Local food truck relaunches as ‘Roll Call’ serving global-inspired handhelds

It was in 2014 after watching the movie, Chef, that Abbie Sterling and a friend dreamt up the idea for Gettin’ Fresh food truck, as well as catering services, buffet and family-style service and in-home dinners. While she’s now running the business solo, she’s been brainstorming ways to transform the business for quite some time. 

It was last fall during the shutdown, after receiving a loan from Grand Rapids Opportunities for Women (GROW) and grant money to help stay afloat, that she was able to take the time to think about how to transition the company.

“The company has been steadily growing, but the brand had some problems that I was aware of but didn't know how to face,” says Sterling. 

When out selling to the public, she says many associated the brand with healthy food and wouldn’t bother looking at the menu. While Gettin’ Fresh prides itself on sourcing high-quality, local ingredients as much as possible, it wasn't necessarily healthy food. 

In fact, the bacon burger was the top selling item on the menu. 

“I took the gift of time that had come about unexpectedly to think about what I wanted to serve to my customers, what I liked when I went out to eat, and what made me want to go back to certain restaurants over and over again,” Sterling says.

The answer to her problems came to her quickly — rebranding. 

“I like uncommon (to me) ingredients, bold flavors. I always search the menu for something different that I haven't made or tried to make at home,” says Sterling. 
“With Roll Call, I wanted to highlight different cuisines from around the world and offer them in a street food friendly way — that's where Roll comes from — everything is rolled and served as a handheld.” 

Courtesy Amanda Montgomery of Arrae Creative

On May 4, Roll Call will be hosting a launch party at the Fulton Street Market, showcasing its new concept and menu. Moving forward, Sterling says she plans on stationing the food truck at the Market on Wednesdays for dinner. 

“The new menu is all about showing appreciation to other cultures' food and trying to spread the word and get people to try something different, not just from our menu, but at other restaurants as well,” says Sterling. “We respect the cultures that have inspired us, and we shout out to them!”

The rebranding and launch looks a lot different to Sterling than it did in 2014 — she says she’s learned a lot. When she came up with the idea for Gettin’ Fresh over six years ago, she had never managed a restaurant before and didn’t have much restaurant experience. 

In preparation for the May launch, her husband, Scott Lewis, completed the graphic design, and Sterling collaborated with Chef Jenn Fillenworth to create the new menu. 

“The new launch is a long overdue reset for me with owning this business. It is truly mine now,” says Sterling. “It's my concept, my menu, my ideas that are coming to life and I'm really excited about the food truck side of it for the first time in a long time.”