Enter the intergalactic world of stuffed grilled-cheese sandwiches and truffle mac-and-cheese balls by visiting the Blast Off! food truck, the South Bay’s own source for down-home cooking on wheels. Campbell-based owners Sarah and Prachan Mokaves specialize in gourmet comfort food. The Blast Off! truck is parked all over the South Bay and easy to recognize—just look for a giant, dark-blue truck with a painted rocket ship taking off in a splash of red and yellow.

The Mokaves met while training to be chefs at the California Culinary Academy in San Francisco. Both worked for many top restaurants in the San Francisco area, including Straits and the Slanted Door but decided to move down to Sarah’s native locale—the South Bay—after the birth of their daughter. They introduced Blast Off! in the spring of 2012 after a long search for the right venue in which to share their expert culinary skills. The idea to open a food truck came after visiting the Gypsy Picnic, a food-truck festival in Texas. “My mom said, ‘It’s a gold mine; you have to get a truck,’” Sarah recalls about the inspiration for their venture.

While visiting similar festivals in the Bay Area, the Mokaves noticed a lack of American comfort food, so they decided to park their truck in that niche. They knew that they wanted their truck to have a 1950s diner feel and eventually landed on the concept of an intergalactic vehicle, since the idea of space travel was all the rage in the ‘50s.

As veterans of the culinary world, the Mokaves sought to create a menu that was out of this world. “I love cooking; I love the creative aspect,” says Sarah of the creative liberties she and her husband have been able to take with their menu. This creativity can be seen in every item on the menu. The Juicy Lucy, their specialty gourmet burger, features a juicy patty topped with shredded lettuce, tomatoes, bacon, shoestring onions, a Parmesan crisp and an egg. Also on the menu are such creations as the “pulled-pork and blackberry vanilla balsamic caramelized red onion grilled cheese” and a deep fried, truffled mac-and-cheese ball that the Mokaves call the Asteroid. 

Those wanting to try this intergalactic fare can log on to Facebook or Twitter and start following BlastOffTruck.