Thirty-year-old Jake Lau, owner of Hao Bao, the mobile kitchen of Chinese soul food, says if there's one thing about food trucks, it's that there's a huge spectrum of unpredictability.
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"One day, you're selling over 1,000 dumplings -- the next day, your engine explodes."
He should know.
Lau's "putting the brakes on" Hao Bao to attend to family matters in his home state of Virginia following some unexpected news a few days ago. The announcement comes just after Lau got his food truck back from the mechanic's after an engine explosion two weeks ago.
Lau tells me he thinks he may be gone for at least a couple of months, although he can't be sure.
Currently, Lau's looking for a place to store his truck while he's away. He says when he returns, he'll do things differently.
"Right now, I make everything," he explains. "My forearms have never been more fit. I'd like to scale my staff so that we stop selling out of handmade dumplings so fast."
Lau goes on to say that he believes a lot of food trucking is simply "just being present," and that food trucks need to be as mobile as their following, which means a good social media presence.
Lau, an ex-corporate financier, rolled out Hao Bao in November of last year. The food truck featured Chinese eats like handmade dumplings and noodle soup.
To read Lau's message to his customers, go to Hao Bao's Facebook page.
