It’s hard to miss Whip & Chill’s fire truck/food truck mash-up. Even if the lights and siren don’t flicker or make a sound, you can’t miss it. A cherry red, 30-foot fire engine tends to command attention. 

The story behind the 1982 Pierce Arrow rig is compelling, too. 

The food truck industry is built around unique experiences and fun foods. Whip & Chill has found a one-of-a-kind hook with dipped ice cream cones, floats, sundaes, and Tropical Sno shaved ice.

Jim and Kim Berger dove into the fray in 2011 serving ice cream and shaved ice in Fort Wayne before food trucks were even a thing locally. This came about after Jim spent 30 years as a firefighter, including 16 as chief at St. Joseph Township Fire Department in northeast Fort Wayne.

They started with Little Whip, their food cart and trailer. They saw the business grow, as did the need for a dedicated vehicle. One creative idea bubbled in their minds. It was a nod to Jim’s career as a firefighter. 

Kim became aware of fire engines available around the country, but the idea ignited when they found one in particular.

“It was one of my old trucks,” Jim said. 

If you can have a relationship with a fire truck, he had it with this one almost from the start.

“I knew what we were getting,” he said. “I drove it and operated it. I knew it before it was in operation. I drove up, with the older guys when I was the young guy, to the factory in (Appleton) Wisconsin to see it built.”

The conversion from a pumper to an ice cream truck took about a year.

 “It was a lot of heavy moving and cutting from the frame up,” Jim said. “Just getting rid of the old stuff.”

That’s an easy way to say a lot of hard work and creative problem-solving associated with removing a 750-gallon tank and repurposing storage areas built for hoses and ladders. Then with the expertise of a food cart builder, they dropped a custom-built food prep area into the open space. 

“It is a bit higher up, making it more complicated than a typical square-boxed food truck,” Jim said.

That area includes the dipping freezer, multiple sinks, a floor, counter windows, and storage racks for tropical snow flavor jugs and supplies. It quickly makes an impression.

Kids and adults alike flip when they see the truck.

“It’s amazing,” Jim said. “Everybody loves ice cream. It’s awesome because it’s a fire truck. That makes it cool.”

Whip & Chill also includes an ambulance — a.k.a. Whip Rescue — that they also converted into a food truck. Their original food truck is Whip. They are always ready to respond to ice cream emergencies. 

Never was that more apparent than during the pandemic where they truck could be seen at nursing homes.

“A lot of these, where residents who hadn’t gone outside for a while, got ice cream cones handed to them which was awesome, especially if they are getting it from a fire truck or an ambulance,” he said.

Hotel Tango closing Fort Wayne site July 1

Hotel Tango Distillery is closing its Fort Wayne Tasting Room at 10212 Chestnut Plaza Drive.

The company says its last day is July 1. 

In a statement released this month, Hotel Tango officials say both the Fort Wayne location and spot in Zionsville have struggled in light of COVID-19, inflation, and state laws that prevent self-distribution of its bourbon, whiskey, vodka, gin, rum, and other spirits. 

Hotel Tango Fort Wayne opened in January 2020. The company says they are focused on growing retail sales in the Midwest.

Off the Eaten Path is the Whatzup weekly column that covers Northeast Indiana’s restaurant and food news. Send your news items to info@whatzup.com.