A Pierogi Truck Is Joining the Austin Food Scene

Austin farmers market stand Rogues Over the Top Pierogi is looking to open a food truck somewhere in the city.

Rogues’s pierogies are fried, “for a more flaky and tender texture,” as owner Derek Desko explains. The Eastern European dumplings are stuffed and then topped with various ingredients. The menu includes potato-cheese pierogies topped with caramelized onions, a horseradish-sour cream, beet syrup, and pickled cabbages; the Kimcheese made with a squid ink dough and kimchi-cheddar cheese filling which is topped with roasted pork fried rice, kimchi mayonnaise, pickled chiles, and garlic chile crisps; and the Chicken ‘N Waffles. which is made with a maple-flaxseed dough and sweet potato filling topped with buttermilk fried chicken, tomato relish and mayonnaise, and maple syrup.

When the truck eventually opens, Desko plans on expanding the menu with salads, soups, snacks, and sandwiches. Of the latter, he’s already been experimenting with a pierogi burger as a stall special. “This dish is a mash-up of foods and flavors that I love to create all coming together in a fun and super tasty way,” he says. The smash burger comes with a layer of a smash burger with a layer of potato-cheese pierogies, shredded lettuce, tomato confit, caramelized onions, horseradish sour cream, pickled cabbage, shaved green onions, and a Duke’s Mayonaise-based sauce. “It’s completely over the top and one of my absolute favorite things to eat, even though it’s outrageously messy in the most amazing way,” he adds.

The stall also sells pre-cooked and frozen pierogi packs. The fillings and toppings make use of fellow farmers market vendors, such as Pedernales River Farm, Casper’s Fermentables, and Brangus Best Beef.

Right now, Desko is working on getting capital in order to open the eventual food truck. Ideally, he’d love to open the business somewhere in South Austin within a brewery or other like-drinks business. He was inspired to open his own truck after visiting Soursop at St. Elmo Brewing Co. and was blown away by the food.

Desko is from northeast Ohio, where the Polish delicacy is popular. Before opening Rogues in 2021, he was working at the AT&T Hotel and Conference Center at the University of Texas at Austin, first as a banquet chef and then as the executive chef for the past three years. He also worked at the W Austin, as well as Greenbrier Resort in West Virginia, and helped a friend open the now-closed New York restaurant Cooks and Captains. He attended Le Cordon Bleu in Pittsburgh, where he also worked at Rivers Casino Steakhouse and the Pittsburgh Grand Hall.

Currently, Rogues serves at the Barton Creek Farmers Market on Saturdays from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. and the Pedernales Farmers Market on Sundays from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.