Kraz'd Foodnatik Food Truck Feeds Fairgoers Healthier Fare | Apple Valley

Entrepreneur Sophearvy Phe stands by her food truck KRAZ’D FOODNATIK with her daughter Arianna and they will serve a healthier, homemade menu at Dakota County Fair in Farmington this week.

Food truck owner Sophearvy Phe was inspired to pursue her dream of launching a food truck after her maternal grandmother Am Long passed away from kidney failure when Phe was only 18 years old.

She works as a school nurse during the school year. She pairs her love of caring for others with her love of sharing healthier, low carb foods at fairs and festivals.

Kraz'd Foodnatik food truck owner Sophearvy Phe (left) is shown with her children, Tyler Jacobson, Andru Phe, Anika Hilton and Arianna Pitt who all work together in the family food truck business.

Sophearvy Phe (front) is shown with her children and parents (far left) who immigrated to the United States from Thailand when she was baby.

Entrepreneur Sophearvy Phe stands by her food truck KRAZ’D FOODNATIK with her daughter Arianna and they will serve a healthier, homemade menu at Dakota County Fair in Farmington this week.

Food truck owner Sophearvy Phe was inspired to pursue her dream of launching a food truck after her maternal grandmother Am Long passed away from kidney failure when Phe was only 18 years old.

She works as a school nurse during the school year. She pairs her love of caring for others with her love of sharing healthier, low carb foods at fairs and festivals.

Kraz'd Foodnatik food truck owner Sophearvy Phe (left) is shown with her children, Tyler Jacobson, Andru Phe, Anika Hilton and Arianna Pitt who all work together in the family food truck business.

Sophearvy Phe (front) is shown with her children and parents (far left) who immigrated to the United States from Thailand when she was baby.

The Kraz’d Foodnatik food truck returns to Dakota County Fair to serve healthier food fare.

Sophearvy Phe was inspired to launch a food truck business after her maternal grandmother passed away when Phe was 18 years old.

“She is the reason why my menu is the way it is, and I knew I wanted to start my food truck business,” she said.

Twenty-three years ago, Phe lost her grandmother Am Long who passed away from kidney failure. “As a teenager, I didn’t know anything about health, diabetes and its effect on my life and the lives of many,” Phe said.

Born in Thailand, Phe, 40, immigrated with her parents Pean Phe and Vanny Chhay who wished to actively pursue and live out the American Dream in the United States. The family came to Minnesota and settled in St. Paul in 1982 when Phe was 6 months old.

“We came here for a better life and more opportunities,” Phe said. “As a child, I grew up in Minnesota and the best memories were always the Minnesota State Fair, and I looked forward to it every year as my parents brought us, and now as an adult I am bringing my own kids as it’s a family tradition.”

She built her food truck in the winter of 2021 installing insulation, walls and framing. Fun sentiments, like “Food so good, it’ll put you in a Koma,” are painted on the exterior of the big orange food truck.

Phe shares how operating a food truck can be exhausting and presents many challenges including long hours.

“For me, I love it and I love people, people watching and the fairs, and I love caring for people, too,” Phe said.

When formulating a fair menu, she experimented with recipes and flavors.

“I realized I can make good food look like bad food, and I wanted to offer good options with veggies,” she said.

The food truck menu serves deep-fried mushrooms, green beans, pickles, zucchini fries, and onion and jalapeño bites.

A signature dish is their homemade Cambodian egg rolls made with cabbage, carrots, onions, vermicelli glass noodles, and special seasoning accompanied and dipping sauce.

“We take care of our families to offer our mac and cheese bites that are very popular and our chicken tenders and fries with special secret seasoning, and we also have a pickled deli sandwich that is a lower carb option where instead of bread we use deli meat in between sliced pickles and lettuce with Sriracha mayo or spicy mayo,” she said.

Chasing this dream means working more than a 100 hours a week in the summer months, Phe said. She and her children have fun traveling around to summer county fairs and festivals.

“It is not work for me because I get the positive energy from my customers and I love the interaction with customers,” she said.

“My customers love this, and I try to put a positive spin on everything,” she said, admitting she is a die hard optimist.

She said her oldest sister is the “true chef.” Phe said her first job was working in a restaurant until she attended nursing school.

“I am a caretaker and I have been able to do both – nursing and the food truck. And then I switched from being a cardiology nurse to being a school nurse,” she said.

Growing up she attended Eagan High School.

During the school year she is a float school nurse who travels to six schools in District 196.

The Dakota County Fair offers a fun and safe venue for her children to work, hang out and explore all the adventures and rides. The Dakota County Fair in Farmington is open through Aug. 14.

The big orange food truck Kraz’d Foodnatik is parked across from Dakota County Sheriff’s office next to the carnival.

“I am committed to the food truck, and I am hoping to get into the Minnesota State Fair, and they only accept one more fried veggie stand, and I have been going to all the county fairs because we have fun and I am making a resume to get into the state fair,” she added.

This summer, she was proud to be a part of the Asian Markets within Lakeville’s Pan O’ Prog and this was a new event this year.

“We had Cambodian and Hmong dancing, Thai and Laotian dancing, and we tried to educate the community about how the Asian culture is with Asian-owned and Asian foods within food trucks,” Phe said.

Last year the Kraz’d Foodnatik served guests at the Rosemount Food Truck Festival and Farmington’s Dew Days. The food truck will feed families during the back-to-school event noon to 7 p.m. Monday, Aug. 29 at Valley Middle School of STEM in Apple Valley.

The food truck business is a family affair. As a single mother of four children, each of her children have found a way to contribute. Her son Tyler, 21, is an entrepreneur who works on the business’s web and logo design and aids with marketing. Her son Andru, 18, is a cook and cashier who makes lemonade and is the inventory runner. Her daughter Anika, 16, also works in the truck.

“She is my rock on the food truck and she works with me at every single event whether she is tired or not, and she has made so many friends working on the food truck and it is a great experience for her,” Phe said.

Her daughter Arianna, 13, works as a cashier and aids with stocking.

“My parents worked seven days a week with no holidays, and I got my work ethic from them, but now I work on how to best balance my time with my children and family, too,” Phe said.“I am hoping to build this family business with them and for them.”

Kraz’d Foodnatik is found on social media and can be booked for catering and private events at 612-428-8727.

Contact Kara Hildreth at kara.hildreth@apgecm.com.

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