Michelle & Elliot Leopoldo | Summit Tasty

Calling all food lovers! Allow us to introduce you to Michelle and Elliot Leopold. This adventurous Worthing-based couple are the brains behind Summit Tasty. It’s a food truck that sells loaded fries based on cuisines from around the world, named after years spent living high in the mountains. If the tantalizing aroma of their food doesn’t overwhelm you, their friendly smiles will. We caught up with the couple between shifts to chat about their winter escapes and their love of all things food.

After traveling the world, what made you settle in Worthing and start your food truck business?

Elliot: After six years of chasing ski resorts, Michelle and I have decided to return to the UK in 2021 to marry our besties. We also had to consider that we both need surgery and we need a place to recover. My best friend had moved to Worthing at the time and highly recommended the area. So we made the move and traded the mountains for the sea.

Michelle: We were looking for a house and there was also a van for sale. While we were here we worked in a factory and were not the happiest. That gave us the idea to explore the food truck business. Finally we found the perfect van to restore, Elliot quit his job and we spent two months building it. When we were in ski resorts, we worked as cooks in the restaurant industry. This is how we developed our skills and knowledge about food. We wanted something simple and easy to customize for everyone, so we chose chips as our main product.

Elliot: After living in Canada for two years, we started to miss poutine a lot. There aren’t many places around here that can find it, so we decided to create our own version – a poutine with a twist, inspired by our past adventures.

Would you describe your Summit Tasty experience as an adventure?

Michelle: Oh yeah. And pretty big! It was our way of continuing our adventurous lifestyle back home in the UK. We started it from scratch and crafted it exactly the way we wanted.

Elliot: When we were traveling, there was always something new to look forward to. The food truck gave us that life back – every step is new and exciting. We also decided to name our dishes after different mountains, which is our way of sharing all our memories from our travels with our customers.

Did you go to all the summits that gave your name to the foods?

Michelle: We have 19 dishes now so it would be impressive if we had but we climbed or saw quite a few of them like Tunnel Mountain in Canada, Mount Fuji in Japan, Mont Blanc in France and Gran Paradiso in Italy. Our goal was to select dishes that meant a lot to us, but of course we’ll also add others named after peaks we’d like to see in the future.

Elliot: Our next dish should be Greek. We go there for inspiration… Stay tuned.

Your menu is mainly vegetarian, what motivates the choice?

Elliot: We like to eat and cook meat or fish, but we chose not to use them in our dishes. We want our business to be as sustainable as possible – it’s an environmentally conscious choice.

Michelle: And honestly, vegetarian food is just as delicious, we promise.

Will you be participating in any local events in 2024?

Michelle: We would like to return to the Worthing Food and Drink Festival (3-6 May 2024). It’s the place to be! We had the opportunity to work there in 2023, which was very special. There are so many good places to eat and great people in the area. It’s a day to celebrate our community and our work. All our friends can come and enjoy it with us. There is a great atmosphere!

Elliot: We are planning other events such as the South Downs Show (10-11 August 2024) in Hampshire National Park. And even though it’s not here, we’d like to participate again on Canada Day in London (June 30, 2024). It would mean a lot to us.

What do you like to do in Worthing when you’re not busy cooking chips?

Elliot: You can be sure we’ll be eating and drinking! We are always looking for something new and we support other independent companies. Worthing has such a great food scene it’s just the best thing to do.

Michelle: You’ll probably see us at Brooksteed’s micropub. They supported us so much, it’s a special place and our favorite place too. And weather permitting, you can catch us chilling on the beach.

How do you see the future of Summit Tasty?

Elliot: We want to grow a little bit more, take on more events and eventually make it our full time job. Our long-term plan is to be Summit Tasty in the summer and travel in the winter to bring back other flavors.

Michelle: But it’s hard to stay 100% positive about the future, small businesses are at risk and the most vulnerable! Many places are closing. So if we have a message for BOTI high schools, it’s this: support food trucks and local restaurants. The cost of living also affects us and the chains are winning the game. Try something different, you will be surprised and strengthen independent companies.

Even in these difficult times, you still take time to give to others…

Michelle: Of course. We’ve done a pop-up for the local Worthing soup kitchen and tried to donate any leftovers.

Elliot: And you can do the same! If you ever have leftovers, especially this time of year, try contacting local soup kitchens/food rescues. It saves waste and also helps feed people in need. We are all in this together!

Michelle and Elliot are recovering from their injuries at the moment but hope to be back with Summit Tasty this spring – watch this space!

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