Middlebury’s Town Hall Theater launches a new food truck venue called Spinning Plates this Friday, June 21.

An alternating lineup of trucks will post up on weekends this summer in the alley between the theater and the building that once housed the Diner on Merchant's Row. The space will also hold a small seating area, where customers can buy beer and wine from the theater's bar during dinner.

Tourterelle will serve casual French fare on Friday evenings beginning June 21. Evolution Kitchen, the new rentable food truck, will take over some Saturdays, helmed by vendors such as BTV Ethiopian.

“When I moved here, the Diner had just been purchased,” said Mark Bradley, Town Hall Theater’s executive director since August. “As I got to know people in town, a lot of people had fond memories of the place. So we wanted to do something with food service as a tribute to that.”

Since the Diner’s kitchen had already been gutted, food trucks seemed a convenient replacement.

Spinning Plates is intended as an easy way for theatergoers to nosh before a show, or to be a destination on its own. Live entertainment from music to mural paintings is planned all summer long. This Friday, local artist Hans Schmitter will paint a mural onto the exterior of the old diner while customers eat.

The alleyway will also be open during select events throughout the summer, such as the Middlebury New Filmmakers Festival in August.

For the full Spinning Plates schedule, visit the Town Hall Theater website.