'Bustaurant' rolls into Los Angeles'Bustaurant' rolls into Los Angeles

Lisa Jennings

LOS ANGELES The mobile food vendor scene in Los Angeles got a new set of wheels this week with the debut of the city’s first “bus-taurant,” a double-decker bus serving high-end fare.

Unlike the growing number of food truck operators throughout the Los Angeles area, the bustaurant, called World Fare, offers guests a place to dine on the open-air roof of the vehicle, which has umbrellas for shade and marble bar tops.

World Fare is operated by Travis Schmidt, a South African who previously worked in restaurant and bar supply, and Jason Freeman, who has a background in marketing. The concept’s executive chef is Andi Van Willigan, former corporate executive sous chef for the San Francisco-based Michael Mina Group. Willigan also served as sous chef for celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay for two seasons of the television cooking show “Hell’s Kitchen.”

World Fare will feature a seasonally changing “blackboard menu,” with Willigan’s choice of dishes, such as a $12 steak frites plate, including an 8-ounce Piedmontese cut with French fries.

The bustaurant’s signature dish, however, is the “bunny chow,” a South African street food dish that is essentially a small, hollowed-out loaf of bread filled with curry. Willigan’s versions, however, will include other fillings, such as braised short ribs with horseradish creme fraiche; barbecued braised pork butt with sweet corn jalapeno relish; meatballs with marinara sauce; and vegetarian chili. The bunny chows are about the size of a slider and sell for $3 to $4 each.

Desserts are menu include a red-velvet-cupcake version of a bunny chow, as well as a brownie and butterscotch bread pudding. House-made drinks include strawberry-basil lemonade, or orange-lavender tea, which are vacuum-sealed in bags and designed to be poured into a cup over ice at service.

The bus offers stand-up dining only while the vehicle is parked. Like food truck operators, World Fare uses social media outlets, such as Twitter and Facebook, to let followers know where it is operating.

Schmidt said World Fare will do private events, including pop-up restaurants, preferably on private property with a view, where wine pairings might be possible.

Contact Lisa Jennings at [email protected].