Sunday, December 28, 2014

A Food Truck Grows in Bedford


Firebox at 347 Great Road, has a new food truck that is expected to be on the road soon. While, Firebox has made use of an existing food trailer for the past year or so visiting nearby office parks in Billerica and Lexington, this new truck has been uniquely designed by them.

The vehicle started out as a retired Fedex Delivery Truck
According to co-owner David Goldstone, while their existing food trailer was functional it was not designed as a food truck, making it difficult to cook in and wait on customers especially in the colder months. They were inspired by the movie Chef to design a food truck to better suit their needs. David recently came across some some interesting images from tattoo and graffiti artist Eric Escobar and thought it would be great to have him do the exterior design for their new food truck. They named the new truck Amigos Locos.


Note the backwards spelling Tex Mex on the front bumper making for easy to read when it's behind you in traffic.
Along with the new truck, Firebox also designed a new menu. They wanted a concept that would have some additional appeal to food truck customers. The menu features Tex Mex with BBQ Sandwiches, Tacos, Paninis and a rotating menu of Southwestern dishes.



The truck is expected to be out on the road soon.
New Hampshire Artist Eric Escobar did the exterior design

Comments:
The past year has seen a large increase in new food trucks in the towns surrounding Bedford such as Hartwell Avenue in Lexington, Blanchard Road in Burlington and Technology Park in Billerica. While Bedford have not yet seen many of the "newer" style food trucks that park at one location to serve lunch, food trucks have been around and making stops at individual business in Bedford for many years. For example a food truck makes regular stops at businesses along Commercial and Railroad Avenues.

Would you like to see more food trucks in Bedford? If so where do you think would be a good place to locate them?



Wednesday, December 24, 2014

Evanesce Sclerotherapy Open on Loomis Street


Evanesce opened last month at 50 Loomis Street in the space formerly occupied by Simple Natural Nails. I recently spoke with the owner Shannon Benoit.

Shannon is a registered Nurse who worked at an Interventional Radiology practice associated with Emerson Hospital. She then got laid off. Afterwords she took classes on Sclerotherapy which is a method to eliminate spider veins (which are thinner than varicose veins). Sclerotherapy uses needles to inject a sclerosing agent in to the vein. This closes the vein and then over time the body absorbs the vein and it eventually disappears.

After completing her Sclerotherapy classes, Shannon worked along with Dr. Connaughton at North Bridge Vein Care to learn the trade. He would do the Endovenous Laser Treatment (EVT) to take care of the larger varicose veins and she would do the Sclerotherapy for the spider veins. She liked the work she was doing but North Bridge Vein Care closed this past April. She had always wanted to open her own business and this presented the perfect opportunity.

After North Bridge closed, Dr. Connaughton went back to Emerson Hospital and Shannon began to look for a location where she could practice Sclerotherapy. She looked at several towns but decided on Bedford due to it's central location for her previous clients and she also she liked the town itself.

The 50 Loomis Street building is focused on Health and Wellness
For new patients, she starts with a consult. If their anatomy is questionable for Sclerotherapy, she refers them to Dr. Connaughton who uses EVT on the much larger Varicose Veins. EVT uses lasers to heat the vein, destroying the walls of the veins after which the body then absorbs. After the EVT is completed, patients come back to Shannon for Sclerotherapy.

According to Shannon, most Sclerotherapy sessions are 15, 30 or 45 minutes. It usually takes 3 to 5 Sclerotherapy sessions for most patients. Sessions are spread out several weeks apart. Patients typically see the most improvement in 1 month with smaller improvements continuing for a longer period of time. Shannon mentioned that some patients come on their lunch hour or break and they can usually go right back to work According to Shannon, you do need to avoid sunlight afterwords. So most of her patients come during the fall and winter. Since Sclerotherapy is considered a cosmetic procedure, it is usually not covered by insurance.

Treatment Room
Currently Evanesce Sclerotherapy is open Mondays and some Saturdays. She started off seeing existing patients. She mostly relies on referrals to find new patients. While Shannon currently operates the business part time, she also works at a plastic surgeon's office. Her goal is to make Sclerotherapy her full time business.

While Sclerotherapy is usually done by Dermotologists, Shannon explained that she is very confident of her skills since this is her exclusive focus and she has done lots of procedures compared to many doctors who do Sclerotherapy on an occasional basis. In Massachusetts, you do need to be a Registered Nurse or higher to perform Sclerotherapy.


Friday, December 5, 2014

New Restaurant Planned for 120 Great Road

According to a legal notice, a new restaurant is planned for 120 Great Road. This location housed Optometrist James J Carroll. More details are expected to be revealed at the Bedford Planning Board meeting on December 9th. Stay tuned.