all words: Alex Nicholson
all photos: Dakota Fine
You’ve probably already seen them, heard them or at least heard of them. They are four mustached brothers from a magical land called Merlindia. A magical land which listens to Cut Copy, eats Indian food exclusively and likes to party. Sounds a little like Burning Man if you ask me. And in some ways the similarities are there. A whacked out art car pumping music, dudes in crazy costumes, hammered people all around.
In reality, the Fojol Brothers of Merlinida (www.fojol.com) are four guys from DC who had an idea to serve good food in D.C. Justin Vitarello was good enough to meet with me one rainy Friday evening in Dupont Circle and Dakota was able to catch up with the gang at a later date to shoot them in action. We wanted to capture the vibe when they are on the street, but also wanted to look beyond the costumes to the food.
The mission of the Fojol Brothers is clear. They want to bring people together over good food. And they do a good job of it - their van attracts people to it, the music keeps them around and encourages dancing into the wee hours and the food is good enough to make people want to come back.
The van itself was purchased off eBay from someone in New Jersey. It was totally refurbished on the outside and a modified DC flag is the first thing you see on the front of the truck. Like many things with the Fojol Brothers, it’s a unique take on something we’re already used to. The inside of the truck is impressively kitted out. Designed and put together by Justin, he used his love of mathematics and space to create a functional traveling kitchen.
The cooking they do is at a minimum though, they may replenish their rice supply throughout the night, but all the food is cooked offsite. When asked further I was told that a cook who wished to remain anonymous provides all their dishes. He’s known for his Indian food, owns several locations, and when interviewed by the Fojol Brothers seemed the best and most ethical choice. He uses no frozen foods and does not cook with ghee. When I pushed on his identity I was told to do my due diligence, which I’m still a little miffed about.
The food is pretty straight forward, but tasty. It’s all Indian-based, simple cooking. There are meat options and veggie options and multiple portion sizes. A dingo bite for $2, the option to pick two items for $6 or three options for $9. The day I visited they were serving chicken masala, chicken curry, spinach and cheese (sag paneer) and a pumpkin dish. I was lucky enough to sample all four, and was quite full from it. A serving of two items with some rice was more than enough food for a friend who joined me. And it’s good, surprisingly actually. I preferred the chicken masala and would really recommend it to anyone. The spinach and cheese was very good, a stronger option than the pumpkin.
So the food is good, the concept is good, but what else? Well, these guys are doing good too. The back of the truck has a bin for recyclables and a bin for compostable material. Plates, sporks and bags are all compostable. But maybe the most altruistic thing they are doing is using proceeds from food sales to benefit the community. The first Fojol Brothers beneficiary will be Courtney Stewart and his non-profit Mentoring Works 2 (http://www.mentoringworks2.org/home/) on Georgia Ave. With a commitment to young people in the District, expect to see other groups benefit from your night out eating Indian food on a sidewalk.
The Fojol Brothers can be found on the weekends by following them on Twitter @fojolbros (https://twitter.com/fojolbros
Previously in I Heart DC:
- 2/2: DC News You Can (Maybe) Use:
- 2/1: DC News You Can (Maybe) Use:
- 1/31: DC News You Can (Maybe) Use
- 1/30: DC News You Can (Maybe) Use
- 1/30: Capital City Diner: Up All Night
- 1/27: DC News You Can (Maybe) Use
- 1/26: DC News You Can (Maybe) Use
- 1/25: DC News You Can (Maybe) Use
- 1/24: DC News You Can (Maybe) Use
- 1/24: PHOTOS: Washington Ballet's Mad Hatter Dance Party
God loves a cheerful giver.
This is my drunk food fantasy.
i lika these guys
they are actually pretty great, i've tried them when they've parked at eastern market. masala and sag paneer were especially on point! i was waiting for awhile while they made rice and talked to one of the dudes, they were really chatty and friendly. dc needs more food trucks like this!!
wow, i just got hungry.
I'm going to get an old Wonderbread truck and put on blackface and sell soul food.
@Michael - you bring up an interesting point. These guys seem to be getting a lot of grief for what people see as a sterotype. But in speaking to them, their look is very much based on Barnum and Bailey, kind of early century traveling carnivals. Maybe I'm naive, but I see that more than I see any kind of malice. Would love other people's thoughts.
I think ultimatley what is going to work for these guys is the food, and they've done a good job with it. The costume and schtick will likely fall away after the initial novelty does.
I'm moving to DC with hopes to escape from this exact brand of hipster idiocy. dammit this is irritating. but possibly delicious. rrrrrrrr
p.s. blackface soul food wondertruck = haha yes.
In all actuality I don't really care. I think it's funny. But what's funnier is that if they DID wear blackface and sell soul food, instead of dressing like stereotypical "Indians" from the sub continent they'd be getting a lot more than just grief.
And, of course, dressing like a hillbilly and selling pulled pork wouldn't even get a second glance from the constantly offended.
Michael, I don't think there's anything wrong with a person being offended by someone wearing blackface and selling soul food out of a wonder bread truck. Historically in America blackface has a connotation of being extremely racist to African Americans.
