It is about eating outside and is a sensible solution to dining in new and different ways


Richard Johnson, British Street Food Awards


which is at the forefront of the revolution that could see hot dogs go down the route of burgers and become the country’s next food craze; Daisy Green’s frozen yoghurts; and Jalopy Pizza – wood-fi red pizzas sold from a classic Peugeot J7 van. They all bring a sense of theatre, for example, What The


Dickens serves British dishes and revived vintage recipes, such as kedgeree, dressed as gentlemen wearing top hats and sometimes playing ukuleles. There is great excitement in the way Cafe Môr delivers its seafood menu: “They are winners of a street food award last year and sell what’s not expected as a street food – including seashore wraps – from a convertible beach hut,” says Johnson. Such imaginative cuisine goes with the territory and your


customers will tell you if they like it or not. Johnson says: “People can aff ord to take risks as they have low overheads so you can see if a Chinese hot dog works. You can simply throw together various ideas. I’ve recently eaten an Indian burrito, for instance.” However, it is not just newcomers who are customising


vans and hitting the roads. Street food is also an opportu- nity for established specialist food brands to showcase their products to a broader audience. Hence, the likes of Wahaca, with its cyan and magenta-coloured Mexican food truck, are joining the growing throng and hitting the road.


Hamburger restaurant Byron is another. It has created a smart, shiny metallic van and is putting in the miles to attend various music festivals around the country, as well as setting up shop in numerous locations around London, and was also among the posse at the Quakers Friars street food festival. Although the festival was a fi rst for Land Securities, Turf says it undoubtedly points the way towards the future for food within destination shopping centres: “It can help provide the soul for a shopping centre. The more diff erent compo- nents you have with relevance for your consumers the more soulful the centres can become and it turns them into a desti- nation. Street food has required a diff erent mentality from Land Securities, but Quakers Friars shows the willingness to embrace a modern culture.”


Expansion on the street food theme will put the company in a good position to sate the growing appetite of people to try something diff erent, according to Turf: “Street food brings diff erentiation as well as a whole level of creativity that draws attention to the centre. It enhances Cabot Circus’s reputation as a foodie heaven, whether it’s here today, gone tomorrow moments or well-loved restaurants.”


While Land Securities and others continue to re-jig their exposure to food within their develop- ments, Johnson says it is inevitable that street food will also evolve. There


are already premises some including the operators who


have moved on from food trucks and into high street


the now operates hugely trail-blazing


Meatwagon. It initially added a pop-up Meateasy and


successful


Meat Liquor and Meat Market restaurants in central London.


But street food operators will not all metamor- phose into bricks and mortar, says Johnson: “Some will get into bricks and mortar but they are being replaced by 10 more [new trucks] when they go. There is no reason why street food will die. It’s not faddy. It’s not about liquid nitrogen or edible fl owers. It is about eating outside and is a sensible solution to dining in new and diff erent ways.” ●


autumn 2012 17


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