Press — The Ginger Pig
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We would like to thank all of our loyal customers and the Westword readers, contributors and editorial staff involved in making this decision, we are truly honored and humbled to win the award for 2018 Best of Denver - Food Truck/Cart. We just started our third season and what a way to kick it off. Thank you.

You can see the full list of award-winners here.

 
 

 
 

FOOD & DRINK
BEST PLACES TO EAT IN DENVER RIGHT NOW (2019)

Thrillist is a nationally recognized media website reporting on all the life experiences you love to spend your hard-earned money on: food, drinks, travel, and entertainment! The Ginger Pig is proud to announce that they have us on their list of best places to eat in Denver right now! They took note of our May the Pork be with You, the Chickity China the Chinese Chicken, and our favorite Bangkok Balls, check out our menu for the full description of these dishes. Don’t forget to check out the whole list because it’s an honor to be alongside all of these restaurants! When we aren’t cooking ourselves you can find us at Hop Alley, Safta, and Annette ordering some of our favorite dishes in Denver.

 
 

 
 

We’ve gone around town buying up newspapers and magazines when we’ve been spotlighted in a periodical in the past, but never earned those little stars and been reviewed until now. OMG, OMG, OMG!! Allyson Reedy is a Denver Post food writer and she delivered us our first food review in the Post’s Lifestyle section, The Know!! We are feeling overwhelmed and very humbled by such an honor and can’t wait for you, our loyal customers and champions for our cause, to read the digital version, “Restaurant review: Wonder Woman soars at The Ginger Pig” or you can download the pdf version, “Changing the Food Truck Game“ right here.

 
 

 
 

John Lehndorff wrote a wonderful article for his Nibbles column in the Boulder Weekly called, “The Social Food Network”. The article pointedly discusses how networking is very much alive in the food community and leading to local opportunities. The Ginger Pig’s new location was forged nearly ten years earlier with a CSA membership at Isabelle Farm that’s grown over the years to watch the Ginger Pig move from an idea to reality, and recently, right onto the farm. You can see the paper version below or read it here.

 
 

 
 

Just google “healthiest cuisines in the world,” and you will always see at least one Asian cuisine listed, if not several. I’d challenge you to find a search result that didn’t have it on the list. We are honored to have our Justin’sᵀᴹ Cashew Butter Tofu included in DiningOut’s list of “13 Dishes and Drinks that Will Keep You on Track for a Healthy 2019” because this was a special collaboration with Justin’s Nut Butter that started over the summer when they launched the Classic Cashew Butter. This dish is both gluten-free and vegan. We serve this with tofu, roasted cashews, lime, cilantro, Thai Jasmine rice, our special Justin’s Cashew Butter sauce, and our Chinese smashed cucumber salad on the side. Here’s where the best news was already eluded to, you can still keep your 2019 New Years resolutions intact with this or one of our other healthy dishes and if you’re looking for a healthier variety that meets a lot of dietary needs for your next catered event, download our cater menu.

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It’s the end of the year so you know what that means, 2018 lists are everywhere! This year John Lehndorff caps off his weekly Nibbles column for Boulder Weekly and KGNU radio show where he names a “Taste of the Week” with his list of his favorite tastes from 2018 in 52 Weeks of Tastes. Why are we telling you this? Because our pan-Asian fare got some shout outs! He loved three of our dishes: nine-spice fried chicken dish known as Chickity China the Chinese Chicken from our truck menu and our Thai Red Curry and Chinese BBQ Pork Char Sui from our catering menu.

 
 

 
 

“Freedom with an Asterisk” was our favorite heading in author Kate Jonuska’s article, “Hard work on wheels.” Boulder County’s Boulder Weekly rolls out a special edition food magazine, feast, that highlights what life for a food truck operator is really like. Natascha had Kate on the truck for a ride along that gave her a firsthand view of how grueling the industry actually is, click here or on the image below to take you to read Kate’s article on pg. 20 and make sure to check out all the great articles featured in this edition. Note that feast is hosted on the issuu publication platform, we’ve added this last part so you’d know you’re in the right place and not…Russia.

 
 

 
 
 
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Kitchen Snapshot:
Natascha Hess of The Ginger Pig

DiningOut covers culinary scenes across the country, our beloved local edition of the syndication profiled Natascha in their Kitchen Snapshot column. Check it out, we're pretty flattered to be featured!