Not trying to be hyper sensitive but I really don't see the correlation between that and a "hillbilly" selling pulled pork.
In my mind, it's probably easy for many east Indians to shrug off Pojol Bros' shtick because almost all the ones I know are accomplished and rather well off. Plus there's not much in the way of really negative stereotypes in tv or film -- which mostly seem to come from Mira Nair -- that americans have access to. serving soulfood in blackface is
a major "haha no" when you consider the volumes of negative portrayal of black folk and the fact that it's not as easy for them, even the accomplished ones, to shrug it off as easily. It's a stereotype that sticks and you only need to go as far as some of the comments to Jeff and Dakota's "15 minutes in NoVA" piece, with the references to lazy thugs who hand out on the corner to see that. It's about as funny as serving food wearing a starving Ethiopian costume (whatever that entails). Anyway, Michael's comparison's sounds a little like the knee jerkery I'd catch on Fox and Friends.
Shocking that Michael sounds like the village idiot once again. Maybe DNFTT.
I don't know if he qualifies as village idiot or troll tho ...
Troll masquerading as village idiot. Wearing the village idiot's skin like a shirt.
Point is either stereotypes are bad, regardless of who is being stereotyped, or they're ok, depending on who is being stereotyped.
Is stereotyping Indians ok because most of them are well off, despite stereotyping them, but stereotyping blacks isn't because most are not well off or because there's more "history" of them being stereotyped? Hell look at the British treatment of Indians when India was a colony - the N-word was rampant when applied to them:
http://books.google.com/books?id=2iOB4rmA2VUC&pg=PA312&lpg=PA312&dq=Indians+Niggers+India&source=bl&ots=AniOTMdhXs&sig=4kyh1lr8IzmCCGdXa8f5zmC_BWs&hl=en&ei=S2tbSqOBFoyS8wT158HVBQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=9
And of course no one sees the correlation between any of this and stereotyping a "hillbilly" but do you think that the hillbilly would appreciate someone well-off dressing themselves up as a stereotype from WVA as a schtick to sell their product?
A comment about "black people steal" is racist, a comment that someone from WVA screws their sister is humor.
What's the difference? It's both stereotyping, right?
Dave - so your point is that not all stereotyping is bad, it's only bad if those being stereotyped care enough to make a big enough deal about it so that it catches your eye and you can sympathize? As long as there's not a large enough uproar by whichever group is being marginalized then it's A-ok?
Hypocrite much?
P.S. Dave - I found a South Asian who says it is racist and stereotypical, now you, too, can say it is racist and stereotypical, unless you're going to dismiss his personal feelings as someone being stereotyped. Are you?
"The marketing gimmick is some play on a traveling "gypsy" cart, which is extremely offensive to me as a South Asian. I was absolutely shocked to see them dressed up in fake turbans (which have deep religious significance) and fake long mustaches. There is nothing "creative" about this venture - it is just an EMBARRASSMENT on multiple levels. Racism starts with ignorance of how to relate to other people's cultures. So it's quite appropriate for fojol's fake profiles to invoke "Go back to..." language and attack me for sticking up for my culture. But these clowns should get some black-face paint...just to make it feel more authentic."
http://www.yelp.com/biz/fojol-bros-of-merlindia-washington#hrid:MEgDfaMFbbCCymbh0Kkwbw
While y'all hate via internet, all the true ballers are countin' that $$$.
I really like Butter Chicken.
Patrick - agreed. Again, as I said, I could give a shit if you dress up in blackface, or as a Raja, or as a Hillbilly. Your perogative.
What smacks me is the hypocricy, however, that certain people have in that stereotyping one group of people is ok, but stereotying another group is not.
awesome, I was in adams morgan after MJ died and these guys rolled up blasting thriller out of the van---18th st dannncee partyy
my point wasn't about whether racial stereotypes are right or wrong -- they're all wrong, all the time -- but that some are more impactful than others. the first time I visited their truck there were 5 or 6 east Indian guys talking and having a laugh with the FB guys. Probably it's because the whole raja act is kinda old and toothless to them, and that it's never had any real negative effect on their day to day lives. But I'll bet that if those Indian dudes heard stuff like "Hey Swamy" all their lives, they'd have a different take on the Fojol truck.
Let's say there's a dumpster shaped food truck driving around DC and the servers wear sleeveless flannel and have teeth fake-missing and they serve 'dumpster dive cuisine". I have a couple of really good friends from, and currently living in, West Virginia from blue collar backgrounds who'd be as offened by that as much as the south asian man on Yelp was by Fojol, and their feelings would be just as valid. But in the world of Larry the Cable Guy, the redneck olympics (or whatever it's called) and Jeff Foxworthy, how outrageous would such a redneck food truck be?
The key to understating the difference between stereotypes and racism is to identify which groups have power, and, thereby, which groups are systematically oppressed by stereotypes.
Well put Mazzie. Without googling I wonder how Indian Americans' wealth-power quotient compare to that of African Americans'. Or even white americans?
