Back at Easter 2021, a bright yellow classic Citreon H set up shop on the picturesque seafront at Ogmore-By-Sea, its owners not quite sure what to expect.
But since that day, thanks to its fresh catch of the day dishes, restaurant-quality burgers and definitely not Bird's Eye fish finger sandwiches (we love them, too, mind), Jamie O'Leary and his team haven't looked back, with some days serving from 10am until late in the day.
Jamie, 39, and his trusted team have been together for years and it's a world away from their pre-pandemic kitchen routine, turning out lunch and dinner services at his Merthyr restaurant JOL's, which he opened back in 2015.
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And while 2021 was about finding their feet at the Vale of Glamorgan beach they've kicked off 2022 with exactly what they wanted to do from the start, bring restaurant-quality grub to the street food make-up of Wales - their new lobster Thermidor roll is the realisation of just that.
Alongside favourites like the JOL's burger and jalapeno poppers, the new roll is made from lobster from Ashton's fishmonger in Cardiff and enrobed in a parmesany-lemony Thermidor sauce and topped with the most delicious lemon and garlic pangratto aka breadcrumbs, but the best bread crumbs you'll ever taste.
With Jamie, and co-workers Nicola Lawrence and Santino Murphy, flexing their cheffing muscles in the street food van, which is an award-winner at the British Street Food Awards 2021 for best looking, their hard work has gone down well with locals and regulars to the beach, a popular walking and swim spot year-round, with queues stretching down to the rocks at the edge of the seafront on the busiest of days.
It's a world away from a hot kitchen in a restaurant, but they love it. Jamie, a lover of food from the get-go, did his training at The Hardwick, near Abergavenny after working on the railways previously, and that's where he met Nicola, who has worked for Michel Roux Jr in the two Michelin-starred restaurant, Le Gavroche in London.
While Santino recently rejoined the team after first working for Jamie up in Merthyr at JOL's which hasn't reopened since March 2020.
Jamie did a few street food events before opening JOL's, but he's in his element with the truck by the sea.
"It was completely by chance we chose Ogmore," he explains. "I was chatting to someone who said that there was there was a chance it was up the tender. So we got in touch with the Vale Council literally just before we closed I managed to get the form in quickly and then we started Easter last year."
After a while doing lockdown takeaways, Jamie saw the truck on Instagram and got in touch with the company that revamp classic vehicles and went down to look at it.
"I saw it and thought 'yeah, we'll do this,'" he laughed. "I joked about it with a few people that I was going to get this like big yellow food truck. And no one believed me until it was on the drive. I was in trouble for a bit."
The hospitality industry and those working as chefs have faced a stressful, head-spinning time over the past two years, and like many, Jamie revaluated spending all his time in a kitchen.
"I think since Covid, my perception of life in the industry has changed, and who wouldn't want to do this, you get to come down here and look at the sea."
Nicola interjects: "It's not that relaxing, normally!" She said working in the van has boosted her confidence.
"I hadn't worked in any sort of fine dining since having my children, so I enjoy being here, you can see out, you can talk to customers, have some banter, it's boosted my confidence in that respect."
And the public reaction has been positive, with regulars coming down from Aberdare to feast on JOL's dishes. But are there any visitors who expect a more...run of the mill burger van menu?
Jamie says yes, but he and the team are determined to go forward with their fine dining flavoured choices, which they know works and they want others to keep the ball rolling around Wales.
He adds: "I think people a lot of people just expect you to be like a normal burger van but you're not, you know, burgers, hotdogs.
"And it's horses for courses, there's a lot of people that only want that they come to us and it's not their cup of tea, but you know, you can't please everyone all the time you can even so as long as we're sticking to what we do and love.
"There should be more stuff like it's about you know because it works. We're busy enough doing it."
As well as mulling over getting another truck - that can cope with the undulating landscape of Wales a bit better - Jamie has plans for the summer to have paella nights on the Ogmore front as well as continue with their delicious fish and burger menu.
"The workload is still there with the van," he says. "We still have 7am starts and some days you don't come home until 11, half 11.
"But it's different, you're out on the beach, it's nice and sunny and you're having a laugh with people, so it's alright then."
You can find JOL's Food Truck at Ogmore-by-Sea car park, Wednesday - Sunday, from 10am
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