 
 

 
 
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5280 Neighborhood Guide: Lafayette

Wonderful quick write up as a go-to spot in 5280's Neighborhood Guide, but to be fair we should have been mentioned as a special night and Isabelle Farm should have taken the spotlight on this one! Last year we partnered with the farm as a way to introduce our food truck to the Lafayette community, but most importantly because we wanted our business model to reflect certain sustainability practices. Specifically, by supporting local farms when sourcing our ingredients and we also saw this as a way to support another local business we love. Isabelle Farm was the right fit for us and we've had a relationship with them since we had been picking up our personal CSA there before The Ginger Pig was even realized in our own minds. We love this farm and look forward to everyone who stops in. See when we're there next by following us on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram or checking out our calendar of events.

 
 

 
 
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National Food Truck Day!

June 29, 2018


Westword included us as one of their ten favorite food trucks to try in the Denver and Boulder area for National Food Truck Day created by Roaming Hunger. We share this list with some trucking talented folks! Check out the full list of Westword's The Ten Best Food Trucks in Denver and Boulder.

 
 

 
 
 
 

Colin Wrenn wrote a great article about the Ginger Pig that not only focuses on Natascha bringing her favorite Asian comfort food to Boulder but also the heart and passion she put into making her dream a reality. Head over to 303MAGAZINE.COM to read how the Ginger Pig Combines Chinese Cuisine with Comfort Food Feeling.

Chef Natascha Hess, the mastermind behind one of the front range’s most exciting young food trucks, makes innovative pan-Asian cuisine with palpable enthusiasm that is wildly apparent in every aspect of the impressive project. They say food is love, and in the Ginger Pig’s case, you can feel the warmth, the devotion and the layers of community that underlie the project in each bite.
— Colin Wrenn
 
 

 
 

Food critic John Lehndorff counts us as one of his favorite affordable, local, and authentic ethnic eateries in his article, Ethnic Eateries: Global Home Cooking. We strive for authenticity and feel pretty honored to be on such a great list.

 
 

 
 

Katherine Nettles tells the tale of how the food truck movement came to fruition in the area and lists out the different events/establishments where you can find them in Street Eats - Food Trucks are on the Move in Boulder County. She chose to profile a few of the owner's stories in the article, including ours. Thank you for making us a part of this and for the continued support!

 
 

 
 
 
 

KGNU 88.5FM/1390AM Community has a wonderful weekly segment called, Radio Nibbles: Catching up on local food news. Hosts, John Lehndorff and Sam Fuqua catch you up on different food news from around the way. We had a wonderful customer tell us that they heard John Lehndorff mention The Ginger Pig as the best thing John has tasted lately! Give it a listen here and thank you, John,  for visiting our truck! It's a fun show where they reveal fun facts about Keith Richards and shepherd's pie, plus much more! You can listen to all of their previously recorded food news here.

 
 

 
 

This weekend we had an amazing time sitting for an interview at iHeart RADIO's 630KHOW Talk Radio's show, Gabby Gourmet. Filling in for Gabby, who is traveling throughout Asian with her tastebuds (jealous), was Steve Miller. We had a really great time and loved all the callers that took the time to call into the show with questions for us! Thank you to the Gabby Gourmet for such a wonderful opportunity, we love your show!

You can read the transcript here OR listen to the full interview here.

 
 

 
 
 
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Farm to Fable?

Boulder chefs walk the talk for true farm-to-table cuisine.

The Ginger Pig regularly sets the wok up at Isabelle Farm in Lafayette for a Farm-to-Truck experience right on the farm. You kinda can't get any fresher than that and we promise you can tell. Natascha got a mention in Boulder Weekly as a local chef sourcing, well, directly from the source.

Photo: Strawberry and peach tempura special we served last season at Isabelle Farm.

 
 

 
 

Eater Denver called our dishes mouthwatering and included us in "Five Places to Try This Weekend".

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When Ginger Pig Flies

College hockey prepped Boulder lawyer for life in an Asian food truck

John Lehndroff has helped kick our third season into gear with a great feature in this week's issue of Boulder Weekly. With two full seasons under our belt, our story has evolved to include a Top Chef contestant that helped place us on the right road to success, networking, repairs, cooking and tons of lessons along the way to help us bring you our favorite Asian dishes for a third season. Check out the latest iteration of our dream in this week's issue of Boulder Weekly.

