North Texas Daily

When hairstylist and lead singer of LoveSick Mary, Beth Heffernan, was a little girl, her grandmother Mary spent hours in their kitchen making Heffernan and her cousins a homecooked meal.

“My grandmother was the most important person to me growing up, and she was just awesome and wonderful,” Heffernan said. “When you’re young [and playing outside,] you don’t wanna stop, so she’d be in the kitchen cooking for us. [And when we were done playing she’d be done,] so she would say, ‘Collie’s kitchen is closed for the night!'”

Heffernan recently made Collie’s kitchen mobile with the opening of a food truck inspired by her grandmother.

The truck gained a following before it finalized its regular locations as Heffernan served food that would sell out every week at Glitterbomb Denton, a local drag and burlesque show hosted by Rubber Gloves.

“[Before the truck,] I was just bringing food inside and kind of setting it up, and there’s no real food places around here, so [Glitterbomb] asked me to kind of be like the official food person,” Heffernan said. “I’m a big supporter of the queer community and everything too, and [attendees] love me and they [ask me] ‘Momma Beth what are you gonna feed us tonight?'” 

Collie’s Kitchen focuses on the connection between family and food, with the recipes that Heffernan creates as her spin on classic Italian dishes. These can include spaghetti with edible glitter, Italian tater tots, soups and the truck’s best-seller: brussels sprouts.

“I never would have in a million years thought about brussels sprouts [being popular] — you don’t really see [them] on a food truck,” Heffernan said. “They call me the Denton Soup Madame. I just love cooking — I could cook all day.”

Onyx Fury, Glitterbomb Denton co-collaborator and Heffernan’s appointed “most loyal customer,” said Collie’s Kitchen’s connection with the community is what keeps bringing him back.

“It’s a landmark, you see this beautiful food truck and […] this amazing food but it comes with a real connection of friendliness and you get to meet so many different people,” Fury said.

The food truck’s current hours range from week to week, but the shop is open on Glitterbomb nights at 8 p.m. to provide the little community with a fresh homecooked meal and Fridays at True Leaf Studio, selling their popular soups between 11 a.m. and 2 p.m.

“I’ve known Beth for like 12 years now,” Denton native and Collie’s Kitchen cashier Ivy Street said. “I was in a car accident back in April and it messed up my back so bad that I can’t stand or walk or lift anything heavy. I was looking for a job […] [and] Beth was starting up her truck and was looking for some help.”

In addition to being a hairstylist and food truck owner, Heffernan, with the help of her band, is also a founder of the non-profit charity event Rockers 4 Knockers. The event sends money raised at the concert to the R4K Fund which provides mental health services for people affected by breast cancer.

“My grandmother Mary passed from breast cancer in 2014, so it’s in honor of her,” Heffernan said. “Last year we had our 10th anniversary, and [I have] paired up with The Gracious Mind, and we created this fund called the R4K fund, [and] every dollar that we raise from our shows goes into this fund.”

Heffernan continues the tradition of the joy of cooking Italian food with her 7-year-old daughter Piper, who “loves being on the truck” and helping with different aspects of Collie’s Kitchen.

“For me, as a person who loves to cook also, [the idea of] being able to share those recipes that my grandma had and put my spin on it too is very heartwarming,” Fury said. “It makes you love what you do, because you’re getting the chance to share a little bit of you with everybody [else] through food.”

Collie’s Kitchen’s motto, generated by Heffernan’s cousin,  “Made with Love,” is seen in all of the little details that Heffernan uses to give customers that home-cooked meal feeling.

“These recipes are all from my heart, [and] I try to cook with love,” Heffernan said. “I want people to feel good when they eat my food. You know when people have that reaction when they bite into something so good? That — that is what I love.” 

Featured Image Beth Heffernan holds a Collie’s Kitchen shirt in her parked food truck on Feb. 8, 2023. Makayla Brown