Popular Harvest Mobile bowing out of food truck game

After operating their food truck for eight years, the founders of Harvest Mobile Cuisine are putting the mobile unit up for sale as they plan to open a brickand-mortar restaurant.

“We’ve had a good run, and I’m very proud of what we’ve accomplished,” Patrick Sartin told this news outlet in a phone interview Sunday.

Sartin is a Beavercreek native and chef who graduated from the Culinary Institute of America in 2002. He launched the Harvest Mobile Cuisine food truck with his wife, Becky, in 2012, after returning to his hometown from a stint with a hotel and resort group in Maine, where he once prepared a meal (under the watchful eye of Secret Service agents) for then-President Obama and the first family.

Sartin recently re-aggravated a back injury, which contributed to the couple’s decision to step away from the cramped, physically demanding food-truck business. “It’s unfortunate, but it’s the right call,” Sartin said.

The couple still operate a busy catering business, and Sartin said he is actively looking for a location in the greater Dayton and Cincinnati region to open a brick-and-mortar restaurant.

“That has always been the goal,” Sartin said. “So far, we haven’t found the right fit.”

Harvest Mobile Cuisine was a favorite at local foodtruck events, focusing on local, farm-to-table ingredients, with a menu that changed seasonally.

In a post on the food truck’s Facebook page, the Sartins wrote that they enjoyed “the tremendous support of local food growers and producers in the area as well as the wholehearted support of our community of foodies alike. ... We thank you from the bottom of our hearts, and look forward to the next time we can share our flavors with you.”

The food-truck founder will work with the buyer of the food truck “to provide the next entrepreneur a turn-key business that is ready to run the minute they drive away,” Sartin said.

“Our goal is to set up the next person for success,” he said.

Those interested in possibly buying the food truck and equipment can contact Sartin via email at pat@harvestmobilecuisine.com.