Centre County food truck runs on prepared service model for busy lives

Chef-prepared meals, ready for you to take home and heat up, at reasonable prices? It almost sounds too good to be true, but this is happening in Centre County these days, and healthy food, prepared with attention and skill, is radiating from a commercial kitchen in the heart of Bellefonte, delivered by a retro-looking food truck called Belle City Bites.

Justin Leiter graduated from Bellefonte High School in 1995 and attended culinary school in Pittsburgh. He interned at the Atherton Hotel under Chef Foss and worked for 10 years at the Gamble Mill as a sous chef to Executive Chef Courtney Confer. After the Gamble Mill changed ownership in 2008, Leiter headed to San Diego to work for a year.

Upon returning to central Pennsylvania, he served as the executive chef at Carnegie House for a year. In 2012, he opened The Red Horse Tavern, often with Confer in the wings, a venture that lasted another decade, until 2022.

When he rode away from the Red Horse, he hopped aboard the food truck phenomenon, bought a former postal truck fitted out with a micro kitchen to enable a mobile food service operation, and sold Red Horse and Gamble Mill customer favorites like tuna burgers, truffle fries and smoked brisket sandwiches at venues like Boal City Brewing.

Today, his business model is a meal prep service that is supported by people who like the idea of chef-prepared meals but don’t have the time, energy or knowledge to prepare tasty food for themselves.

One customer is delighted with his service, to they extent that she has become a valuable asset to his mission.

Laura Ishler works at Mount Nittany Medical Center and relies on Belle City Bites for ready-to-serve meals. Her work schedule can make it difficult to cook and do meal prep, she said.

“Justin’s meals are always amazing and consistent. I have never had a bad meal from him and I love that he always has several options to choose from,” she said. “I have been getting meals for several months now. I actually collect 30+ orders from coworkers every week and Justin delivers to our work every Monday evening for us, making it even easier.”

When asked if she has a favorite on the menu, Ishler said, “If I had to pick, I’d say the roasted turkey and Cait’s burger bowl.”

Several factors led Leiter to adopt the prepared meal service model. His wife, Caitlin, was a personal trainer, and she had clients who wanted to eat better but didn’t know where to start. One day, he had a conversation with his mother, Connie Leiter, who lives in Bellefonte, and asked her what she was having for dinner. When she told him crackers, he decided to make things easy for people.

Now, a large part of his clientele consists of seniors who live independently but don’t want to cook for themselves.

In addition to having meals ready for pickup at his commissary kitchen in Bellefonte and delivering meals on Mondays to the hospital pre-orders, on Tuesdays, the Belle City Bites truck delivers to Be Well Associates on Sandy Drive in State College for pickup there. The food truck also participates in special events at various venues in the Centre Region, such as the recent Gamble Mill Good Heart Scholarship fundraiser and the Mount Nittany Health Community Day in May.

Cathy Leathers is another satisfied customer who picks up her prepared meals on Mondays from the Bellefonte kitchen. “I have been ordering weekly meals from Justin since he started offering them. I like to have a tasty meal, but cooking for myself is not fun. I can now get a variety of delicious, easy-to-heat and eat meals. Justin’s menu has something for everyone. I can honestly say I have never tried a meal that I didn’t like. I don’t have a favorite, but any meals with shrimp, scallops, salmon, or rice are wonderful. I think the price point of the meals is great.”

Justin keeps his prices low, with a range of $9 to $11, by ordering in bulk and passing on the savings to his customers. Having all meals pre-ordered allows him to control his food costs and avoid over-purchasing and wasting food. The menus are seasonal, and he rotates the menu every two to three weeks. The shelf life of his prepared meals is five days, and he tries to accommodate dietary restrictions as best he can.

His new schedule allows him to spend more time with his family, especially with his infant daughter, Saylor, who joined the family seven months ago. His wife Caitlin now works at Edward Jones full time during the week, and childcare for Saylor often falls into the chef’s busy hands, with help from Caitlin’s 11 1/2-year-old daughter, Teyanna.

At least the busy family always has dinner options covered!

Belle City Bites will pause meal prep services until the week of July 7 as Leiter launches a new enterprise in Bellefonte. Check out their Facebook page for the latest info.