Can a Lombard couple’s marriage survive the stresses of starting off a new food items truck business enterprise alongside one another?
Tv viewers will uncover that out with the new Food items Community docuseries “Me or the Menu” debuting Thursday, June 30. Kathleen Murray and Nate Albert of Lombard are 1 of four restaurateur partners whose lives in Houston, Brooklyn and Chicago were being all captured by reality Tv set crews for the five-episode series.
“Likely the most vital detail about this display is the in-depth search at the impact of our personal relationship whilst striving to operate a business enterprise together,” reported Murray, who was forged on “Me or the Menu” last calendar year not extended just after she and Albert launched Saucy Kat, a Wheaton-centered Italian cuisine food items truck.
“It was an on the net interview, and evidently we did superb,” Albert claimed about the audition approach.
This isn’t really Murray’s initial time appearing on a fact Tv set present. She briefly appeared in episode 3 of period 11 of the Fox display “MasterChef,” which put Murray on the casting radar of Foods Network producers.
But “Me or the Menu” was a distinctive Tv set creation beast. As a substitute of a studio-certain cooking competitiveness, “Me or the Menu” was an all-encompassing documentary venture.
“Obtaining cameras on me from the minute I wake until finally the minute I go to mattress, obtaining GoPro (cameras) in the motor vehicle and currently being mic-ed up all day lengthy — it really delved into the guiding-the-scenes of lifestyle and what it is like to operate a business,” Murray mentioned.

























“When they first began filming, I was so uncomfortable,” Albert reported. “But the extra you did it, the more you got utilized to it.”

Lombard resident Kathleen Murray, operator of Saucy Kat food items truck, fries some eggplant in her residence kitchen area in preparing for a family members supper on “Me or the Menu.” The new Food items Community actuality Television series debuts on Thursday, June 30.
– Courtesy of Food Community
Murray notes that she also has a 9-to-5 company position as a chief artistic officer for a engineering firm. COVID-19 cutbacks last calendar year meant that Albert was laid off from his occupation at a vineyard, which authorized him to be dedicated to the food items truck.
Saucy Kat was a way for Murray to convey her love of cooking and share household recipes stretching again generations. It also allowed Murray and Albert to steer clear of the whole dangers of running a cafe comprehensive time — a luxurious not afforded to an additional “Me or the Menu” pair, James Martin and Jessica Neal, who operate the Chicago cafe Bocadillo Sector.
But Murray and Albert say the preparation for foods trucks is even now significant.
“I never imagine individuals have any concept of the tension and do the job and labor of appreciate of what goes into developing an function,” Murray stated. “I commit six hours earning my sauce. And then at times, I go property at 3 a.m. in the morning, and I am back again up at 6 to prep the truck.”
Equally Murray and Albert are nervously anticipating “Me or the Menu” airing and seeing how their life will be edited and depicted on display screen. When they were interviewed, neither experienced observed a entire episode nonetheless.
“It can be at last commencing to sink in. The video clip previews are on the net,” Albert mentioned. “Kathleen has expertise with getting on Tv, and I will not. So it is surreal.”