Menomonee Falls resident (and Barbie fan) opens a pink food truck

When Cynthia Sieloff's former customers learned she was opening a food truck, she acknowledged that most of them would have predicted it would be pink.

Everyone knows she is a big Barbie fan, and pink is the color associated with Barbie, she said. Sieloff, however, said she did not predict her food truck's opening would be the same month as the "Barbie" movie. The longtime Menomonee Falls resident got her first Barbie doll when she was 4 and she loved them since. She still has about 100 Barbie dolls from when she was a kid.

She also has about 50 cases of Barbie's clothes and accessories, all neatly organized.

The clothing was much more detailed when she was a kid, the 62-year-old said. "It (the clothing) was made with snaps and zippers," she said.

Of most significance, she said, was what Barbie meant to her: "I felt Barbie can do anything because Barbie can be anything. It (the doll) had good messages and values." This is the motto that she has lived by in owning, operating and creating from scratch a new restaurant business.

Off The Eaten Path opened at the beginning of July.

The food truck is parked in Germantown and Menomonee Falls twice a week and is also available for private and special events.

Sieloff, who owned Perc Place in Hartford for 21 years, sold the business this spring. It's now open under the new owners.

Soon after, she purchased the food truck and spent time updating it and designing the outside of it to open for the summer season.

She said Off The Eaten Path is in its infancy stage. "We are testing the waters," she said.

Sieloff said there will be a variety of food, including some of the most popular food she made at Perc Place. She said her food truck has "higher-end food." One item is Eileen's chicken salad, which is an old recipe by Sieloff's mother, Eileen Hinzmann. Other items include fish tacos, a half-pound burger, the ultimate grilled cheese sandwich and a fried green tomato BLT.

Desserts include a cherry cheesecake.

Sieloff said she is experimenting with the menu and will post items on the website and Facebook page.

"I like to be creative with food," she said.

Yes, at the Friday food truck, there is a fish fry. Right now, the fish fry options are a two-piece or three-piece beer-battered cod or an 8-ounce baked cod meal. All are served with coleslaw, a rye roll and a choice of French fries or potato pancakes.

While Off The Eaten Path does handle private catering and events, the food truck can be found at the parking lot at Fleet Farm, N96 W18200 County Line Road, Germantown, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Tuesday. It's also at Farrow & Associates, W156 N8278 Pilgrim Road, Menomonee Falls, from 4 p.m. to 9 p.m. on Fridays.

Any changes to this schedule will be posted on its Facebook and website.

Sieloff said she wants to do more with the food truck than just "sitting on the road."

"Anything is possible," she said. She said she would love to handle weddings, funerals, baby showers and other kinds of events.

She also said she will listen to her customers on what direction to take her food truck.

Visit www.facebook.com/OffTheEatenPathTruck or www.offtheeatenpathtruck.com.

More:These West Bend vintage clothing entrepreneurs are planning a Vintage Fest in Milwaukee

More:Longtime West Bend custard eatery is set to open in late July with a new look and new menu

Cathy Kozlowicz can be reached at 262-361-9132 or [email protected]. Follow her on Twitter at @kozlowicz_cathy