By Olivia DeWan, contributor
Two years ago, John and Leigh Anne McMurray chased their passion for the culinary arts and opened Ott Street Eats, a food truck with an ever-changing menu.
After spending years as an executive chef in Tampa, McMurray was ready for a change. Returning to his hometown of Harrisonburg, he and Leigh Anne, decided to turn their passion for global flavors into a business. Named after the residential road in downtown Harrisonburg, Ott Street Eats started as a catering gig for a birthday party, and from there, it took off.
Ott Street Eats will be serving up food this Saturday as part of Brothers Craft Brewing’s Starkbierfest from 2-5 p.m., for which the McMurrays are developing a completely German-themed menu and throwing around the idea of pretzel rolls and pork schnitzels.
The flexibility of the food truck not only allows Ott Street Eats to adapt for themed festivals such as the German Fest, but also enhances their catering business.
“Most of our catering competition around here has very specific menus,” McMurray said. “But we have the ability to really customize it. We can come up with a variety of menu ideas that work in a client’s price range and bounce back and forth playing tennis until we come down to what they actually want, and then we’ll cook it for them.”
When the McMurrays first started the food truck, John McMurray said he never imagined it to grow as much as it did.
“I never dreamed we’d be catering weddings as a food truck,” McMurray said. “But we’ve done many and really enjoyed it so far.”
McMurray has been cooking for a living since 2002. As a result, McMurray said he places a lot of value in being creative with his dishes.
“We change the menu every week,” McMurray said. “You can be as creative as you want with it. A few weeks ago, we made beef wellington pinwheels. I wanted to make it fun and less expensive.”
When they first started Ott Street Eats, the McMurrays expected their main customers to be James Madison University students. While that wasn’t the case, Harrisonburg food lovers flocked to the food truck for its ever-changing menu.
“That’s just the nature of the food business,” McMurray said. “It has been the foodies of Harrisonburg that have promoted us and started inviting us to events, wineries and breweries.”
McMurray said he tries to give back to the community by purchasing as much locally sourced produce for his business as possible.
“I went to high school with the woman who owns Cross Keys Farms,” McMurray said. “We try to buy as much produce from them as possible.”
In addition to Cross Keys Farms, Ott Street Eats partners with GlenDor Farms for meats and the locally owned Muddy Feet for their branding.
“We can’t get everything locally because some of it just doesn’t exist,” McMurray said. “You can’t get Shenandoah Valley scallops. We also have our own garden in our backyard where we grow as much as we can.”
However, it isn’t just farms that have played a huge role in Ott Street Eats’ success. McMurray said that the Shenandoah Valley Quilters Guild, Off Broadway Players and Open Doors have been huge supporters of their business.
“It really started off with our neighbors and loved ones,” McMurray said. “One neighbor designed the wrap for the truck for us, another helped us rent the lot and the other neighbors were just bloody hungry and came down and ate quite a bit. We were very blessed with all of that.”
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