SYRACUSE, N.Y. - Flame restaurant closed around two years ago, but now there’s a new incarnation, thanks to two former employees who borrowed the name and opened a food truck.
Cousins Ja Seng and Seng Awng came to Syracuse around five years ago as refugees from Myanmar and started working at Flame soon after. Flame was located at 713 E. Fayette St. in what is now XO Taco.
The restaurant’s eclectic menu—a mix of Turkish cuisine and pizza—largely lives on at the food truck, which offers a mix of Turkish-style chicken and beef tantuni wraps and Burmese rice bowls. For catering, the truck has additional options, including spring rolls and Japanese onigiri rice balls.
Tash Taskale, owner of the former Flame restaurant and a Syracuse-based artist whose sculptures can be found locally at the Everson Museum, Griffiss International Sculpture Garden, Lemp Park, Onondaga Community College and other sites across the world, is mentoring the pair.
They credit Taskale for giving them the guidance and courage to open the food truck.
“He’s a good teacher,” Seng said. “We’re grateful.”
The food truck has been in the works for about six months, Seng said, though her desire to start her own business started many years earlier. Both she and Awng work other jobs at night, but they hope to one day focus entirely on the food truck.
They currently serve lunch on weekdays from 10 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. outside Taskale’s art studio at 1101 Erie Blvd. W. For more information, visit Flame’s Instagram.
Jacob Pucci finds the best in food, dining and culture across Central New York. Contact him at (315) 282-8611, or by email at jpucci@syracuse.com.
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