KINGSTON — Specializing in fermented foods packed with probiotics, a new Kingston food truck not only cares about the live cultures in their dishes – they care for the culture and well-being of their local community.
Iggy’s Alive & Cultured opened the casual dining spot, “Cultured,” just outside downtown last year, concocting constantly rotating dishes that all incorporate the fermentation business’ products. Ranging from falafel gyro to chocolate sauerkraut cake, Cultured’s reliance on locally sourced ingredients may cause them to frequently adjust their menu, but their commitment to serving nourishing dishes that never skip on freshness or flavor remains constant.
“You don’t have to make a choice between ‘good for you’ and ‘delicious,’” said General Manager Paul McClellan.
Originally founded on Bainbridge Island, Iggy’s has been producing kombucha, hot sauces, pickled vegetables and other fermented beverages and food since 2012. Dashka Blyzniukova, a chef who has been with Iggy’s for 10 years, said the idea to open a food truck came along as a way to expose the community to fermented food, since they aren’t customary to eat for most Americans.
“Especially with pickles and ferments in this culture, it’s not a usual item for them to consume, so people are not that familiar with these types of food,” Blyzniukova said. “We discovered that the best way to show it to people is to introduce it in the form of food.”
Deriving from the original business’ name, McClellan said they settled on calling the food truck “Cultured” as not only a nod to the fermented food highlighted throughout the dishes, but also connecting it to the overall concept of cultures formed around food.
“For us, that word culture was a way to stretch right from the very first moment humans are interacting with the world and start making food, to all of the habits, customs and hospitality around it,” McClellan said.
Blyzniukova now collaborates on the menu with the former owners of Mossback, a farm to table restaurant that featured Iggy’s ferments before it closed in 2021. Mossback’s involvement is visible in many of the dishes, like Cultured’s kimchi waffle fries, which were inspired by the restaurant’s popular take on kimchi pancakes.
Many dishes also stem from eastern European cuisine, due to Blyzniukova’s Ukrainian heritage, such as pyrizhky, a hand pie regularly on the menu with rotating fillings. Blyzniukova said the food truck’s menu also typically includes a salad, grain bowl and soup, with their contents varying by the season, as well as exclusive kombucha flavors on tap and their ferments available for purchase. With summer approaching, customers can expect to see several dishes with berries, kombucha popsicles and cold soups.
“Some people will come for the items they already love, like falafel every week,” Blyzniukova said. “People would come and say, “we were thinking we would get tired of this, but actually, we crave it every week. Then there are people who come and they’re looking for the special because they now realize that anything they try they love.”
By abandoning traditions of fine dining such as a fancy setting and table service, McClellan said the staff can focus on the quality and presentation of the food and cultivating a welcoming environment. Although easy to take on the go, Cultured does have a covered seating area complete with music, string lights and heaters behind the truck where customers can tuck in for a meal.
Cultured also does not accept tips, instead asking customers to show their support by continuing to come back, telling people about the food and tagging them in posts on social media. McClellan said the elimination of tips has even led to some customers returning with poems praising their dishes.
“It’s that culture of the people here,” McClellan said. “How we handle the ingredients and grow things is such a deep skill and requires such deep attention to it. The culture of Cultured is respecting that ingredient it’s respecting ourselves and it’s respecting the person who’s going to eat it.”
Cultured can be found in an orange food truck at 10920 NE State Highway 104, open Wednesday through Saturday from noon to 7 p.m. Kitsap residents can check them out online through their website, or on social media at @iggysaliveandcultured on Instagram and on Facebook.
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