By Leslie Albrecht
DNAinfo Reporter/Producer
UPPER WEST SIDE — Turkish tacos, truffled chick peas and apple galettes are coming to Tavern on the Green next week.
The fancy food will be sold starting next Friday at four vendor trucks parked outside the legendary restaurant, which closed in January.
While the city looks for someone to take over Tavern on the Green, the Parks Department is renting its terrace to traveling eateries Ladle of Love, Pera, the Rickshaw Dumpling Truck and Van Leeuwen Artisan Ice Cream Truck.
Ladle of Love will serve soups and stews such as beef bourguignon, fried truffled chick peas and a dessert called a "stuffed brownie."
Pera is believed to be the country's first Turkish taco truck, parks officials say. The truck is an "offshoot" of Pera Mediterranean brasserie in Midtown.
Its menu will include $3.25 tacos with fillings such as smoked lamb, and octopus mini-falafel with black olive mayo, according to a menu provided by the parks department. Side dishes include bulghur pilaf and Turkish refried beans.
Rickshaw Dumpling Truck will serve the dumplings that have earned it raves in New York Magazine and in the 2009 Vendy's Street Food awards. On the menu: classic dumpling flavors like pork and Chinese chive, along with a rotating list of special flavors. The truck will also serve Tsing Tao beer and sake.
Rounding out the line-up with sweet treats is Van Leeuwen Artisan Ice Cream, the high-end answer to Mister Softee. Van Leeuwen serves flavors like giandujia (chocolate and hazelnut) and red currant, made with milk provided by farmers the company's owners "know personally," according to its website.
The ice cream will sell for $3.95 for a small cone, $5.75 for a medium and $7 for a large.
The food trucks will offer more adventurous fare than the menu at Tavern on the Green, which specialized in high-priced versions of standbys like fish and chips, Cobb salad and shrimp cocktail.
The food trucks have one year contracts, with an option for the parks department to renew for an additional year, a parks spokesman said.
