With 3 acres and food truck fleet, Soulcial Kitchen brings a new way to dine to Swansea

Ideas and enthusiasm tumble out when either John E. Michel or David Stidham speak about food concepts that are about much more than feeding a crowd.

They are excited to bring the first food truck park to the metro-east, which will be located at 127 North Belt East in Swansea. It will be smaller, but comparable, to 9-Mile Garden in St. Louis.

The nearly 3 acres of land will be the site of a food truck fleet, a cloud commercial kitchen, a dog-friendly park, beer garden, and grounds for family gatherings/outdoor dining. They will start to roll out their innovative hospitality business model this summer.

“We need a true food truck dining experience on this side of the river, and we are thrilled to be able to create this,” said Stidman, the chief operating officer. He will lead the development, menu and operational execution.

They expect to draw from Belleville, Swansea, Fairview Heights, Shiloh and O’Fallon and other locations in St. Clair County.

Soulcial Park will not only feature their five food trucks, but they will invite others in the area to be a part of it. Additionally, they will build a covered pavilion, and it won’t be just dining — music, kids’ activities, fun and games will be part of the overall experience.

“It will be a virtual food mall. People will be able to spend family time, enjoy some music. People get to eat what they want — experience multi-brands,” Stidman said. “It will create flexibility. We have a lot of fun things planned.”

Michel, a retired U.S. Air Force brigadier general who lives in O’Fallon, is the brainchild of Soulcial Kitchen. A former fighter pilot, he is an award-winning author, motivational speaker and restaurant owner. Michel has teamed up with Stidham, the former owner of A Fine Swine restaurants in New Baden and Mt. Vernon, and a marketing executive with Culver’s — spent seven years as vice president of marketing. Stidman is originally from Nashville.

“It felt right and here we are,” Michel said. “We want to create a very unique experience.”

His wife, Holly, is a partner on the team. She designed the logo and created the entire business model with John. Together, they decided to bring Stidham on board. She is also working on a community art gallery.

The Soulcial Kitchen will include a business incubator and a charity-driven mission.

Their initial plans, announced in spring for Lebanon Avenue in Shiloh, changed when they purchased a shuttered brick-and-mortar restaurant in June — last known as Papa Mendi’s, and once upon a time was another location for Joe Boccardi’s Ristorante.

That will become headquarters but will not be open for indoor sit-down dining. The commercial cloud kitchen will be where catering is centered, and where to-go, takeout and delivery items are prepared.

Timing — no thanks to shipping delays and shortages with contractors, materials, supplies, workers — is fluid right now as they work to finalize their openings. John Michel said they would likely be fully launched by Labor Day, with some openings during the summer.

But one thing is for sure: their first mobile offering, A Fine Swine BBQ Food Truck and Catering, will be at the Family Sports Park for the third annual Fireworks Over O’Fallon on Saturday.

At some point, freshly prepared barbecue and side items will be available for takeout on the weekends. Their food truck will offer a limited menu during the week and a few picnic tables with umbrellas will be placed out front. They are currently taking catering orders and bulk meat drop of/pick up orders.

Learning from coronavirus

The partners plan to eventually open a small bar area inside so, while people are waiting for food orders, they can have a drink.

“Think of it as a ‘Soulcial’ Hour,” Michel said.

Their experience throughout the coronavirus pandemic has led them to build on what worked during a precarious period in the dining industry. Pickup and delivery helped hospitality businesses stay afloat during the coronavirus health crisis, but some couldn’t survive.

“We have lived and learned a lot through COVID. It’s been emotional, we had U-turns and pivots. Now, we’re in a good place,” Stidman said.

The Soulcial Kitchen is incorporating what was successful.

“It will be smaller, more intimate, we’ll have wonderful food choices. It eliminates a lot of the cost running a sit-down restaurant,” Michel said. “No one’s doing this in the metro-east — having food trucks in one place.”

Five Concepts for Food Truck Fleet

Barbecue, tacos, pizza, chicken and hamburgers — it’s what will be for lunch and dinner.

