Food truck nonprofit helps veterans get their culinary chops

Just call him Fusilli Dan. Dan Lee, 30, Army veteran, has recently launched his new Farina Pasta Bar food truck with the support of a nonprofit “food truck incubator” for veterans and active military spouses.
The Sayreville native joined up after high school, serving through 2015.

“You meet a lot of different people,” said Lee. “It’s really diverse — you have to learn to work with all of them in different situations.”

Lee worked in the bomb squad in a 60-person unit in Georgia.

“Sometimes people would find things in grandad’s war chest, like old grenades from World War II, sometimes something would just show up in the Savannah Port or we’d respond to something at the airport.” he said.

The Mount Airy, Penn., resident enjoyed cooking whenever he could, influenced by his mother, a former food scientist. He gleaned her skills, like whipping up pasta sauce from scratch.

So, after the Army, Lee pursued a degree in culinary arts at Drexel University in Philadelphia, paid for by his military service. Then, while studying abroad in Rome, a lightbulb went off.

“I realized there’s no fast-casual pasta [in the US] that’s made in-house,” said Lee. “That’s what I wanted to bring — this casual dining experience where you get fresh pasta, great sauce and it’s not going to cost you $30 a plate.”

Lee began working at restaurants, in a pizzeria and brewery, and drove for DoorDash and Uber. His research chef internship at Campbell’s made him realize that working for other people was not ideal, so he bought and operated a food truck.

However, this fell flat when Lee and a business partner got scammed out of $70,000, which he had saved during his military service. But, when life handed him lemons, Lee made limoncello.

He discovered “ghost kitchens,” essentially apartments for restaurateurs who only sell online. “It’s a great redemption story,” said Lee who dug into his militia chops for resilience. “You just keep pushing forward.”
The 200-square-foot kitchen that opened in October 2020 was a hit. “Customer satisfaction was there. They liked the food, the concept. That’s what kept moving us forward.”

This expanded into a restaurant, Farina Pasta and Noodle, in Rittenhouse Square, Philadelphia, in 2021, followed by a full-circle moment after receiving a LinkedIn message from Jordan Foley, 35, founder and CEO of the nonprofit Let’s Chow.

They offer a free “food truck MBA” for military veterans and active military spouses. Foley himself is currently on active duty as a lieutenant commander in the Navy and national security attorney at the Pentagon, running Let’s Chow as a part-time, unpaid CEO.

Foley informed Lee about an available food truck in Atlantic City. Though Lee is more advanced than other fellows just starting, Foley said the program is self-paced and “completely hands-on. If you have the drive, if you have the ability and you care about it, we’re going to get you to where you need to go.”

Foley’s goal for Let’s Chow is to be “hyper-focused on one industry to take a veteran from zero knowledge to business. Food trucks became the perfect business incubator.”

Since launching in January 2020 and getting funding from grants and donations, Let’s Chow has helped 57 people in over 20 businesses and launched five food trucks.

Foley, who earned a culinary degree, closely administers the online applications and the program. Fellows receive $1,500 stipends for each of the four phases of learning, mixed between online and in-person, typically taking 400 hours to complete. When fellows start making a profit at their truck, they stop earning stipends.

The nonprofit taps into marketing agencies, pro bono attorneys, accountants, food photographers and other resources to help fellows with logos, accounting, licensing, food law and more.

Then, “they’re in charge of sourcing and buying ingredients, marketing,” said Foley.

He now wants to add more trucks and create Chow Hall, a full-service incubator with a cohort of veterans, kitchen space, dine-in, storage, trucks, food pantry and office space.

“We cover [truck] insurance, maintenance, regulatory fees. They pay us rent, but it covers the insurance, so it’s a way for us to own it and have a little skin in the game. We’re not a program forever, we’re meant to be moved on to,” said Foley.

After talking with Foley, Lee thought it was “a no-brainer” and his Farina Pasta Bar revved up its engine last month. Menu items include vodka sauce with gnocchi, pistachio pesto with spaghetti alla chitarra, gelato and sorbet.

Lee’s leasing the truck for three years, with a vision for servicing pop-up events, weddings and corporate events in New Jersey, Philly and beyond. He shares its whereabouts on Instagram — the next event will be in Millville at the TD Bank music and food truck festival at New Jersey Motorsports Park on June 8.
Lee credits his Army days as the secret sauce to his success.

“I don’t think I would have been able to do what I do now had I not been in the military because of the sheer amount of work that it takes. You work at it every day,” said Lee, who’s up at the crack of dawn, manages five employees and works until 10 p.m. “You get home, you wake up and do it again the next day. You have to do that consistently. A lot of that discipline comes from the military.”

With this tenacious, mission-focused work ethic, Lee has sights on expanding nationally to compete with brands like Chipotle and Cava, adding more trucks and having a presence on military bases.

Channeling his inner Frank Sinatra, Lee said, “If we can make it here in the Northeast, then we should be doing great everywhere else.”