Awesome food, terrible photography. Geez... keep blowing out channels and killing shadow detail....
Eric is droppin that knowledge. herculeez! herculeez!
fuckyeah Eric!! send me a link to your website puhleeeeeaze.
loser.
Mazzie that's a load of fucking shit.
Worst. Comment thread. Ever. Focus on the damn food. It's so tasty and delicious. Why aren't these dudes at Fort Reno? Those little high school kids would go ape-shit for this stuff. Please Fojol, come to the August 2nd Benjy Ferree show at Fort Reno. And can you bring some cake, too? Yum.
here's the rest of the summer schedule. please come.
Thursday, July 16th: Godisheus, Girl Loves Distortion, Laughing Man
Monday, July 20th: Meredith Bragg, Hey Arbore, TBA
Thursday, July 23rd - Night of a Thousand Cakes!: Soft Power, Benjy Ferree, TBA
Monday, July 27th: TBA, Stoney Lonesome, Pree
Thursday, July 30th: Title Tracks, Casper Bangs, Grendel Babies
also, please come to all Screen on the Green dates:
July 20: "Close Encounters of the Third Kind"
July 27: "Dog Day Afternoon"
Aug. 3: "On the Waterfront"
Aug. 10: "Rebel Without a Cause"
And Carter Barron Amphitheater on these dates:
August 28 (free) 7:30 pm
5th Annual DC Poetry in the Park
Special Guest Gil Scott Heron
September 5 (free) 12:00 pm
DC Blues Society 21st Annual DC Blues Festival
Oh, also at Crafty Bastards on October 3rd 2009!
Thanks guys, maybe you could just follow me around for a few weeks.
Hey Jeff, if we are supposed to focus on the food, then why the fuck are they dressed like that?
um, yeah. racist much?? what assholes.
the world bank protester crusty punks must be on vaca from BYTwatch this week. this is
red meatsteaming tofu to them folks.Jeff Says:
Worst. Comment thread. Ever. Focus on the damn food. It’s so tasty and delicious.
--
Says the white dude.
Chad with the win.
the issue that i have with this thread is that fitsum can post with line-through and italicized text and i can't. fucking bullshit.
I’d have to consult my meeting notes, but I’m pretty sure this thread is why we created the aptly-named shitshow
Jason - thought about just having posts and with the comment section linked to the shitshow? That will be a $5600 consulting fee thank you.
I wish I could figure out a way to hijack my own comment thread back.
I do love Jeff though. Glad I've been drinking. Has anyone been to the W yet?
I love Jason too, but for different reasons.
Been to the W- bunch of boners in sport coats
Boners in sport coats aside - it sure is nice there.
TBF jason, i long ago stated why i can't get down with the shitshow. it's a personal thing and kind of stupid. but also, i've mostly refrained from saying a lot of what's on my mind re this discussion specifically because this ain't the shitshow.
Jeff - your request has been heard. Expect to see some Fojol at Ft. Reno.
oh good. expect to see some guy walk up to them at ft reno and tell them how racist their retarded schtick is.
to all of you who are uptight about this, relax?
its mascaraed, circus, performance.
whatever.
welcome to pc dc.
I'm not sure what to make of these Fojol guys and I am of Indian origin. At first I laughed, then I wondered if the food is any good (sounds like it is). And now I'm kind of offended but I can't pinpoint why. It's little things like the names they use (Fojol.. Ababa Du.. Gewpee.. Kipoto... Merlindia.. wtf?). The circus schtick is kind of funny and the disco music and funky van are all in good fun. But why are they in this pseudo "desi" gypsy get-up which looks like it came from Rajasthan? A true carnival/circus theme would be fine but what they're doing is Orientalist and I think that's why it bugs me.
Well Kaushik, it turns out that you and I don't have to worry about why this is offensive, because we have people like Sexy Fitsum who can decide that it is NOT offensive, for us. SF is not South Asian but knows a few Desis who are well off and he/she has watched a Mira Nair movie-- so they know better than we do.
What a patronizing, ignorant load of bullshit some of you are spewing. It IS Orientalist, no matter what their intentions are. The food may be good but the turbans, 'staches and nonsensical names are all annoying and disrespectful. You want to talk about power structures? Why does some white kid get to wear a turban and a curly bit of fake facial hair as a big, funny joke, when my Sikh friends who sport BOTH for their religion are the victims of hate crimes for doing so? Chew on THAT.
Hey Anna, nice to see a Sepia Mutineer on here (I used to post a while back but now I'm an infrequent visitor). Is this SM-worthy, possibly?
Re: Fitsum's take on it, I'm not mad at him because he doesn't decide for me or anyone what's offensive or not, no matter how many desis he knows. (He's a damn good photographer so maybe I'm aesthetically blinded by his comments.) Regardless, you make a good point byf lipping the Fojol thing on its head and looking at it from the turbaned Sikh perspective. In any case, I doubt any of these Fojol dudes know how to get down to bhangra in true Punjabi ishtyle.