Aside from the Kerhonkson-based “Baba” food truck, you would be hard pressed to find another mobile, vegan food vendor this side of the Shawangunk Ridge. Its owners have veered away from the traditional greasy meals to offer local, organic, and nutritional meals for its hungry customers.

“For a lot of people who are not necessarily fans of vegan and vegetarian foods, we’re definitely glad to help change their minds,” co-owner Greg Zizza said.

Zizza founded the truck with his partner Erica Lavelanet, both of whom moved from New York City to the Hudson Valley several years ago. Both were city natives: Lavelanet worked in the fashion industry while Zizza has dedicated his life to food services, both for nearly a decade. The two realized that their industries shared a tendency to create excess and waste; on top of that, Lavelanet noticed that her neighborhood in Queens was surrounded by a food desert, without ready access to nutritional food and produce found in suburban locations.

“We realized that a way we could disrupt the food system and maybe minimize waste would be to have our own food truck,” Lavelanet explained.

In 2019, the two scoured Craigslist, the Facebook Marketplace and even trucker forums before they found an old United States Postal Service truck that would be perfect for their plan. They spent the next year ripping out the old shelves and equipping the truck with the necessary kitchenware to bring meals on wheels to starved locals. The two began touring with their vegan meals in May of 2020, were later contacted by Starlite Motel and became “instant family” with the business, Lavelanet said. They began to pop up in their parking lot every weekend last summer. Part of the reason the two wanted to live in the Hudson Valley initially was the ready access to fresh, local produce, which you can find in almost any of their dishes.

On the truck, you might want to try one of the couple’s first dishes: vegan Romano and margarita style pizza. The two use a homemade red sauce, topped with almond and sunflower ricotta cheese and mix in a basil salsa Verde to top it off. If you’re looking to stick to something familiar, the truck also features a “beyond burger,” made from 100 percent plant materials, which is served with a side of fried plantains. Another hot item at the truck is the jerk-tofu sandwich: made from a deep-fried block of tofu which is marinated in a jerk sauce, topped with a chickpea jerk-mayo and served with a red cabbage vinegar slaw.

“A lot of people who have tried the jerk-tofu sandwich say they have never eaten tofu before and now they see themselves eating it more often,” Lavelanet said.

You can also find a selection of fresh-squeezed juices that don’t have a drop of extra sugar or water to maximize its flavor and nutritional value. The two claimed that their peach-pineapple juice has been the best seller and encouraged folks to taste other flavors like the cucumber, celery and lime juice and the strawberry-rhubarb juice. They also sell a natural “ginseng cola” made by a company called Funcbot, which uses pressed botanicals, like ginseng and cranberry, to flavor their naturally sweet drinks.

The two were lucky throughout the toughest months of the pandemic, since their mobile meals were able to be served while other businesses had to shut their doors. However, as a Black business owner, Lavelanet felt it was important to be involved in the growing racial justice movement that reignited this past year. The truck popped up at a number of local protests, including a Black Lives Matter rally in Newburgh, and even provided free lunches for kids when school was out of session. It’s important for the Baba owners to support local, Black-owned and women-owned businesses as well, so the truck carries “Blk & Bold” coffee and tea, which is a Black-owned business, along with others that align with this mission.

“We tried our best to show up and move at a slow, mindful place,” Lavelanet said.

About a month ago, the two took their next step with the Baba brand and opened a storefront at the Starlite Motel. There folks can find two types of sandwiches: the eggless tofu sandwich, which mimics a classic egg salad sandwich, along with their seasonal veggie sandwich, which includes a mix of raw veggies, mayonnaise and a pickle. They also sell seasonal salads like one with sugar snap peas and strawberries, or their “detox salad,” which has a mix of dandelion greens and kale. All of the veggies they use are seasonal and locally sourced.

You can visit the storefront at Starlite Motel, located at 5938 Route 209 in Kerhonkson, on Wednesdays through Sundays from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Although the owners are trying to keep the truck available for catering, mostly, you can find it at Starlite on Fridays, from 5 to 8 p.m., and at the Woodstock Farmers Market on Wednesdays from 3 to 7 p.m.

“I’ve loved tapping into the community here and realizing that we've been so welcomed and that there's work for us to do here,” Lavelanet said. “It felt really good to be in a place where we can connect with so many cool people and work with such a great kind of farm-to-truck vibe.”