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Usually we discover our subjects out on the road, but in the case of the Cinnamon Snail I was home in my yard when the story drove by, a box truck painted like a dream from my childhood, a crazy-eyed bearded man waved happily from behind the steering wheel...a darling faced little girl smiled from the passenger seat. This was no ice-cream truck peddling Push-Pops and Snowcones. Later on a walk around my neighborhood I saw the truck again, parked in a driveway.


It was the Cinnamon Snail, a vegan, organic, fair-trade food truck, an experience to behold, a curiosity I knew was ripe for investigating and sharing with the world.

The bigger surprise ended up being that the bearded man, chef Adam Sobel, the ring-master of this traveling foodie circus was thinking the same thing.

The Cinnamon Snail, the brainchild, fathered by Sobel first hit the road in February of 2010 and has been serving healthy, socially conscious gourmet meals and deserts around New Jersey ever since. Sobel, himself, is a character ripe for recounting. He is something of a mixed media artist, what used to be referred to as a Renaissance Man. Sobel creates sensory influencing music and soulfully satisfying gatherings of people. He performs in homemade videos that are unlike anything you've ever seen, or thought you needed to see. He teaches free yoga classes twice a week. Along with his wife, he educates his children at home and treats them to a world-centered curriculum that includes field-trips to locations all over the world, most recently Peru. And he cooks, bakes and prepares unique, beyond-delicious food that he brings to the streets.


"One of the most important things I do," he said, "is to turn people on to the possibilities of consuming food that is both good for them and good for the world. I always loved the idea of bringing inspiration to the people, to the street. So, this is a natural progression of both of those interests."


Since most of the work of the Snail is done by the Sobels and since there is only one Snail truck at present, their presence is mainly in two regular Jersey locations, Sinatra Street in Hoboken and in Sobel's hometown of Red Bank. To discover the Cinnamon Snail, check them out for their daily details on the web at: www.cinnamonsnail.com


We spent a day with Sobel in his early AM kitchen and then aboard the Snail. We enjoyed his Raunchy Monster Dance Party Burrito for breakfast in Hoboken and marveled at how the truck, the food and Sobel collect smiles through out the day. There's just something about over-the-top self expression and good food that makes people happy...a footnote worth noting.


Enjoy Driving Jersey: Cinnamon Snail, a curiosity no more...get it while it's fresh.


Music for Driving Jersey: Cinnamon Snail created by Ryan Bott.