[at street level]
Food fight!
Can mobile kitChens and
briCk-and-mortar restaurants
share a meal?
A funny thing happened when
food trucks took to the streets of America. Res-
taurants survived.
Sure, a few cities around the country may be
starting to see a backlash by brick-and-mortar
restaurants against the myriad mobile kitchens
that have proliferated in a brutal economy. Every
dining dollar counts these days, and a party of six
eating dumplings or duck confit from a come-and-go curbside truck cuts into the income a
“real” restaurateur needs to pay for everything
from linens to dishwashers to rent itself.
But many savvy entrepreneurs see the trend
as a win-win situation. Wolfgang Wannabes can
get a relatively low-budget start on the street and
build a following, while established restaurateurs
can collaborate to make extra income, whether
by renting kitchen space at off-hours or actually
doing the cooking for the fly-by-day vendors.
And if imitation is the most trustworthy
form of flattery, this is an even busier two-way
street. More and more restaurateurs are starting
to take their food on the road, validating the
whole concept, while curbside cooks are increasingly opening restaurants without giving up on
their first ventures.
