Halo Halo shows MoHo is hungry for Asian fusion

Mimi Phan-Dinh, Jessie Brewer and Cherry Laufenberg are sitting around a table, trading stories as they enjoy crispy pork egg rolls along with freshly cut vegetables and savory, marinated beef poured over rice noodles, washing it all down with Tai tea the festive shade and flavor of a gourmet creamsicle. 

Phan-Dinh was born in Vietnam. Laufenberg hails from the Philippines. Brewer was born and raised in Wisconsin. Thousands of miles later, they are all here, together; friends gathered around the table, trading stories about life and family and food. Their children play nearby. It is an intrinsically American story. 

And now, anyone who wants to get a taste of this experience can do so, because each of their journeys brought them to Mount Horeb, where the three of them all live and are now running a food cart that is proving to be wildly popular with those who line up to enjoy its meals each week. They call it “Halo Halo.” Pronounced Haw-lo Haw-lo, it is a creative repurposing of a Filipino word to signal that they offer an eclectic mix of many different types of Asian fare. 

“Food is joy for us,” says Phan-Dinh.

“We’re all friends and this is what we love to do,” agrees Laufenberg. 

“We’re already hanging out, looking forward to time in the kitchen,” she continues. “It’s really because we have fun with it that we do this.”

“It’s a like a family business,” says Brewer. “A family business, between friends.”

Phan-Dinh is the chef. Laufenberg in the chief investor (and best customer), and she also handles bookkeeping: “I invested because I’m their biggest customer,” she jokes. Brewer helps prepare the food, serves customers, drives the truck and more. In addition to being friends and business partners, they also have children who are friends and playmates. 

While the generations that follow them play, they talk about the generations that came before them.

“Comfort foods to me are foods my parents made from scratch,” explains Phan-Dinh. 

“Both of my parents cooked,” she continues. “My grandparents too. My dad was the main cook, and my mom did parties and special things like that. When friends would come over, we would always eat.”

“When people come to your house, you always feed them,” agrees Laufenberg, who reminisces about the simple rice and salted fish that flavored her youth. 

Halo Halo began operating in Madison, and at Vortex Optics’ global headquarters in Barneveld, just over two years ago. The year 2020 was mostly a wash, as with most things, but in 2021 the cart is back and is now offering lunch both at Vortex (on Thursdays) and at Mount Horeb Dental, 115 N. Brookwood Drive in Mount Horeb (on Wednesdays). 

Vietnam and the Philippines each have their own unique cultures and food traditions, and Phan-Dinh and Laufenberg melded and mered their roots with their current lives in the Midwest. Their perspectives and experiences regarding food and culture bolster Halo Halo in ways that are culinary, societal and personal. 

They both remember the food of their childhoods, as well as initially wanting to assimilate their taste buds in the United States. 

“When you are young, you want to be Americanized and go to McDonald’s,” Phan-Dinh says. But what they have learned is that most Americans today, regardless of where they were born, actively crave authentic flavors from all corners of the world. “Now, it’s coming back.”

They remember worrying about packing rice in their children’s’ lunch boxes, lest they get made fun of for it, only to now see local customers from all walks of life in Wisconsin line up to pay for rice and noodle dishes being served at Halo Halo. Vortex, one of the top optics companies in the country, which makes everything from bird watching binoculars to rifle scopes for the U.S. Military, is another homegrown success story, and the women behind Halo Halo say their experiences there have been wonderful. 

“The people at Vortex have been so nice to us,” says Phan-Dinh. “Every single person has been so nice to us.”

Because the Village of Mount Horeb charges what some see as prohibitively high fees to food carts operating on public property, Halo Halo’s owners say they were lucky to find a private property owner as generous as Mount Horeb Dental, which allows them to do business there 

“We couldn’t have done this without them,” says Brewer. “We really wanted to thank them.” 

The menu features entirely homemade dishes. Nothing is frozen. There are summer rolls filled with mint, mangos, jicama and marinated chicken, which come with plum dipping sauce. (They also offer a vegetarian version.) There are crispy eggs rolls bursting with pork, mushrooms and carrots. There are bowls brimming with the flavors of lemongrass, chicken, ginger, honey, soy sauce, vegetables and boiled egg. There is bulgogi, a Korean dish made of sweet marinated beef and a hard-boiled egg served with fresh vegetables and rice. The vermicelli bowl features chicken, noodles, lettuce, carrots, cucumbers, basil and a crispy egg roll. Japchae noodles feature stir fried sweet potato noodles, shitake mushrooms, sugar peas, carrots, bean sprouts and shredded eggs. 

They offered lunch for the first time at Mount Horeb Dental on Wednesday of last week, and the response from customers was ebullient. Moments after they pulled up, patrons were lining up to get a taste of what their friendship, their heritage, and their hard work created. By the time they drove away a few hours later, it was clear that Mount Horeb was hungry for a taste of what Halo Halo had to offer. 

They will be in the parking lot at Mount Horeb Dental most Wednesdays, from 11 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. They serve food outside Vortex during the same times on Thursdays. Look for them next during the first week of July. 

Find out more at www.halohalofoodcart.com.