truck is an even bigger deal.
A comment on the truck's Facebook page from early September reads: "This is the ONLY PLACE we can eat without concerns of complications from Celiac."
Elsenheimer grew up in Interlochen, on Tonawanda Road, when there weren’t a lot of food options.
"I remember Giovanni's at the corner of Tonawanda, the Hofbrau, and there was a little mom and pop breakfast place over in the bit that's no longer there, by Ricks... those were it." (Rick's was a longtime grocery store in Interlochen).
Elsenheimer has always wanted to have his own place right here in his community.
And he’s slotted right into a network of local farms and markets where he’s getting his ingredients. He sources his meant at Honor Family market, and his vegetables from Lost Lake Farms in Honor as well.
Elsenheimer says he sets out to get the ingredients each day, and then spends all day cooking in the truck. Though the kitchen is a bit cramped, and it can really heat up on a hot day, he says getting to serve customers one-on-one has been an unexpected perk of the new setting.
"My job is to feed the hungry. That's rule number one. But to be able to have people just tell you how good it is, you know, how much they appreciate it, that's like a cook's dream," he said.
"You don't really get that in a commercial kitchen. No one's coming back there to talk to you."
And he’s getting to do it all right here where he grew up.
He says the town is busier than it used to be, but there are still some very slow days. It’s not necessarily the best spot to set up if you’re just looking at the money.
"This is my favorite community to be a part of," he said. "If you were interested in the bottom line, this probably wouldn't be the first place you'd look at. But I think it's more than that when you're trying to help a community and feed people that normally couldn't find food."
Sometimes he takes the truck on the road to weddings, conferences and other events. He keeps the schedule up on Facebook. But while the weather holds he’ll be in Interlochen on J. Maddy Parkway, across from the Party store.
