This is the latest in our summer series on food trucks in Central Massachusetts, showcasing the people behind the wheel and in the windows.
Track: Float
Owner: Julia Moriconi of Worcester
Most Delicious Float: It doesn’t get any cooler than the Watermelon Dragon Fruit Mocktail. Moriconi says it’s the most refreshing, hydrating and beautiful-looking float on the menu. You have no choice but to trust the chef.
Float roots: Giulia Moriconi’s bright orange, foam-printed food truck first became floating last year when she added a menu staple: the float, a scoop of ice cream dipped in root beer or coffee that floats.
Moriconi’s path to where he is today wasn’t as simple as one might imagine.
She began her career in the culinary field in the mid-2010s, attending the French Culinary Institute in New York City and the food science program at Pennsylvania State University, where she planned to approach the food industry from an academic perspective.
This came after she had worked as a firefighter and paramedic in her hometown of Chicago for more than 20 years.
Through his culinary education, Moriconi learned how to make ice cream from “cow to cone,” and his in-depth knowledge of dairy products taught him the ins and outs of the art of ice cream making.
That way she can make “really good ice cream.”
A memorable day for her was July 8, 2020, when she sold ice cream at the Shrewsbury Farmers Market for the very first time.
Her final sale of the day was when she scooped all 100 pints of ice cream she had brought in 90 minutes, which prompted her to refocus.
“I thought, ‘I need a bigger machine,’” Moriconi said. “I was able to raise the funds to buy my first vehicle to make home deliveries during the holiday season, then I raised the funds to buy my first transport van, then a second van.
“I use the most expensive dairy on the market because it’s so delicious. It’s my own unique blend that’s so smooth and has a wide range of flavours.”
Her ice cream production takes place exclusively at a location on Brussels Street in Worcester that she says meets FDA standards.
Meanwhile, the two vans that the company bought to deliver and transport its ice cream and sorbet makers to festivals and food markets suddenly became good options for using as food trucks.
“You can work in it standing up, and you’re not going to have the sun beating down on you or the rain pouring down on you,” Moriconi said. “We’re trying to figure out what works.”
Moriconi offers eight basic flavours of ice cream and three flavours of sorbet, but adds more flavours seasonally and can also be combined into floats, mocktails and Italian sodas.
“I have a passion for freshness,” says Moriconi, 56. “I take pride in my taste profile.”
“I wake up from my dream and I think, ‘I’m going to put chocolate in my blueberry mojito!'”
Where the taste buds drift: Moriconi attends most food truck festivals in the county, but he also hosts events with his food truck and ice cream cart.
