David Kaetterhenry, left, and Chas Lecy smile in front of their Greater Tater food truck in front of Kaetterhenry’s home in Stillwater, Minn. Kaetterhenry, who has Down syndrome, and Lecy have been friends for more than 20 years and launched the business earlier this summer. (Jared Kaufman/Pioneer Press/TNS)
ST. PAUL, Minn. — The motto of Greater Tater, a new Stillwater food truck run by two lifelong friends, is “It’s what’s inside that counts.”
In part, it’s literal: The trailer’s signature menu item is stuffed “potato barrels,” which resemble enormous tater tots with a variety of fillings, from bacon and jalapeño to Reuben sandwiches to breakfast eggs and sausage.
But the motto also has figurative meaning, especially for David Kaetterhenry, who has Down syndrome.
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“I want (our clients) to know that I can have Down syndrome, I want to show them that I don’t want to be different,” Kaetterhenry said. “I think special needs should be there, so we can show the world that we can do it.”
Kaetterhenry and Chas Lecy, both 28, met when they were in elementary school at Stillwater Evangelical Free Church and became fast friends. They went to school together, worked at a summer camp together and both have a passion for food, Lecy said. They had been thinking about opening a food business for years, he said.
So in February, when Lecy and his father saw another food vendor was selling his trailer, the two friends jumped at the opportunity.
“I have a dream of having a three-story restaurant,” Kaetterhenry said. “I remember Chas’s dad and I talked about this restaurant, so God worked through Chas and (his father), and they got the food truck and asked me to be a part of that.”
Kaetterhenry’s dream restaurant would be a tropical, Caribbean-themed spot, he said, though certainly a bit different from Greater Tater’s menu — though that doesn’t make the food truck any less exciting.
And since the duo decided to start the business, it’s been a whirlwind, Lecy said.
In late May, Lecy quit his 10-year job at his family’s construction company, Cornerstone Concrete, to focus full-time on Greater Tater. He and his wife have spent months overseeing logistics to bring the trailer up to health department code, obtaining operating licenses and designing branded wrapping for the exterior. The barrels of chips they sell are made by Stone Gate Foods, a local manufacturer.
This summer, Kaetterhenry and Lecy have already taken the trailer to several fairs in the St. Croix Valley and western Wisconsin.
Kaetterhenry is the culinary brains of the business, the two friends said. Outside of the food truck, he works at Hagbergs in Lake Elmo, cutting and cooking specialty meats, and previously worked at Culver’s and Kowalski’s Market.
So at the first trade show they worked, he and Lecy’s plan was for Kaetterhenry to start out manning the fryer while Lecy took orders. But the duo quickly realized that Kaetterhenry had a knack for window-working and chatting with customers — something other jobs hadn’t necessarily allowed him to do.
“We want our customers to be part of the friendship we have with Chas,” Kaetterhenry said. “We want people who come to us to be part of our friendship, part of our history.”
Kaetterhenry has also been brainstorming other menu ideas beyond stuffed potato barrels.
“From day one, he was already at the cash register and doing great,” Lecy said. “And one thing David is really good at is creating unique ideas out of anything. We have plans, in the future, to do a ‘Davey’s Special’ menu and show people his creations.”
In addition to food, Kaetterhenry was also a Special Olympics athlete for many years. He ran track and played basketball on the St. Croix Valley Lumberjacks team, and also competed in soccer, football, bowling and golf, he said. In fact, he just got a new set of golf clubs this summer, though he hasn’t had much time to play, due to the food truck.
“It’s been a lot of fun,” Lecy said. “It’s a different chapter for both of us, in our lives and in our friendship, working together every weekend. We can’t get enough of each other!”
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