We love pop up, we love street food, we
love moveable feasts. Paying an entrance fee to be allowed to eat someplace
doesn’t seem to be a problem, nor does queueing up, canteen-stylie, to get your
fare. Have we lost our minds?
All over Europe, they’ve popped up like
crazy this summer. Once the sad little side show at music festivals and fun
fairs, they have become the main attraction themselves. The food truck is
pushing the restaurant out of the picture.
The pop up aspect of these
kitchens-on-wheels is what seems to appeal most of all. They are there when you
are there, just when you need them most. In theory. Because in practice, it’s
you traveling to the food festival which often involves a bigger trek than
popping into your local café. On your doorstep they are not.
The chefs in these food trucks, on food
bikes or even in vintage little caravans have to work under less than ideal
circumstances. A small kitchen, a limited amount of gear and the work pressures
of your average maccie D’s. It’s like asking a window washer to do without a
ladder, an artist without a studio or a butcher without a block. It’s doable, sure,
but you can’t really expect them to work miracles, can you? So how come that
curry, kept warm for hours on end, is so expensive?
I can hear you thinking: but I love that there’s so much so choose from! And indeed,
when you take the whole of the festival and see it as one big happy restaurant,
the wide choice is certainly a bonus. You’ll have to queue up for each singular
item separately, though, to collect your full meal. Plus once for the wine.
Your food will get cold, you have to squat because all the chairs are taken
and, to add insult to injury, you have to tidy up your own mess. Value for
money? I beg to differ.
Yet, there I go, running excitedly towards
the next food festival. Have I lost my mind?
No comments:
Post a Comment