Have it Carlitos way

Kathrine Alderman
ECB Publishing, Inc.

For those who haven't heard of the food truck that parks at S&M Mart, located at 1546 N. Jefferson Hwy., you might want to make your way down there. Carlitos Way Food Truck has been up and running here in Jefferson County since February of 2019. Run by Carlos Henry, the food truck is open Wednesday through Saturday from around 11:30 a.m. to roughly 4 p.m., or until he runs out of food.
Henry is a native of Monticello, though he moved to N.Y. and lived there for ten years. While he was there, he worked in HR at Sacks Fifth Avenue and went to Culinary school at, what was then the French Culinary Institute, but is now called The International Culinary Center. He graduated from the school in 2010 and, in 2014, was on the Spike Television TV show, Frankenfoods, for their N.J. Location. He made the "Porkypopper," something along the line of a poblano pepper stuffed with bacon mac and cheese, rolled up into an egg roll and fried.
While in N.Y. Henry saw many food trucks and vendors selling so many different types of foods and combinations of foods, and he loved them. He got the idea to start one of his own but knew he wouldn't be able to make it if he started up there. There was just too much competition. So, he returned to his roots and traveled back home to Jefferson County, which he had planned to do anyway, to use his knowledge to open a food truck here and serve the community he grew up in.
After he decided this was what he wanted to do, Henry started looking for a truck. It took him two years, but he finally found a truck that he and his best friend renovated to be what they needed. It took them nine months to get the vehicle into working order, and Henry got his cousin to design the logo. Once everything was done, the business was set to start!
Henry sells a variety of different foods. His menu changes daily, depending on what he wants to cook that day. When asked, he said he sells "soul food, finger foods, dinners...I don't have a specific category. I just cook what I feel."
Henry says this is what he wants to do. "Cooking is my thing now," Henry said. "I did HR at Sacks, and it was the business type world. But now, I have to cook. I don't feel myself working for anyone else at this point. I like making my own decisions." He can see himself maybe growing bigger one day, maybe have a brand, but right now, he's just a one-man show, running everything himself, and is content to work at his food truck and do what he loves while serving the community in Jefferson County.