This past Friday, COOK got a one-of-a-kind taste of Philly’s thriving mobile food scene. Two of our city’s most successful food-truck vendors, The Cow and the Curd and SPOT Burger, joined forces with Yards Brewing for a cheesy, beefy and beer-filled evening!

C&TC owner Rob Mitchell (above, left) and SPOT’s Josh Kim (center) are good friends in addition to being food-truck contemporaries. (SPOT is actually more of a cart!) It made perfect sense for these guys to team up and share their unique cooking with us, paired with Yards beers provided by the Philly brewery’s Keith Zonderwyk (right).

Rob’s truck specializes in cheese curds, a Wisconsin specialty that many East Coasters haven’t had the pleasure of trying. He started out by having everyone in the crowd taste a raw curd to get a true feeling for the “squeaky” feel of the Midwestern delicacy. Then it was time to break into dishes he serves on the truck.

He started with the classic breaded and fried curds (above), served with chipotle ranch, sriracha mayo and smoked ketchup, then a veggie-friendly “Farmer’s Garden” style curds of white cheddar with sun-dried tomato, basil and garlic. The dinner also marked the official public debut of Rob’s new goat cheese “Billy Curds,” served with creamy apple dip. They were a hit!

Josh, whose SPOT is a popular Drexel campus lunch spot as well as an in-demand catering option (same goes for C&TC), actually started his portion of the class with something other than one of his famous burgers — he grilled Brazilian-style picanha steak, complete with chimichurri sauce, as his starter. Then he broke right into demonstrating his special techniques for grinding meat. Once his patties were ready, he treated everyone to tastes of three of his burger styles, including our favorite, the signature SpOt Burger, a big-flavor combo of cheddar, bacon, pickles, coleslaw and secret SpOt sauce.

Of course, the night was maximized in the awesome department by Keith’s generous hand with Yards bottles! These Philly beer masters make some of our favorite brews, many of which were on hand to complement Rob and Josh’s grub. We enjoyed popping the tops off Philly Pale Ale, Brawler, ESA and IPA.

Whether you meet them on the street or see them at a special event, COOK highly recommends checking The Cow and the Curd, SPOT and Yards out! Keep an eye on Twitter for the latest: @cowandthecurd @spotburgers @yardsbrew