Wichita mother and son starting business that serves gluten-free, dairy-free comfort food
A new food business focused on gluten- and dairy-free comfort food will open this fall in Wichita.
Pam Bugler and her youngest son, Simon Bugler, are in the process of opening a new food truck that they’ll call Against the Grain.
They’ve custom-ordered a pull-behind, enclosed 16-foot food trailer, which they should receive this week and hope to have ready to take out by Halloween.
Pam, who has celiac disease and a dairy allergy, has long been testing recipes out of necessity. Now, she wants to share her expertise with other people who have the same dietary restrictions.
Pam said the menu will include dishes like pulled pork on Texas toast, chicken and egg noodles, shrimp with garlic chili sauce and chocolate molten lava cake. She and Simon also plan to do lots of grilling, roasting and smoking of meats.
The duo plan to take the trailer on the road to serve at festivals around the state and even out of state. They also hope to get in the rotation at the various pop-up parks and food truck rallies in Wichita.
The name “Against the Grain” not only refers to the grain-free menu but also to the personalities of mother and son, Pam said. The two like to laugh together and cook together, and they get along well, Pam said.
She wants their focus to be not only serving food that tastes good but also on helping to educate people with food allergies about what’s safe for them to eat.
“I think the misnomer out there is that cooking gluten-free and eating gluten-free means everything tastes like cardboard, and that’s not the case at all,” she said.
I’ll let you know when Against the Grain is ready to hit the streets.
This story was originally published September 28, 2018 at 3:02 PM.