A sidewalk is definitely an unusual place to find a graduate of the Culinary Institute of America, but Mike says that they didn’t want to have to deal with being an employer or maintaining a building.

In addition to the hours they keep at the Union (Tuesday through Thursday, from nine until two, weather permitting), the Thunder Mountain cart also puts in an appearance each Saturday at the Troy Waterfront Farmers’ Market downtown. The Gordons plan to run the stand through October, and then to reopen sometime in April, depending on the weather.

Northern Indian may seem an odd choice of cuisine for a streetside vendor, but it was an obvious one for the Gordons: Susan is originally from that area of the world, and Indian has been one of Mike’s favorite types of food for years.

Before coming to Troy, they ran a somewhat larger roadside operation near Lake Placid, where the aroma of good food cooking over a large applewood fire would draw customers in, and a breathtaking view of the Adirondacks along with the Gordons’ cooking kept them there awhile.

The goal, says Mike, is to “try to make everything an experience.”

Quality ingredients, culinary skill, and a general love of food all come through in the final product. The mango lassi is made with honey and fresh mint—unique in my experience and among the best I’ve ever had. The pakoras—vegetables fried in a chick pea batter—are also outstanding, and the steady stream of customers certainly suggests that the rest of the food is as good.

The selection of Indian dishes is impressive for such a small cart, but Thunder Mountain also has hot dogs, and fried fish was a part of the menu at the Adirondack stand.

Besides catering to more customers, Mike says that he’s also trying to broaden people’s horizons. If someone who came up to the stand intending to get a hot dog walks away with a basket of samosas or a lassi, he explains, then perhaps that person will also walk away less biased against people from that part of the globe.