Here, chickie, chickie: Meet the Cluck Truck

The Cluck Truck rolls in what used to be the Guideaux’s food truck

Meet Luca DiSomma, the mastermind behind appropriately named fried chicken food truck the Cluck Truck. The Cluck Truck rolls in a short compact bus, the former home to DiSomma’s original brainchild, Italian-oriented Guideaux’s Food Truck, which now only operates for catering purposes. Italian-born DiSomma says his inspiration for the former food truck (his debut food venture, in fact) stems from years of watching his Italian father bustle around his own restaurant.

While DiSomma, a furniture maker (though his furniture-making now only occupies a minor portion of his time since launching his truck) never dreamt of opening a restaurant, he says he has always had a penchant for serving friends and family food. So when he stumbled into an opportunity to launch his own food truck, DiSomma decided to transform his partialness for entertaining with food into a business. The Guideaux’s launch was, as DiSomma refers to it, “the perfect storm;” he met the right people at the right time and happened upon an existing food truck that had been sitting unused for over a year. Like many other food truck entrepreneurs, DiSomma says that acquiring the proper permits was a challenge. However, DiSomma was able to adeptly navigate his permit predicament with the help of some thoughtful advice about New Orleans food truck permits from his friends who operate Taceaux Loceaux.

Although the pastas and subs that DiSomma was slinging out of Guideaux’s were popular with New Orleans customers, in early June DiSomma and his team announced their plan to switch to a chicken truck. DiSomma quickly gave his truck the makeover necessary — including new equipment, new gas lines, a tune-up, and a new paint job — before serving juicy wings and crispy chicken to hungry New Orleanians. The Cluck Truck’s menu is simple: delicious chicken — fried, tenders, or wings, served with truffle french fries and a biscuit or waffle.

DiSomma says of New Orleans’ culinary scene that he most appreciates its openness to new ideas. While traditional creole Cajun food has a very important place in the city, local eateries and diners seem to be warming up to progressive concepts, techniques, and cuisine, he notes. Subsequently, New Orleans has seen an expansion in its culinary diversity, and you won’t hear DiSomma complaining about it any time soon.

Check back Thursday for an original Cluck Truck recipe.

The Cluck Truck serves Monday through Friday for lunch and Friday and Saturday nights. For real time updates on where to get your friend chicken fix, check the Cluck Truck’s Facebook and Twitter accounts.You can catch DiSomma and his chicken this 4th of July at My House NOLA’s Independence Day Party at Twelve Mile Limit.

This series of stories about New Orleans food trucks, pop-ups and culinary entrepreneurs is made possible through a partnership with My House NOLA, a production planning company for culinary events in New Orleans.