As part of Eat REAL America’s series featuring local chefs, farmers and others who are great resources for REAL food, we wanted to provide an opportunity to get to know a couple of amazing brothers (Jeff and Rob Schauf, owners of The Flying Stove food truck) a little better.

MEET THE FLYING STOVE…WICHITA’S MOBILE CULINARY CREATORS

The Flying Stove and Eat REAL America share the same passion — great-tasting REAL food!

We are very fortunate to have The Flying Stove as part of the Wichita food scene and wanted to help you learn a little more about them!

The Flying Stove’s Background

Jeff and Rob Schauf are brothers who started The Flying Stove in December 2011.  After Rob graduated from culinary school in Austin, TX, in 2005, he moved to California and they both lived in Los Angeles for a few years.  The food truck phenomenon was really taking off and they began to think that a food truck would be a great way to highlight their love of Mexican food from Southern California.  A surf trip to Australia in 2006 really sparked the idea for a food truck.  After traveling to back to Australia in 2009 and doing some serious research, Jeff and Rob decided they lacked the funds to proceed with the concept in Australia.  But now the food truck concept was set in their minds — and where better to start a food truck than in a place that didn’t really have them?  Of course, their hometown…Wichita, KS!  Now, aren’t we glad they chose Wichita for their incredible culinary creations?!

A few questions with Jeff and Rob
Jeff and Rob enthusiastically agreed to take some time out of their busy schedules to answer some questions for us and you:

Eat REAL America is all about helping people get the benefits of REAL food.  What is your philosophy about REAL food?

As we all know, there are lots of philosophies on how to eat.  For us, a good rule of thumb is when you pick up an ingredient or product it should not have a long list of ingredients…it should be what it is.  A carrot is a carrot and a potato is a potato…no ingredient list is necessary.  When we make our food, we start with minimally processed ingredients that are as fresh as possible, and we try to make them taste great together.

What are the things you consider when putting together your menu and the ingredients for your menu?

We look for inspirations that can come from anywhere such as music, movies, cultures, time of year, places we have traveled to, or want to travel to.  We definitely think about seasonal ingredients we can only get fresh certain times of the year.  We, of course, also consider what we think our customers would want to eat.  We put a lot of time and thought into every single one of our menus and try to change them up every month.

What is the most inspirational place you have visited that has influenced your menu?

LA, or really anywhere along the west coast. Every nationality of food is represented and you can get fresh seafood and vegetables from so many resources there.  The food choices are amazing.

Where do you get your ingredients?

From all over.  We try to use REAL ingredients…so we make almost everything from scratch.  When we don’t make it ourselves, we look to where we can get the freshest products.  We love buying local and get fresh tortillas and bread from local sources.  We also like to use local farms for ingredients when they are in season.  We love the Asian and Mexican markets, and organic stores such as Natural Grocer.  We occasionally shop at Dillons, Sam’s and use Ben E. Keith as our food distributor.  When we can’t find things locally, we even search the internet…literally, we get our ingredients from everywhere.

What do you think is the biggest advantage to having a food truck vs. a free-standing restaurant?

It’s great having a food truck, but there aren’t quite as many advantages over a restaurant as people think…we would say being able to travel all over town and meet and serve different people is our favorite thing.

The Flying Stove is trendy and unique and could be successful in so many markets…what keeps you in Wichita?

When we first started in Wichita, we had no idea how we would be received, but it’s been great.  As long as people keep coming to see us, you’ll see us around.

What do you do on your days off?  (Or should this stay a secret?)

We are avid travelers.  We love being outside and love surfing, yoga, golf and fishing.  We also cook!  Or more specifically, we grill, and we grill lots of things.  Meats, veggies, but we keep it all pretty simple…and like to serve it up family-style.  Since we typically eat out during the week, we really enjoy some delicious meals on the grill along with a great-tasting beer.

Do you have favorites when you eat out in Wichita?

Anywhere locally owned…some of our favorite cuisines are Mexican, Vietnamese, and Thai.  We love places like Kanai, Ninza, Thai Tradition and Newport Grill.

One of our favorite Eat REAL America stories is when we were giving out sloppy joes with butternut squash and someone said “No thanks…I’m allergic to nuts.”  What are your favorite customer comments or memories?

We love hearing customer comments when they try something new and really enjoy it.  As eaters, we like to experience new things and get out of our comfort zone, which likewise is also how we like to cook.  We appreciate all of our customer comments…even the ones that are less than complimentary.  We know not everyone is going to like our food…that would be impossible.  But we change our menu every month, and we hope people understand what we’re trying to do here and experiment with different flavors and cuisines.

{Eat REAL America comment:  we hear all the time about people not trying certain foods because they PERCEIVE they don’t like them.  Often, it is all about how the food is prepared.  Trust these guys!  Experiment with meals prepared by The Flying Stove to overcome these perceptions…you may be pleasantly surprised and find something delicious you thought you didn’t like.  For example, our daughter said she didn’t like Po-Boy sandwiches…then we got her a “New Orleans Style BBQ Shrimp Po-Boy” a few weeks ago from The Flying Stove and she can’t stop talking about it!}

If you could change one thing with the Wichita food culture what would it be?

We want people to be open-minded about food, that’s all.  There are tons of Wichitans that are and some aren’t, but we think even the ones that aren’t are starting to become more interested in trying new things.  We would encourage people to continue to frequent our many great locally owned restaurants, instead of the countless generic alternatives.

What do you want Wichita to know about you, that they may not already know?

We work really hard to come up with a menu that includes unique items with amazing flavor combinations.  Our combination of ingredients work together to create a flavor-popping experience that is difficult to find at many other restaurants.  The Flying Stove wants to help Wichita experience new foods and flavors.

{Eat REAL America comment:  these guys really are passionate about finding great flavor combinations.  While we are all occasionally tempted to customize our orders, we encourage you to trust Jeff and Rob and team and their ingredient choices.  They create delicious food items to be enjoyed as prepared — so if you absolutely can’t live without ketchup for those fries, you will have to bring your own!}

The Flying Stove is a great asset to Wichita and a fantastic resource for REAL and delicious food.  If you haven’t tried it, we encourage you to do as soon as possible…you may just find a new favorite place to eat!  And the best part is…they travel all over Wichita — watch Facebook for daily destinations!  For those who have already discovered their fantastic creations, please keep supporting them to keep them right here in Wichita!

Follow The Flying Stove on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/theflyingstove or visit their website at www.theflyingstove.com.