Innovative virtual food court set to open Friday in Canton

For residents of southeast Michigan, finding elite food-truck fare in January (and throughout all the Midwest’s frigid months, for that matter) has been next to impossible.

That’s going to end Friday, Jan. 12, from 11 a.m. through 9 p.m., when Detroit Area Food Trucks (DAFT)  holds its grand opening at 39481 Joy Road in Canton.

Following a concept made popular on the West Coast, DAFT is a virtual brick-and-mortar food court that allows customers to order food-truck items online (beginning Friday, simply click here to check out the menu and place an order) or by scanning a QR code placed conveniently on the exterior wall of the business.

For the first few weeks, DAFT’s menu will consist solely of food items offered by Impasto, whose owners — Joe and Shawna Polidori — are launching the virtual food court following a two-year planning process (they will continue to operate their food truck in conjunction with DAFT once the weather warms up again).

Menu expansion imminent

The menu will expand to two additional brands — Slider Shack (sliders, wings & fries) and Creamsters (milkshakes & more) — in February.

Open 12 months a year, DAFT will add other popular southeast Michigan food-truck owners’ menu items in the coming months.

With the exception of Friday’s grand opening day, DAFT will be open as follows: Saturdays 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. and 4:30 p.m. to 11 p.m.; Sundays 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. and 4:30 p.m. to 9 p.m.; Tuesdays through Thursdays 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. and 4:30 p.m. to 9 p.m.; and Fridays 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. and 4:30 to 11 p.m. DAFT is closed on Mondays.

DAFT is a strictly a take-out/delivery business. Once a customer or a food-delivery driver arrives at the facility, he or she scans the exterior QR code and their food will be brought to them by a DAFT employee.

Exciting times

To say the Polidoris are ecstatic about their long-awaited grand opening is an understatement.

“We signed the lease on this place exactly one year ago, expecting to open four months from that point,” Shawna said. “So we’re definitely excited the day has finally arrived.

“While we’re incredibly excited, there are some nerves that go with it as well because when you put everything you have into something like this like Joe and I have done, you hope what you’re doing is well-received. It’s a different — but proven — concept in other areas of the country. Our food truck has been well-received, so we’re confident people are going to love this.”

Shawna said Canton is an ideal location for DAFT.

“Joe and I have lived and worked in Canton and Plymouth (they currently reside in Ann Arbor) and we work all of the big festivals in the area, including Rally On The Ridge and Liberty Fest. We have received a ton of love from Canton over the years — Canton has always showed up for us — so it was natural we opened DAFT in Canton.

‘We love Canton’

“We love Canton because it’s such a family town. Canton is how we imagine a community should be.”

Both professional chefs, the Polidoris have carved out extensive culinary resumes at high-end restaurants.

“I’ve been in the restaurant business since I was 16,” said Joe. “I started cooking, bussing tables, hosting, serving … before moving on to becoming a general manager.

“My entire family is big into cooking. In fact, a lot of our recipes — our meatballs, cannolis — came from my family. When I’m working in our food truck or in here, it smells like it did growing up when my mom was cooking.”

The Polidoris pride themselves on delivering high-quality, delicious food in just a few minutes — a necessity when you work in a popular food truck.

“We have events where we have to serve, let’s say, 130 people in an hour, so we have a proven system of making great food fast.”

To check out a Social House News-produced reel focused on DAFT, click here.

Ed Wright can be reached at 734-664-4657 or edwright@socialhousenews.com.