Maru Global Crew Wins Honest Tom's Free Food Truck

This news will absolutely make your Thursday just a little bit better. The Maru Global crew of chef Ryo Igarashi and his wife Nicole have won the highly-coveted free food truck that Honest Tom's was handing out. And it couldn't have gone to a couple who needed it more.

In case you forgot, the popular Japanese street food restaurant had to shut down for a time as chef Igarashi required emergency surgery to remove a blood clot in his brain. While they were away, the business was forced to close for good, and they had been making ends barely meet by doing small events here and there. And then Honest Tom's decided to give away their truck.

Nicole immediately got together her pitch to Honest Tom McCusker, and ended up coming out on top of the stack which had more than 500 entries of long-winded stories and ideas for the new, free, mobile muncher.

"They just seemed to be the best fit for the truck," McCusker told Eater.

Igarashi chatted up Eater today, too, and said that they're still working on the concept, but fans of the old Maru will not be disappointed. "While we aren't sure if we will be able to fit the necessary equipment for the takoyaki grill in the truck, we will surely have a lot of our favorites moving forward. No definite date has been set for the launch, but it will be very soon."

Igarashi is planning on showing up in West Philly during the week, and are talks to be part of the rotation at Garden Variety. Igarashi said a full report will be coming soon, but they could be on the street as early as next week. As for right now, they're enjoying the surreal moment.

"This dude Tom doling out karma like some kind of Hindu diety," Igarashi told Eater. "Yesterday, I pinched myself like 30 times but there he was, with two arms, legs, and eyes. Just a dude ready to give me his hippy taco truck."

· All Maru Global Coverage [~EPHI~]
· All Honest Tom's Coverage [~EPHI~]