The Yellow Cab Food Hub will replace the Yellow Cab Food Truck Rallies, and will feature food trucks, carryout, delivery, live music, trivia and other entertainment six days a week.
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For the past few months, Jessica Benson, a Virginia Beach native and Dayton transplant who founded The Wild Banana, has been working hard to create a local food truck that offers a bit more to the health-conscious Daytonian. Before crafting The Wild Banana, Benson worked in the restaurant industry.
The Wild Banana food truck will feature an assortment of smoothies and smoothie bowls with a variety of toppings, such as organic granola, banana slices (of course), pineapple, strawberries, honey, peanut butter, hazelnut sauce and chia seeds, available as accessories to your colorful smoothie. Benson is offering two sizes of her smoothie bowls and will give diners the option of either a preset concoction (there will be three) or a build-your-own smoothie bowl.
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Small smoothies are $5 and large smoothies are $6.50, while small smoothie bowls are $8.75 and large smoothie bowls are $11.
“What’s cool is that all of the bases are gonna have a super food in them,” Benson said. “So every base will have banana, and then the acai one will obviously have acai, so it will be dark purple. I have a dragonfruit one that will be bright pink. It’s really pretty.”
The third and final smoothie bowl base is blue banana and flavored with pineapple and blue spirulina. Benson will not be using any artificial coloring to enhance her smoothie bowls, as she feels that it will only diminish the quality of her sweet treats.
“We’re in a world where there is artificial coloring in our meat, in our fish — they even color salmon red,” said Benson. “Everyone wants things to look appealing, but I’m just going to prove that it can be done in a natural way, without artificial coloring.”
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Aside from offering smoothie bowls free of artificial coloring, Benson also hopes to make her creations at least 70 percent organic and completely vegan. And, as far as utensils go, Benson also plans to lend some all-natural love to the environment by avoiding plastic utensils and substituting with more sustainable options.
“I’m really big on saving the planet, or at least trying to, and I hate plastic,” Benson said. “With my business, I could not bear to use plastic, and it is a hard decision because you’re basically going to pay 10 times the price, but I just said that I don’t care. I feel like I’m doing the right thing and it’s worth it. We have bought the serving containers; we’re going to have two sizes. They’re made with corn-based resin, so if an animal eats it, they’ll be fine.”
When Benson is ready to present her passion project to the world, she’ll be able to get by with a little help from her friends — namely, her best friend, Nicole Cornett of Billie Gold Bubble Tea.
For Benson, this food truck is so much more than a means to a better life. It’s a way to show her fellow Daytonians that consuming a healthier, more nutrient-rich diet is completely attainable — and delicious.
“Obviously, everyone who owns a business wants to make money, but that’s not my number one goal,” said Benson. “I’m more passionate about giving people healthy options. I have so many friends or people that I know who always say, ‘Eating healthy is so expensive’ and ‘It doesn’t taste good’ or ‘It isn’t fun,’ and I want to prove that healthy eating can be fun and taste good.”
The Wild Banana food truck will be in front of the Yellow Cab Tavern each day through Sunday, July 19, from 4 p.m. to 9 p.m. Due to the nature of the smoothies, online ordering will not be possible. Guests looking to pay a visit to the food truck will also be able to enjoy a meal from other food trucks at the hub, trivia, live music, drawings for gift cards and free stickers.
WANT TO GO?
What: The premiere of The Wild Banana food truck
Where: Yellow Cab Food Hub at Yellow Cab Tavern, 700 E. Fourth St., Dayton
When: Wednesday, July 15 through Sunday, July 19 from 4 p.m. to 9 p.m.
More info: Facebook
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