The owners are hoping to open on April 15.
Credit: Natalie Jones
Credit: Natalie Jones
Syrita Nuttall and her partner, James Highsmith, have been serving food on base for the last three years. They started by serving egg rolls out of the back of their truck using an electric fryer. A year later, they got their big green bus.
“It’s very surreal,” Nuttall said.
Nuttall and Highsmith are Chicago natives who moved to Fairborn in 2017 after Nuttall graduated from Le Cordon Bleu College of Culinary Arts.
“I’m most proud of her, honestly,” Highsmith said. “She went from a mother of four, working overnight at a hotel, going to culinary school in the morning and acing it, and graduating and starting her own business.”
Credit: Natalie Jones
Credit: Natalie Jones
She initially began making cheesecakes but once she made egg rolls for a friend’s Christmas party, her business took off.
Customer favorites include:
- Philly Cheesesteak Egg Roll (beef, peppers, onions and provolone cheese)
- Jerk Chicken Egg Roll (shredded chicken and mango slaw)
- Strawberry Cheesecake Egg Roll (cream cheese filling and crushed graham crackers topped with strawberry sauce, whipped topping, fresh strawberries and crushed cookie topping)
Credit: Natalie Jones
Credit: Natalie Jones
Other items on the menu include loaded fries, bowls and lemonade. Because the couple will have more space on base, they plan to offer weekly specials such as:
- Manic Monday ($1 coffee with the purchase of a Cinnamon Roll Breakfast Sandwich)
- Taco Tuesday (Loaded Chicken Taco Egg Rolls with fries and a drink for $10 or three Jerk Chicken Tacos for $12)
- Wednesday Hump Day (half off Bang Bang Broccoli Bowls)
- Thirsty Thursday ($3 Lemonades)
- Fish Friday (fried whiting served with coleslaw, fries and a roll for $12)
Home Cooked Vibes will be open 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday. Their brunch menu includes:
- Granny’s Special (two egg rolls stuffed with crumble sausage, scrambled eggs and cheese covered in sausage gravy and served with tator tots)
- Breakfast Totchos (tator tots covered in cheese, crumbled sausage or bacon, scrambled eggs, pico and guacamole)
- Cinnamon Roll Breakfast Sandwich (sausage, bacon or ham, egg and cheese in between a cinnamon roll and served with tator tots)
“We love what we do,” Nuttall said. “It’s not a job for me. It’s a hobby and you can taste it in the food.”
All fillings are prepared ahead of time, but each egg roll is rolled to order. They typically take between two and three minutes to be fried.
“When we first started the business I was doing it under a tent, so I wanted people to see the experience of me rolling the egg rolls and knowing that everything is fresh,” Nuttall said. It’s made from scratch. It’s not frozen from a restaurant. I come up with the recipes. I do all the cooking and everything myself, so I wanted to keep that same experience on the bus."
Depending on where the bus is at, they sell between 50 and 70 egg rolls within two hours.
The couple does have plans to continue using the bus once the brick-and-mortar location is up and running.
“That’s what it’s all about — giving people good food, different options in life and then to see them actually enjoy (the egg rolls)," Highsmith said.
MORE DETAILS
Home Cooked Vibes is looking for a cashier 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. Monday through Friday. Those interested, should email homecookedvibes@gmail.com.
For more information or to see where the food bus will be next, visit www.home-cookedvibes.com or the business’s Facebook or Instagram pages.
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