Recession + Food Carts = Democratizing Food?

Prior to the recession, much of the buzz in the Portland food scene revolved around the latest and greatest in haute cuisine. Newsmakers were places like Higgins, Blue Hour, ClarkLewis, the ill-fated Lucier, or the all-too-LA-for-Portland Departure at The Nines Hotel (what the rest of us will always call Meier & Frank). Named star chefs and high dollar decor seemed to define the peak of what set the food world abuzz. And then the recession hit. In an industry that always was volatile and never had thick margins, the restaurant business got a whole lot uglier. Suddenly, it seemed every establishment was fielding a happy hour menu, or opening for lunch. And the new darling became not the latest Broadway Musical of an eatery, but the lowly (and low cost) food cart. Yes, you know them. They sit on select city blocks in downtown and some outlying areas, serving up every variety of mildly kitschy ethnic foods to office workers on their lunch break. They have just enough atmosphere to be part of the Portland food scene, and just enough to make them slightly scary for a suburbanite or newcomer to try. They belong not to the world of organic, locally grown gourmet food stuffs, but to the slightly grungy quirkiness that brought the world the Voodoo Donut Maple Bacon Bar. The poor step child of the local food scene was suddenly — thanks to the reduced disposable income of Portlanders — thrust into the limelight. Many have written about the food carts. You can read a regular blog about them here and the Big O has covered their rise extensively both in the paper and in their indispensable food magazine, MIX. Burgerville, the area’s regionally themed hamburger chain, has even gone in on the trend, creating a mobile Burgerville food cart called “the nomad” and making rounds throughout the metro area with it. With a lower entry cost for a prospective proprietor and a lower price point for product, food carts have been perfectly poised to weather the economic storm. Stories of chefs leaving their old jobs at traditional restaurants to open up food carts have become mildly apocryphal. One wonders if there are more people talking about downsizing to running a food cart than actually doing so. Once the recession bottoms out and begins to lessen, though, what will become of the food carts and the food cart trend? If indeed there is a respectable amount of ex restaurant workers switching to carts, they may find that the independence they enjoy in owning their own eatery — even if it is the size of a garden shed and/or on wheels — to be hard to give up. Sure, there’s no white tablecloths, (probably) no fois gras, and chef hats likely hit the ceiling, but the ability to cook what you want how you want is a freedom that is rarely enjoyed by the average kitchen worker. When the economic situation improves, Portland may find that this wealth of food carts may continue and grow as those working in them develop an appreciation for the freedoms of self employment. The result may be an increase in Portland’s diversity of food — especially affordable, quality food. Might the recession and the food cart leave their mark on the region by democratizing the quality food scene? If so, foodies and average folks alike will have cause to cheer.