 
 

 
 

Former College Hockey Player Scores With Ginger Pig Food Truck

Westword's Food & Drink Editor Mark Antonation published a great piece about our origins, food, influences, mentor, and evolution.

Check out this great article about The Ginger Pig here.

 
 

 
 

DENVER'S MILE HIGH MAGAZINE

 

Boulder Food Truck Owner Dishes On “Top Chef” Colorado Contestant Carrie Baird

The owner of the Ginger Pig says Baird helped save her now-thriving business.

Denise Mickelsen, the food editor of 5280, Denver's Mile High Magazine, wrote a real nice piece on us and our friend and mentor for life, Carrie Baird. Carrie is a contestant on this season's Top Chef and we are so excited for her and love that our truck made its TV debut on the show. Some people change your life by opening doors, we can't thank her enough for opening the door to her kitchen, it changed the course of our truck forever and we hope we continue to bring you the food we love to share with our fans and make Carrie proud of us for years to come. Read about how Carrie Baird helped The Ginger Pig here.

 
 

 
 
 
Squash Blossom Tempura Farm-to-truck special at Isabelle Farm

Squash Blossom Tempura Farm-to-truck special at Isabelle Farm

The Longmont Times-Call Camera Dining critic Clay Fong wrote about our partnership with Lafayette's Isabelle Farm in their "All The Buzz" paper column. We're really excited about this partnership because of the fresh farm to truck veggies we cook up for experimental specials; Isabelle Farm feels a little like a home away from home; and we get to meet new customers in the Lafayette area. We hope to create a community of food lovers that enjoy our regular menu items and our farm specials. 

 
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Vegan love

 
Our vegan Mapo Tofu dish made with beer braised shiitake mushroom ragu with fermented black beans and organic tofu. Photo Credit: Annabelle Denmark

Our vegan Mapo Tofu dish made with beer braised shiitake mushroom ragu with fermented black beans and organic tofu. Photo Credit: Annabelle Denmark

Boulder Weekly gave our Mapo tofu some love as one of four dishes to try if you're out and about in Boulder some weekend. Honored to sit alongside brick-and-mortars like Café AionT·ACO, and Bistrot des Artistes at Cheese ImportersCheck us out and the three other wonderful food choices they featured. Big thank you for the food love!

 
 

 
 

Food Truck Friday

 

We were on TV! We had the great honor of being featured on Fox 31 - Denver for their regular feature, Food Truck Friday

 
 
 
 
 

 
 
Small Food Business's Logo

Check it out! Natascha was interviewed by Small Food Business! This two-part podcast is all about what it takes to get your food truck on the road. Small Food Business is a community of food artisans and entrepreneurs led by the fearless, Jennifer Lewis. Her mission is to provide up-to-date industry news that also focuses on the regulatory, business, and strategic information needed to successfully compete in today’s marketplace. We are really excited by the opportunities we’ve had to share our experience and the growing pains it took to get here. The reward is worth it, follow your dreams!

 

Part One

Small Food Business Podcast - Part 1 - Interview with Natascha Hess of The Ginger Pig
Jennifer Lewis

Part Two

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Jennifer Lewis
 
 

 
 

Natascha, got to teach/mentor week 6 of Brett Lindenberg’s successful eight-week live training class, Food Truck Academy series brought to you by the Food Truck Empire. Natascha was a graduate of the very first Academy class a few years ago, she turned the skills she learned there to grow The Ginger Pig.

 
 

 
 

The Ginger Pig’s owner, Natascha, had the great honor of being interviewed by the Food Truck Empire founder, Brett Lindenberg, for his Food Truck Academy series. Bret runs an eight-week live training class and provides one-on-one consulting from current food truck owners. Natascha was a graduate of the very first Academy class a few years ago and has turned the skills she learned there to turn the Ginger Pig into the growing success story that it is.

 
 

 
 

Check it out! We were one of the trucks featured as part of the Rayback Collective Food Truck Park reviewed by the Daily Camera. You can read the full review here where they may have said the following:

 
…the last time I had something that tasted like this, it was at a traditional Chinese banquet.
— Clay Fong for the Daily Camera
 
Photo Credit - Cliff Grassmick / Staff Photographer for the Daily Camera

Photo Credit - Cliff Grassmick / Staff Photographer for the Daily Camera

 
 

 
 

As Seen in The Wall Street Journal:

Schools Cook Up Courses on the Food Business

Photo credit - Clytie Sadler

Photo credit - Clytie Sadler