The mobile kitchen concept has been spicing up the food scene in the Tri-Cities for years, and Elizabethton is no exception. Most recently, local Leigh Widdows has opened the window of her mobile Mediterranean cafe, Pita Pocket, to those with an appetite for the exquisite in Elizabethton and Johnson City.
“There is no food like this in Elizabethton,” said Widdows. “I wanted to offer healthy, unique options for people right here.”
Her menu mirrors her passion, family history and cooking experience, featuring an Italian-style caprese salad, Moroccan lemon chicken with yogurt cucumber sauce on pita, falafel with yogurt sauce on a pita, Kibbi meatball pita, and Greek baklava.
“People aren’t totally familiar with the food, but once they try it, they love it,” said Widdows. “I’ve had no negative feedback and great reception in Elizabethton.”
Falafel is made from ground chick peas with garlic, onion, parsley, lemon and spices and then formed into small patties, fried and served with yogurt cucumber sauce. Her husband tells folks who have never tried it to imagine a crab cake, but made with ground chick peas instead of crab.
Tabouleh salad is made with parsley, bulgur wheat, tomatoes, cucumbers and zesty lemon vinaigrette and is served as a side, though Widdows said many like to add it to their Morrocan lemon chicken or falafel on pita with almond rice pilaf.

“Everything is made with fresh, high quality ingredients that are filling yet healthy,” she said.
Wether it contains fresh herbs, slow cooked meats, chopped nuts or warm pita, she said each item is carefully crafted.
“I spent a lot of time researching the best pita, and the one I now order is baked and sent overnight from Birmingham, Alabama,” said Widdows. “I wanted to make sure it is fresh.”
Being picky about her pita is nothing compared to the delicacy with which she layers her top-selling Greek pastry, baklava. She spends tedious time layering 40 tissue-paper-thin pieces of phyllo dough with cinnamon-spiced walnuts and honey.

“Yes, 40, you have to taste it to believe it,” her husband Bob said in his description of the baklava.
She plans to expand her menu to offer pita platters with different sauces like babaganoush, which is similar to hummus, but uses baked eggplant instead of garbanzo beans.
“I want to start small and build,” she said.
Most entrees cost $6 or $7, and Widdows accepts cash or card. She offers drinks with meals as well for an additional 50 cents.
She said her location in the parking area of Lighthouse Wine and Liquor is prime for passersby, Tweetsie Trail bikers and walkers, and those on lunch break. She and her husband Bob are close friends with the owner of Lighthouse, who welcomed them to market their Mediterranean cuisine outside.
Mobile cafes bring food to the masses, right where they are, she said.
“It’s kind of like they get to come in my kitchen,” she said. “I’ve been in the restaurant business for several years and always wanted to open my own little Mediterranean place. I decided to do this because there was nothing like it.”

The Pita Pocket is open from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. on weekdays out front of Lighthouse. It will be at Atlantic Ale House in Johnson City this Saturday and at the Food Truck Roundup at JRH Brewery in Johnson City on April 7 from 6-10 p.m.
The schedule is posted and regularly updated on the PitaPocketJC Facebook, Twitter and Instagram pages. To contact Widdows at the cafe, call 423-747-1793 or email pitapocketjc@gmail.com.