60 PUNCHMAGAZINE.COM {food coloring} It’s hard to believe, but Georgette Nelson didn’t come from a foodie family. The former chef and Redwood City resident runs Kitchen Table Travel, and even if you haven’t been on one of her food tours in Italy, you might have spotted Georgette and her distinctive set of wheels. Her tiny Piaggio Ape truck, known as Large Marge, displays Georgette’s carefully selected array of unusual cheeses, charcuterie and other gourmet treats, at both private and public events. Georgette grew up in San Bruno with a father in the military and a mother who worked swing shifts as a nurse. Cooking was not a priority in their house. “If you have three kids and you’ve worked all day, you don’t want to deal with making dinner,” she says of her mom. Dad liked to cook but his repertoire consisted of “super unhealthy things” he’d learned in the Navy. “It was all very, very basic,” Georgette recalls. “I had never really tasted fresh food.” That changed when Georgette took a solo trip to Italy in her early 20s and experienced a culinary awakening. “I think I ordered a steak with peppercorns on it. It’s so silly and so simple, but my palate had never had anything like that,” she says. Georgette marveled at how even the humblest of fare is treated with respect. “I stayed at a hotel and they brought coffee—a pot of espresso and the other pot was half cream and half sweetened condensed milk, steamed together. Who knew there could be such joy in having coffee in the morning?” she laughs. FOOD TRUCK cheese whiz words by ANDREA GEMMET photography by PAULETTE PHLIPOT
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