Friday, September 4, 2009

The News

I think it's time to spill the beans about our newest project. It's not that I haven't wanted to share everything that's going on, it's just that sometimes I get a bit buggy-boo talking about things before they happen. The truth is that we're knee-deep in the permitting stage for a food concession trailer. Before we can proceed further, our plans are in the hands of the health department awaiting initial approval. This waiting is driving me bonkers.

The food cart scene in Portland has been absolutely exploding lately, and for good reason. There are so many inventive chefs and entrepreneurs, with creative food that runs the gamut from ice cream to stuffed hand pies, side dishes, stuffed waffles, vegan burritos to ethnic food, Belgian frites, vegan BBQ... You name it, it's happening in a tiny trailer on some street corner in Portland. So as a creative chef and food lover, I've often fantasized about opening a cart, wondering what type of food I would serve.

Then a few weeks back, I awoke one morning to find my husband with his laptop in hand, asking me how I felt about opening a food cart of our own. He had found a trailer for sale on Craigslist, that was all set-up and ready to go. Always up for a new adventure, I figured this sounded like a cool way to do some creative food, without the major headaches of opening an actual restaurant.

Needless to say, two days later we became the proud owners of a shiny black food trailer. The owner had set it up for himself, but had decided to move back home and was selling everything. "It's ready to go" he said. Well, maybe not quite ready to go. Jay has spent the last two weeks having the electrical fixed, replacing equipment that wasn't working and fixing things that weren't quite right. Now, hopefully, it's ready to go. For the time being we sit, waiting to get the initial approval from the health department. Then we can think about locations.

So now you all are up to speed on where we're at. We're holding our breath with our fingers crossed, hoping that we can make this newest venture a reality. Until then, I've got lots of cookbook editing to do. And a daughter to move to college. And a son going back to school... Life is good!

15 comments:

joanna said...

even though i've known about this for a couple of weeks, this post still made me excited!!!! can't wait to see what you guys will do with it.

as far as locations, can i strongly suggest north portland? it's the only quadrant of town that doesn't have many food carts, but the food carts that are here (flavourspot, moxie) do very, very, very well.

A.M. said...

Wow, that is so cool!

The Voracious Vegan said...

Portland really is vegan heaven isn't it?

This idea is really exciting and I'm so happy for you! I can't wait till it's all set up and we can see pictures and hear about your success. Good luck!

aimee said...

I really need to visit Portland! Congratulations!!

KitteeBee said...

such fun and exciting news!
xo
kittee

Sheree' said...

What cool news!!! I have my fingers crossed for your approval to come quickly. I know that if I am ever in Portland again, I am going to find your VEGAN FOOD CART!! Congrats to you and DH!

Michelle Schwegmann said...

i cannot wait to hear the next news and to eat at your cart! also, tally another vote for North PDX.

julie hasson said...

Thanks for all the well wishes you guys! We're working hard to open in the next couple of weeks (fingers crossed!).

Joanna and Michelle, we're definitely looking into North Portland. I'll let you know as soon as we have a confirmation on the location.

Unknown said...

how exciting!

St johns has no food carts... but I would go to N Portland to try it out :)

Alisa said...

Congratulations Julie! I am way behind on blog reading, but glad I didn't miss this post.

Email me when you are up and running with some details and I will post about it on Go Dairy Free.

julie hasson said...

Thanks Erica. We're still trying to find the right spot. Not as easy to find as we thought it would be.

Thanks so much Alisa! We would love that. I too am way behind on blog reading!

mysticxian said...

Wow, good luck. Sounds scary and exciting at the same time.

Melisser; the Urban Housewife said...

I'm so excited for you! I can't wait til the big reveal!

Amy said...

I'm busy catching up on blog posts so have only just found this. A VERY big congratulations!!! How exciting!!

If only I lived closer to Portland :(

Shannon Michelle said...

Congrats! We're going through the same process here in SF. Any tips?