Food Cart Open

With all the different ways to instant update on the internet, facebook, twitter, email, etc., I have fallen a little behind on this particular blog. Since finishing up summer vending in early October, I started working on building up my Eugene Street vending cart.

As of December 15th, it is now working weekdays in downtown Eugene. Hours are 11-4pm, Monday through Friday.

Additions to the menu include a delicious Vegan Tempeh Reuben Sandwich served on whole wheat organic Dave's Killer Bread. Also, a gluten free option, the Tempeh Satay served with peanut ginger sauce.

For more info on the cart and menu: http://eugenecooks.com/cart.html

Also, there is a Yelp! listing for the cart if you care to review it: http://www.yelp.com/biz/viva-vegetarian-grill---food-cart-eugene

Thanks!

Local news

I have added another event to the lineup for this summer, the Lane County Fair here in Eugene. I've never been, as a vendor, or patron, but I get the impression from friends and locals that it's kind of like a smaller version of the State Fair, with similar rides, and carnival scene. I like it when I don't have to travel too far for an event.

On another local note, I put in an application to the Eugene Saturday Market food court. It was a rare occasion that they had an opening. I would love to have a spot at the market and be involved in that whole local scene. I should know more about the status of my application late June or even next month.

Folklife Recap

We had a good time up in Seattle at the Northwest Folklife Festival. It is pretty much the biggest event on the schedule to date. We ended up selling out of everything we brought on the last day! The new griddle performed very well, and so did my help! Thanks to Joey, Anna, Irene, and Alex for your help making it a success!

ASUO Spring Street Faire

Helped out with my good buds Anna Ponto and Thomas Q.B., we got through the year's first fest with success, the University of Oregon Street Faire. All this despite the first two days being plagued with rain and a bit of wind.
We had the new booth banner flying and plenty of room to spread out between our neighbors. The Vegan Cheesesteak, a newcomer to the menu, was well received, and I was happy to see plenty of return customers who couldn't get enough of the All-American classic turned vegan.

T-Shirts!

Thanks to my super talented silk screening girlfriend Amy, I have some great new shirts for sale.

www.stickybutts.etsy.com

Chocolate Sauce

I was doing some experimenting and made a very easy and delicious dark chocolate sauce.
So far I've used it in crepes, coffee (mocha), and on the finger. I could think of many more uses. It has the consistency of nutella out of the fridge and even at room temp. It doesn't take much warmth to get it liquid or melt it into a hot drink.

Recipe:
8 oz dark chocolate (I used half a "pound plus" bar from Trader Joe's)
1 can coconut milk (some are thicker than others. The one I used had very little liquid and a somewhat thick coconut mass)

Break up chocolate into pieces and put into a steel saucepan on low with coconut milk. Heat on low and stir with whisk as mixture softens and melts. Pour into a container and store in the fridge.

2009 Eugene Celebration

I just saw that the 2009 Eugene Celebration overlaps with the last weekend of the Oregon State Fair in early September, which is quite the bummer, because I like working the Eugene Celebration. I am not sure I can find a way around this one. In 2007 I did 4 festivals in two weekends (2 overlapping), and it was a bit stressful. Hmm.

In Alaska

I am currently up in Alaska working on the boats through April.

Shiny Equipment

Yesterday I went to Valley Restaurant Equipment, a great place to buy used equipment here in Eugene. I'd been eying a stainless equipment stand (table) for a while. It was in good condition but priced a bit high. Usually the guys there cut quite a bit off the asking price, but I still wanted to research a bit to see what other used ones would go for in the area. I ended up getting it for a pretty fair price and took it home yesterday. It will be a necessity for the griddle I want to get.

I've been looking at 3 ft gas griddles for a while now, searching around for deals on used, and trying to find the best possible prices on new. I kind of have my heart set on a particular brand. But if I can get a good used griddle from another maker, I would go for it if the price was right. I went up to Rose's Restaurant Equipment last week and saw their huge selection of used and new. A lot of the used griddle were in poor shape, but apparently they fix and polish them up pretty good. Used seem to still command a high price, so this gives me a little peace of mind in that my investment will retain it's value if I have to lay out extra for a new one.

A griddle will be essential for the menu expansion in 2009. Cheesesteaks, quesadillas, and breakfast scrambles can be done with ease on this awesome piece of equipment. The only thing that isn't awesome is that is weighs 250 lbs! That is why I needed the heavy duty equipment stand above.

Organic Coffee

I just got off the phone with one of the roasters at Wandering Goat Coffee Company. They are one of the better organic fair trade coffee roasters here in Eugene, and fairly new. I have only been to their cafe a handful of times. I have purchased their coffee by the pound a few times as well. I've yet to be disappointed.
Anyway, I was talking over the possibility of adding WG coffee to my festival menu. We talked about practical brewing techniques that would fit my festival set up. He suggested cold water brewing the coffee, which yields a concentrate after 12 or so hours of steeping time.


Filtron Pro was the recommended tool for such a process. It is a $200 piece of equipment, but is still a relatively low investment when considering the cost of equipment that can produce similarly high quality product.

Without any experience using this kind of equipment, I still wonder if I could make something just as efficient for a fraction of the cost. I'll have to do more research.

Another cost to this process will be a high capacity commercial coffee grinder. I'll have to look into that as well. Fresh ground coffee gives the best flavor.

I'd like to be able to offer a delicious 20 oz. iced organic coffee or mocha at the booth for around $3.50. Hopefully customers will value the integrity of the coffee and decide it is a good value. I'll have to crunch some more numbers and see if I can make it work.

Vegan Cheesesteak Sandwich

Vegan Cheesesteak Sandwich. New on the menu for 2009. I think I just about perfected the vegan "cheese" sauce, which is cashew based.
This is served with caramelized onions, a standard gourmet topping for the veggie dogs and soysages sold at the booth. I might also have grilled mushrooms at select festivals.

This sandwich was so popular at Northwest Folklife in Seattle that we sold out of them. I was using Playfood vegan cheese. I dunno if they are in biz anymore. They use a cashew base for their cheese, which gave me the idea to experiment myself.

Hot off the press

Here are some new button creations. I am still experimenting with paper color/background and logo colors. Let me know what you think! They are available for purchase on my etsy page. Or just wait until the vending season starts and get one from me personally.
The design is a mockery of the John Deere logo. Conceptualized by me and polished by my wonderful artist friend Claire Flint.

Buttons

I just got a button maker to make 1" pin buttons. I had a friend make a cool design for some promo buttons. I'll put up pics of the finished products soon. They've been fun and easy to make so far.
The button maker brand is Tecre. I ordered it from Dr. Don's buttons (www.buttonsonline.com).

New Viva! Vegetarian Grill Website

I just remade the www.vivavegetarian.com website. It is a simple layout with all the important bits. I've decided to use a link to blogger (www.vivavegetariangrill.blogspot.com) for "News and Updates", and also the photos are linked into facebook. Hopefully it is easy to use!

Dave