Get your dose of Creole at the new food truck in Minturn

Mountain Belles Food Truck brings flavors of the South to the Vail Valley. Currently located in Minturn, Mountain Belles Food Truck is the creation of longtime locals Lindsey Eckman and Abbey Wickham.

Everything on the menu is made from scratch. Look for classics like the shrimp or andouille sausage po’ boy, jambalaya, shrimp étouffée, beignets and Wickham’s favorite, the Nashville hot chicken tenders served with pickles and potato bread.

“I love the Nashville Hot Chicken Tenders and here they don’t make them the way they should be made. Every time I came back to Colorado after a staycation, I would crave them. And that’s my favorite thing on the menu,” Wickham said. “But honestly, the jambalaya is phenomenal and Lindsey’s coleslaw! You have to try their coleslaw!”

“I don’t use sugar in my coleslaw. I’m not a huge fan of sugar and some people will probably say it’s a very refreshing coleslaw. And it’s really unlike any coleslaw you’re probably ever going to try,” Eckman said.

Wickham says Southern cooking is in her blood.

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“I’m from Virginia, but I spent a lot of time in the Carolinas and Alabama and learned a lot from my grandmother,” Wickham said. “I didn’t go to culinary school, I guess you could say I went to ‘grandmother’s school.'”

Eckman, originally from Chicago, said she has been cooking since she was five years old and cooks for her family.

“I would fall asleep watching the Food Network and I took as many home economics and cooking classes as I could in high school. Then in college I learned about different aspects of the restaurant business. So the front of house, the back of house, the sales, and I think that’s really important to know before you start your own business,” Eckman said.

The duo didn’t have much time to build Mountain Belles. The opportunity to buy the food truck arose on June 11th.

“All the background work involved in starting a business, like licensing and working with the health department, is insane. We’ve been working 12-plus hours a day for weeks, so that’s a lot,” Eckman said.

The first day Mountain Belles opened to the public was July 4th at the Independence Day celebration in Beaver Creek.

“That night, I was just closing up and I just saw the fireworks in the sky and looked at the food truck and thought, ‘This is our first day here, and it’s been going so smoothly for us,'” Wickham said.

“We work really well together. It’s amazing how much we can communicate without saying a word. It’s just the two of us and it’s a lot of work and the food we make is not what you would expect from a regular food truck. It’s high quality, freshly prepared ingredients,” Eckman said.

The food truck is usually located on Main Street in Minturn at Agora, a community gathering place for eating, drinking and socializing. This is also where you’ll find Agora Wood Fired Pizza and Wild Mountain Cellars.

“The Agora is our home base, but we hope to be involved in many festivals and events throughout the year,” Eckman said.

“We love what we do and we just love providing food that people really enjoy and that’s why they keep coming back.”