Du Jour: Girl on the run

Sarah Hammett is a trained chef and a mother of two and a baby on the way, but she’s perhaps best-known these days for piloting a massive truck gilded with images of palm trees and bananas. “It definitely earns me some stares,” says Hammett, operator of the Cuban Connection, which joined the burgeoning mobile eatery scene on Sept. 11. It’s owned by Alex Dalmau, a Baton Rougean of Cuban descent who grew up eating the distinct cuisine at home. “We did Cuban because [Alex] thought a food truck would be a great way to see if it would work well in the community,” says Hammett. “With it being a truck, we do a lot of Cuban pressed sandwiches.” The “Andy Garcia” melds ham, Swiss cheese, roast pork, mustard and pickles and is a hit among Cuban Americans searching for the familiar, says Hammett. And locals in general favor the Cuban Connection for its terrain of pulled pork, ham, cheese, fresh cilantro, sweet caramelized onions and spiked aioli. Read more about Cuban Connection’s menu and Hammet’s hand in it in this week’s Du Jour.