First is the relaunch of Stidman’s A Fine Swine. After a five-year run, his award-winning barbecue joint closed at both locations in November. However, Swine Rinds and Piggie Puppies will live on.

Now, the smoked meats will be prepared in the new commissary, including a house specialty — championship pulled pork, which won a Memphis in May international competition trophy in 2017.

The customized food truck includes a wood smoker and a fryer. Pit beans and loaded potato salad will be menu mainstays, as will his signature sandwiches, The Hogfather and The Beefeater. Pitmaster specials will rotate.

Another truck, El Guaqo Taco, will feature some of Stidman’s barbecue-forward menu items. He mentioned barbacoa tacos, and he has served crispy pork belly, smoked carnitas and smoked carne asados tacos at A Fine Swine.

Neo’s Wood-Fired Pizza will have a wood-burning pizza oven on site.

NashVegas Fried will bring chicken prepared several ways — country-fried, smoked then fried, Korean and Nashville Hot.

Minute Man Hamburgers will feature charcoal-grilled burgers and fries.

Hospitality Small Business Incubator

To nurture and grow new dining concepts, the pair want to capitalize on the mobile industry. They said these will be developed at a significantly reduced risk and lower sustainment costs, while offering restaurant entrepreneurs access to a commercial kitchen and food trucks.

“We want you to win. There is a saying, ‘A rising tide lifts all boats,’” Michel said. “We can be a big catalyst for small business growth. It’s not just cooking food. There are lots of ways to help.”

Michel is a partner in Minute Man Hamburger restaurants in Arkansas, which has veterans involved in the operation and has helped them become restaurant entrepreneurs, a premise he wants to build on for Soulcial Kitchen.

“We have successfully proven the value of this mission-driven flexible model with our veteran-operated Minute Man Restaurants and are applying those same lessons here,” he said.

“The restaurant industry has been undergoing a transformation in both expectation and presentation for years, and the pandemic only accelerated the growth of key trends such as delivery, pickup, mobile, and drive through,” Michel said.

Taking the ‘best pieces’ of what they learned

Michel noted delivery accounted for 60% of food orders last year — and food trucks are now a billion-dollar industry in America. By eliminating “the front of the house,” they will spend less.

“We are taking the best pieces of what we learned,” he said. “A mobile-powered cloud kitchen enables us to be innovative in food preparation, while dramatically reducing cost of operations.”

They intend to work with entrepreneurs to promote food truck business opportunities, hospitality skills development and customer service enhancement programs.

“It will be low tech but high passion. We want people willing to do the work,” Michel said.

They plan on partnering with the Southwestern Illinois College hospitality program and are in talks with administrators about it.

He is excited about bringing a converted DC-3 airplane on wheels called the Space Shuttle Café for people to experience in the fall.

Helping People in Need

Both devout Christians, Michel and Stidham knew they wanted to incorporate helping those less fortunate. Their philanthropy will include Currency of Caring, a dining meal-token program.

“Faith motivates us,” Stidman said. “We want to be in service to others.”

The prepaid coins may be purchased for $8 each at any Soulcial Kitchen food truck, cloud kitchen, or on the website.

This program will target reducing food insecurity. The Currency of Caring coins may be redeemed at all Soulcial Kitchen food trucks.

“It is a dignified, unique ‘Pay it Forward’ meal program designed to create a simplified means of providing a variety of hot meals to metro-east residents in need,” Michel said.

“Customers can actually buy a coin and if they see somebody who needs a break, they can hand it to them, and that person gets to go eat a meal — any of the meals at any of our trucks. Every transaction will be for making life better,” Stidman said.

“It is our belief true success in the hospitality industry is about maximizing every opportunity to serve those around us,” Michel said.

For more information about Soulcial Kitchen and partnership opportunities, visit soulcialkitchen.com or contact Michel at 719-338-1547 For more information about the food outlets, call Stidham at 618-322-4160 or visit afineswinebbq.com.

This story was originally published July 1, 2021 at 7:00 AM with the headline "With 3 acres and food truck fleet, Soulcial Kitchen brings a new way to dine to Swansea."