Auburn Magazine Issue #3

FROM BRICK AND MORTAR
TO MOBILE FOOD BLISS
hen you are in the restaurant industry,
you think that you have tried it all. My
wife and I ran a high-end restaurant
in the cliffs of Monterey Bay. During
our time in the industry, we had the pleasure of eating
at some fabulous restaurants. That said, this little food
trailer at a brewery in Auburn gave me one of the best
things I have eaten in a long time.
The Lamb and The Wolf travels all over the foothills
with his Greek and Italian cuisine. Owner Michael
Athanasopoulos(Michael Wolf) traded the stresses of
owning a restaurant to doing everything on his own.
“I have complete control over everything. I make a
mistake that’s on me. I have to fix it.” says Mike.
Good friends of mine Anna and Dave Gibson and
business owners, The Hearing Aid Center in Auburn,
prompted me to do a story on food trucks. I thought
I would approach this as a catch all one story on all
food trucks in Auburn. I was so surprised at the quality
of food that I am doing a longer series having a food
truck of the month feature in every issue.
So back to the food. Yes, it is incredible. Everywhere I
look this food truck enjoys a five-star rating; Google,
Yelp, and Facebook. Not just one or two reviews his
Facebook page has 86 and an average rating of fivestars.
He has the traditional Greek foods as well as a
surprise.
I was so obsessed with this I made it my cover for this
month. The Pizza Cone. I also went back the next
day and had another, and as I write this, I need to
find where he is going to be next. The combination
of perfectly cooked crispy crust, melted pile of cheese
and pepperoni, then the smooth tang of that sauce.
It is so good that you have to try it there is no way
to describe just how delicious this is. Of course, I ask
how do you do it?
“I had a machine specially made for me in Greece, as
far as I know, I have the only one.” Says Mike
It took Mike six months how to
figure out how to use the special
oven and to perfect the recipe.
You may be thinking, but he
doesn’t know how to cook pizza,
he cooks Greek food. Mike has
been honored to be on the United
States Pizza Team for seven years.
He has only been in the states for
seven years. In 2015 he won first
for this pizza cone, so I am happy
to so it’s not just me.
Why the Lamb and the Wolf?
“Well, that’s simple. Wolf for my last
name. Lamb because every where I
went I was asked do you have a
lamb Gyro? I started making one,
and there you go.” says Mike.
WRITTEN BY JEREMY BURKE
PIZZA CONES - award-winning hand crafted portable pizza cones stuffed with fresh ingredients and Galbani
Mozzarella Cheese. (Greek, Harriet, Gyro, and Pepperoni.) So good I had to show you twice. Photo by Jeremy Burke.