Izumi Food Truck

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"Affable chef/owner Kurt Bellon putters about town in a little Japanese firetruck, inspiring smiles and rumbling tummies wherever he goes. The truck introduced St. Louis to the culture of konbini (abbreviated from konbiniensu sutoru), Japan’s ubiquitous convenience stores that sell prepared and packaged food. Bellon crafts sweet sandos of fruit and cream along with savory katsu options, all served on ethereal slices of milk bread. The mobile shop also carries other popular Japanese drinks and snacks, like triangles of onigiri folded into cellophane wrappers with nori just dry enough to maintain a tense snap with each bite of rice. It’s the kind of operation that’s only possible in St. Louis." - Holly Fann, Joel Crespo

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"Affable chef/owner Kurt Bellon putters about town in a little Japanese firetruck, inspiring smiles and rumbling tummies wherever he goes. The truck introduced St. Louis to the culture of konbini (abbreviated from konbiniensu sutoru), Japan’s ubiquitous convenience stores that sell prepared and packaged food. Bellon crafts sweet sandos of fruit and cream along with savory katsu options, all served on ethereal slices of milk bread. The mobile shop also carries other popular Japanese drinks and snacks, like triangles of onigiri folded into cellophane wrappers with nori just dry enough to maintain a tense snap with each bite of rice. It’s the kind of operation that’s only possible in St. Louis. “I just wouldn’t have the same opportunity to open my business in a city like San Francisco, where you have to know a highborn or kill a duke or something to open a restaurant,” Bellon says." - Holly Fann

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"Established chefs like Qui Tran, veteran owner of the celebrated restaurants Nudo House and Mai Lee, regularly collab with up-and-comers, like Kurt Bellon’s mobile Japanese sando shop, Izumi." - Eater Staff

A tiny red Japanese firetruck slinging konbini-style sandos and katsu. Highlighted by Eater and named Best Food Truck by Riverfront Times, Izumi brings joyfully precise flavors to pop-ups and park events across the city.