Top Chef Alumni Newsletter

Ilan Hall First Dreamed of Owning a Food Truck

You could do this in a truck
You could do this in a truck Photo: Hadley Tomicki

Just when we thought we knew everything about how The Gorbals became The Gorbals, Ilan Hall reveals that he originally wanted to start a food truck. He tells Squid Ink today that he was “enamoured by taco trucks… my dream is to have a tiny 10-seat restaurant, where it’s just me cooking whatever I feel like. And I thought maybe I could do that on a truck.” Hall’s wild recipes might have been easily dismissed amongst the swelling ranks of gas-guzzling gourmands and we’d only know The Gorbals as “that strange Scottish truck” or something. Instead, Hall has found a natural fit for any outsider to L.A.—Downtown. “Los Angeles is sort of this wild west, spread out, it doesn’t make much sense. And that’s what I love about it.”

Q & A With Ilan Hall: The Gorbals’ Chef on the L.A. Dining Scene, Carpentry + The Joys of Haggis [Squid Ink]

Ilan Hall First Dreamed of Owning a Food Truck