Today we’d like to introduce you to Malou Rasmussen.
Hi Malou , thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
WE are a husband and wife duo. Malou from Denmark and Bryce from Denver
Our story begins when we met in Thailand, 2019. Both of us were traveling through Asia, and we had stumbled upon each other at a hostel. In Phuket, Thailand. Once we met we instantly had a connection. We spent the whole night talking and laughing. The night turned into day and Malou was leaving to Hong Kong. We both kept traveling through Asia, staying connected, sharing stories. Every day, we would talk building a stronger connection, and soon we started to talk about future plans. If we wanted to start a life together, we would have to act on it and not wait around. So we pulled the trigger Malou came to America, and we got married
9 months later in Atlanta Georgia.
Both of us came from a wine and spirits background. Malou a level 2 Sommelier, who studied and sold wine and I worked in high-end cocktail bars for 10 years. So our big dream was to own a Bar. Since we barely had any money, it was decided to build a mobile cocktail bar. Well start small then work our way up. Our vision was to cater wedding, festivals and events.
We ended up finding an old, rusted up 1957 Canned Ham Camper in Tennessee and purchased it for $700. As we started to working, we realized this was more than a remodel. We literally had to take the whole thing apart and re stud everything, building it from the ground up. Many days were spent on YouTube trying to be carpenters or chasing down Home Depot employees asking them“ how do I put this together.”
Months went by, finally we were getting near completion. Our dream was coming alive. So we thought. This was March 2020. Both of us had gotten laid off from our jobs in restaurants and bars because of covid. All of our plans to do events with our new Vintage Mobile Cocktail Bar had come to halt because of Covid. As we watched everything shutdown around us and the world change right before our eyes, we decided to make a new plan. We didn’t want to stay in Georgia anymore so we bought and van and converted into a tiny home.
Our new vision was to take our mobile cocktail bar and go rouge, just driving around America picking up odd ball gigs. We left for Florida Sept 2020. As we were traveling around we noticed many bars shut down. In Florida at the time, If you weren’t an “essential Business” you were not allowed to be open. l if they didnt serve food.
So we had this idea to just pull up at different bars and ask if we can sell sandwiches out front, and they could be open because they were serving food. Our idea was to make fresh delicious sandwiches. Any town we visited, it was always easy to find local breads meats and cheeses. That when our Vintage Cocktail Bar became a Food Truck, and we went from Bartenders to Chefs.
Its February 2021, we had been traveling for 6 months doing gigs all around Florida,
Louisiana, Oklahoma and Texas. So far life had been a blast meeting new people, camping in nature every day and the best part. Making our own money. It was never a lot but enough to keep us going. We picked up an event in San Antonio and all of a sudden a massive Snowstorm hit Texas. Snowmagedon 2021. Everything around us shut down for days. No gas stations, No HEB, no nothing. So we got stranded in a bowling alley parking lot for 5 days.
At this point we were ready to find a home base. Money was becoming tight and patience was wearing thin. So we did some research and saw that Austin has a booming food truck scene.
Once the storm cleared and the ice melted around us we drove to Austin not knowing that this would be one of our best decisions we’d ever make.
March 2021 we got permitted to be food truck in Austin. The next couple of days we got on our bikes split up and went business to business asking if anyone had a need for food truck.
It didn’t take long, but we had a spot on South Congress and Live Oak. We did our Grand opening and no one showed up.
We stayed there for 9 months building a whole food truck park. (It’s still there with about 10 food trucks and it’s called The LAWN) while living in our van. In the beginning it was difficult, we would spend 10 hours at the food truck every day and barely make enough to stay open. Each day provide something new and challenging, lesson were learned and ideas were created. We began to make connection with local suppliers and our brand was getting some hype.
That’s when we found our new spot/permanent right next to lady bird lake on Riverside.
We moved our Food truck November 2021, and moved into an apartment at the same time. We had been living in the Van for 16 months. It was never easy our life together was still so new but we had made a lifetime of memories.
Now, we are at the point were our business has grown tremendously. We built and upgrade 2 new food truck to prevent us from selling out. We have staffing (the greatest people) for one food truck, while other one does catering.
The best part has been making friends every day and getting to meet real people. We remember being so afraid the day we opened our business on South Congress because we felt so vulnerable. We didn’t know anyone here and didn’t know anything about the city. It was truly Malou and I verse the world. I was so scared that anything could happen to us, and we didn’t have anyone to help us.
Too our surprise, Austins community and support has been the greatest gifts. This city is the best when it comes to supporting small local business, and the local business are amazing to work with. We don’t think we could have done this in any other city, and we are forever grateful.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
*Starting a business in a new city knowing nobody.
*Working and living in a van spending 24/7 together as a newlywed couple..
*Multiple break-ins in our business with no resolution.
*Finding the right ethical local business to work with.
*Finding the right staff.
*In the beginning, we would sell out so fast, once the word got out. We would prep all night and wake up earlier and still sell out within 2- 3 hours. That’s why we had to upgrade to a bigger food truck.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
Malou (wife)
Level 2 sommelier, worked with the no 1. Spirit and wine importer in Denmark.
Sold wine to Michelin restaurants in Copenhagen.
Divemaster In Thailand (diving tour guide)
Favorites: Traveling, Mountain biking, Snowboarding, Rock Climbing.
Bryce (husband)
Bar Manager at James Beard Award Winning Restaurant
Competed in professional bartending competitions.
Over 12 years of experience working in restaurants.
Favorites: Anything that has to do with Mountains!!
What are your plans for the future?
At this point we are getting buiser every week. We are constantly looking at other ways to grow, like a brick and mortar, or our own food truck lot. We still have a dream of owning a Bar. Now a fun thought is Own a bar and have Foodtrucks surround it , a classic “Austin Idea”.
Also in about a month from now we will have our coffee truck ready togo.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://brunchbrunchbabyatx.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/brunchbrunchbabyatx/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/brunchbrunchbabyatx/
