New to the Elephant’s Trunk Country Flea Market, this Korean food truck offers delicious, healthy alternatives to the usual market fare.
By 11 am every Sunday, the lines start forming in front of The Good Luck Food Truck at the Elephant’s Trunk Flea Market in New Milford. Regulars to the Sunday market have already discovered the flavorful tacos, melt-in-your-mouth scallion pancakes, and deliciously spicy rice bowls. It’s becoming a ritual—scour the rows of kitschy paintings, antique jewelry, and repurposed furniture for a couple of hours; then head over to the Good Luck Food Truck for some satisfying chow. The picnic tables behind the truck are comfortable and clean, making it the perfect place to have a seat and enjoy the outdoors.
“Feedback from customers has been great. They seem to really like the food and we have a lot of repeat customers, both from the vendors at the flea market and the people visiting,” says Stephen Sisco.
Stephen Sisco is the owner and chef of this new food truck, which offers Korean cuisine. He and his wife, Anne, and other family members run a tight ship on those sunny days when the demand is high— they can get pretty busy, sometimes running out of food before the end of the flea market.
Stephen was born in Daegu, Korea in 1962. His father is of Irish-Polish lineage and his mother is Korean. They met during the Korean War when he was in the army and she worked as a waitress in the military canteen. The family moved to Queens, New York, when Stephen was 5 months old.
Stephen’s mother cooked Korean food for their family when he was growing up, and for special occasions they went to Sam Bok in Manhattan — the only Korean restaurant they knew of at the time. Stephen loved Korean food as a child but only knew the dishes that his mother prepared or that he ate at the restaurant.
Even as a child, Stephen was obsessed with mobile food vendors, and he loved the hot dog pushcart on the corner of the street on which he grew up. When he was in the 4th or 5th grade, his teacher, Sister Muriel at St. Teresa’s in Woodside, asked her students to come up with an invention to help humanity. Stephen drew a pizza pushcart with an oven. The pizza peel had a special holder on the side of the cart.
As the years went on, the pushcart became a food truck. Soon after his first son was born in the late 90s, Stephen began collecting articles about mobile food vendors and so began his obsession of having a truck with a more high-end product than the usual hot dogs and pretzels.
Stephen worked at the American Stock Exchange on Wall Street for 26 years. In the early 90s, he thought about a career change and attended Peter Kump’s Cooking School in Manhattan (now the Institute of Culinary Education). But it was never the right time to make the switch, especially after he got married and had children. While he and his wife balanced family and finances, he commuted 5 hours a day to downtown Manhattan for 14 years. When he was laid off in 2011, the time was finally right.
Asked how he came up with the catchy name and logo for his business, he replies, “My wonderful and supportive wife, Anne, came up with it. I love the name and the look of the logo.”
The visual appeal of his beautiful white truck with its striking logo, and gorgeous stainless steel interior is only the first impression. The food closes the deal. The menu consists of Korean tacos made with either chicken, beef, or tofu—or a plate of all three; rice bowl (a.k.a. bibimbop) with either chicken, beef, or tofu; and scallion pancakes. The tacos are $2.50 each or 3 for $7, the rice bowl is $7 and the scallion pancakes are $2 apiece. They serve coffee, various sodas, and bottled water for $1.50 and iced coffee for $2.50. Anne bakes scones ($3) and cookies (2 for $1) as well. “The cookies are chocolate chip, gluten-free chocolate chip, and sesame, which are my personal favorite. The menu will stay the same for now, but I am always kicking around ideas,” says Stephen. Asked if he sources his food locally, he replies, “Our ingredients are as fresh and local as we can afford; in other words, we get the meat at a wholesale store, not from a local farm, because it doesn’t make sense cost-wise.”
The truck has been in business since the fall of 2012, but things didn’t really pick up until they started at the Elephant’s Trunk Flea Market in New Milford. Right now, the truck is at the flea market on Sundays from 6:30 am until about 1 pm, or whenever Stephen runs out of food. When the much-anticipated Brookfield Farmers’ Market opens on June 21 (Friday nights, 4-6pm) at 100 Pocono Road in Brookfield, they will be there as well. It is worth noting that the Good Luck Food Truck is available for private parties. Have a Sweet Sixteen or a Bar Mitzvah coming up?
“We have been very lucky so far and have been selling out every Sunday since we started at the Trunk. The pace has been hectic and I wouldn’t be able to do the business I’m doing without the help of my wife, Anne; my sister in-law, Lucy Handley; and her son, Jamie MacDonald, as well as my own two boys helping at home. My mom and younger sister Susan provided a large financial investment to get me started. I would not have been able to do this without the support, love and enthusiasm of my entire family. I am extremely grateful and indebted to them.”
It looks like the good luck might be here to stay, if the line-ups in front of the truck are any indication. We asked Stephen what other plans he had for the Good Luck Food Truck. He replied, “My plans right now are to just keep making good food and make people happy. We’ll see what the future holds.”
The Good Luck Food Truck is located on Sundays at the Elephant’s Trunk Country Flea Market, 490 Danbury Road (Route 7) in New Milford.
You can reach Stephen Sisco at 203-241-2452 or
203-393-8455, or go to www.facebook.com/pages/The-Good-Luck-Food-Truck/181553868632250
