It feels a little ironic to say that the pandemic has been an oddly good time for food truck businesses to establish brick-and-mortar counterparts, but think about it. So many festivals and large-scale events were canceled. Food trucks in the Lehigh Valley have never really had decent and consistent places to set up and park as easily as they can in other cities across the country for myriad reasons we won’t get into here. And therefore, historically, food trucks in these parts have become fixtures at breweries and festivals, because those places have food needs and can accommodate food trucks with a minimal amount of red tape.
Randevoo joins the ranks of The Flying V Poutinerie as a food truck that turned into a full-fledged restaurant during the pandemic. In the case of Randevoo, which you pronounce like rendezvous, owner Zach Umstead, 32, really landed in a primo spot: Downtown Bethlehem, complete with a giant picture window overlooking Main Street.
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Randevoo owner Zach Umstead
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Tempura-fried sushi roll with king salmon, lump crab, cream cheese and lemon aioli, sweet soy sauce and Old Bay
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Homemade steamed bun flight, including carnitas, house king salmon lox, BBQ pork belly, vegan fried chicken and shrimp tempura
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It’s also a little bit more ironic that Randevoo, which many may know because of its affiliation with Lost Tavern Brewing in Hellertown (or even Yergey’s or Funk in Emmaus), is now located inside Lost Tavern’s location adjacent to the Moravian Book Shop as of August 2020. Yes, you read that correctly: A food truck that has been parking at a brewery for the past couple of years has now parked its business inside a brewery.
In some ways, it hasn’t gone far at all, but in many others, it has. Brick-and-mortar set-ups permit so much more; many of the dishes you now see at Randevoo were not possible to execute with such beauty and depth when they were getting cranked out of a food truck. The best way to describe Randevoo isn’t Asian, or even Asian fusion. It’s like Asian fusion-fusion. When I shared the observation with Umstead, he totally got it. How many places keep sushi rolls, Korean fried chicken that’s hard to stop eating (do not miss the yum yum sauce it’s served with), the most delicious pull-apart, coffee-braised short ribs and barbecue shrimp skewers all on the same menu? But then also treat steamed buns as though they are equal-opportunity taco shells, except pillowy: think versions with smoked salmon with everything seasoning; carnitas with pork, sriracha, cilantro pan sauce and pickled jalapeños; and another with vegan fried chicken (made from soy) and a sweet chili glaze.
“A lot of our dishes punch you in the face,” says Umstead, with a laugh.
He means that in the best, most appetizing way possible. The presentation matches the flavors: dishes are colorful, assertive and robust. They are definitely sure of themselves. Umstead is a Lehigh Valley native (Northampton High School) who studied at Pennsylvania Culinary Institute in Pittsburgh and worked in Denver before starting his food truck business in October 2017. Like any chef worth his salt, Umstead stays curious and restless wherever he goes.
“I’d keep a notebook. If I stopped taking notes about things, it meant I’d stopped learning. And then I knew it was time to go,” he says.
With Randevoo, he may have found endless fodder for note-taking, if not about logistical aspects of running a business—as it’s his first brick-and-mortar spot—but also creative ones, too. Randevoo may also be home to the most beautiful sushi roll within any given radius: Umstead offers a tempura-fried sushi roll with the most divine king salmon from New Zealand, along with lump crab, cream cheese and lemon aioli, with a sweet soy sauce and dusted with Old Bay. It’s like a Philly roll meets lump crab cake, with what can only be described as the most supple, unctuous salmon you may have ever had in a sushi roll, all the way down to the last bite.
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Coffee-braised short ribs with coconut rice congee and sesame honey-roasted carrots
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Left: Sashimi Trio with big eye tuna, ora king salmon and kanpachi, with ponzu, herb oil and togarashi
Right: Korean fried chicken with Thai chili maple glaze, buttered house buns, yum yum sauce and sweet and spicy pickles
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Ginger pineapple upside-down cake...
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... that pairs perfectly with vanilla ice cream
Umstead aims high with his fish selections, with the goal of bringing what’s likely to be unfamiliar but very fresh fish and seafood to his restaurant. He shares that he’s starting to receive these surprise packages of omakase boxes with eight or nine pieces of random fish from the Toyosu Market, a wholesale outlet in Tokyo. “You don’t find out what it is until the day they ship it. Some things are so fresh, the guts are still in them,” he says. So far, he’s received threadfin bream, flying fish (yes, that’s a real thing), and put out a poke bowl with rice at the bottom “in screaming-hot cast iron so the rice gets toasted on the way to the table,” he says.
You may have passed their sandwich board sign situated on the sidewalk, advertising the likes of wontons with seasonal fillings such goat cheese and basil, smoked bacon and poblano cheese, or butternut squash with ricotta, maple sage brown butter and more. They’re also known for steamed pork dumplings with pork that’s ground in house and whose fillings aren’t exclusively Asian inspired. There are some aspects of Randevoo that prove a little challenging to explain, and that’s likely because these things—the food, mostly—exist in this sweet spot between recognition and inspiration, taking things to a slightly different destination than one might have expected. It’s probably better that I don’t. Instead, we can just hopefully agree that the food is delicious, it’s beautifully presented, and you can also enjoy a wide array of beers from Lost Tavern, right on site.
Randevoo
444 Main St., Bethlehem | 610.419.0086 | randevoorestaurant.com
*Please check their website and/or social media for current operating hours and procedures.
Hours
Tues.–Thurs.: 3–10 p.m.; Fri.: 3–11 p.m.; Sat.: noon–11 p.m.; Sun.: noon–8 p.m.
Parking
Street parking
Reservations
Recommended, per COVID-19 restrictions and general restaurant staffing issues and changes. You can dine indoors, outdoors or get your food to go.
What to Order
Any of the wontons or dumplings. Anything labeled “vegan chicken” will surprise. It is hard to make a bad choice here. It sounds like a cliché. Leave room for dessert. The pineapple upside-down cake, which Umstead’s father makes (he took up baking during retirement), is necessary. It is one of those situations in which the whole is definitely better than the sum of its parts, and its parts involve some kind of maple brown butter glaze that needs to be experienced to be believed.
Specials
“Randevoo With Friends” happy hour includes beer and food specials every Tuesday through Thursday from 3 to 6 p.m. Enjoy $1-off pints, $8 king salmon rolls, $2-off small plates and a rotating special-item menu every week.
