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the owner and operator of the City’s only Mac and Cheese Food Truck also has a chance to be the next Food Network Star

by Jessica Jones-Gorman • Photos by Alex Baretto

In the summer of 2012, Dom Tesoriero—an Eltingville chef with international cooking credits—pitched an idea to the head of food and beverage at a Saratoga Race Track about launching a food truck that exclusively sold gourmet varieties of mac and cheese.

“I had been finagling with this concept, trying to get it off the ground, and thought this would be an excellent place to launch it,” Tesoriero said. “But I never heard back from him.”

Three weeks before the racetrack opened for the season, however, Tesoriero got the call: “Be up here in 21 days, I think we can make this work.”

“I’d never driven a truck before in my life but I found an old pizza truck that had, like, seven million miles on it and wrapped it to give it the right look,” Tesoriero said, describing the project he worked on with partner Steve Lee. “We put together a menu of mac and cheese options filled with pulled pork, buffalo chicken, cheeseburger, bacon, lobster, and even some shaved truffles, drove up to Saratoga, and had a successful run. I mean, who doesn’t like mac and cheese?”

The concept was received so well, in fact, that as soon as the racetrack season wrapped, Tesoriero drove the rig right into the mean streets of Manhattan, and Mac Truck NYC was born.

“It was kind of frightening,” Tesoriero recalled. “Yes, I grew up here, but it was like us against the world. People love the food trucks in New York, but it’s hard here…survival of the fittest between all of the competition and parking restrictions. When it comes to getting the choice spots, the early bird gets the worm; you have to fight for your place.”

Cellini Spread

Tesoriero, born and raised in Staten Island, said he picked up his love for cooking as a kid, watching his mother, grandmother, father, and uncle make Sunday dinner. But it wasn’t until after high school—when his friends would put up the money for whatever ingredients they could afford and ask Tesoriero to turn them into something—that the young chef decided to make food his career.

After graduating from the Institute of Culinary Education, he took a position with Seaview-based Framboise Catering, a stint which jetted the young chef to the Olympics at Turin, Italy, Beijing, China, and Vancouver, Canada. He then traveled to Italy to refine his skills, where he took courses, tasted all types of olive oils, handmade pastas…and placed second in an international cooking competition. He returned home and accepted a job with Lincoln Ristorante in Lincoln Center under the tutelage of executive chef Jonathan Benno.

“I’ve had so many incredible opportunities,” Tesoriero said. “I worked for this little business on Staten Island, then moved to Italy, traded work for a bed, and learned from the best. I was then able to cook with Benno before going out on my own.”

After working in Manhattan in his Mac Truck for a few years, the Food Network called and asked him to film a pilot.

“They were doing a late-night eating segment which was going to feature our truck, but it never got picked up,” Tesoriero recalled. “Shortly after, a producer called and asked if I would participate in Rewrapped, a show where you take everyday snack foods and turn them into a finished plate.”

Tesoriero was tasked with taking three kinds of potato chips (barbecue, cheddar cheese, and salt and vinegar) and turning them into entrees. He responded with Barbecue Fried Chicken and Cheesy Grits with Salt and Vinegar Gravy, and the attention ultimately put him in the running to be a contestant on the eleventh season of Food Network Star.

“They interviewed tens of thousands of contestants, and honestly, I didn’t think I had a shot, but they called because they liked my interview,” Tesoriero said. “And suddenly I went from driving this little truck to walking around a giant set in LA surrounded by culinary superstars.”

The show, in which Giada De Laurentiis and Bobby Flay mentor and judge 12 chefs, premiered on June 7. The winner will be revealed in the season finale on August 16, and the top contestant will earn a show of his or her own.

Even while hopeful for the win, Tesoriero is focusing his attention on growing his Mac Truck business.

“We’re starting to focus more on events,” Tesoriero said, citing Belmont, Mayor Bill DiBlasio’s election rally, and NYC’s Comic Con on some of their for-hire work, where they often serve between 1,500 and 2,000 people per day. “It makes sense to focus on what’s doing the best, but I couldn’t be happier with the success so far. It’s been a wonderful ride.”

Mac Truck NYC
718.702.4734 / mactrucknyc.com