BRITISH street food is moving towards the centre ground.
It's bright, well-finished, genteel... very, well, un-street
The street traders are shifting indoors, the insiders are hitting the road, while the middle-of-the-roaders, well, they'll stay 'street' as long as it suits 'em, selling the illusion of the outside on the inside by glueing knackered old bikes to the walls and making you eat off oil drums.
We've seen successful Manchester street food outfits - such as Rudy's Pizza and Viet Shack - announce permanent outlets recently; we've eaten fine restaurant food from the kitchens of Aumbry and Nutters at rowdy street food raves; and seen the likes of Almost Famous ride off into the sunset in a pimped-out, Chef-style food truck.
But there is the sense that street food, the latest hip incarnation at least, is ready to drop-off. The term has become vague, the boundaries blurred, the ideology dilluted. People are confused by 'authenticity' and KFC's pulled chicken and increasingly frustrated by inflated prices and paying through the nose for a grilled cheese butty because someone's put a DJ in a soggy car park.
The Kitchens, LeftbankWe're still in love with the notion, of course. That free-riding, nomadic, anti-establishmentism; and given the choice many would still rather hand them £6 over The Pret Machine. The problem though is punters are struggling to differentiate between what is bona fide and what is not. Who's doing it for passion and not for profit (very few). If the street moves inside and the inside moves out, then who's more 'street'? Should it matter?
Into this bog of confusion comes Spinningfields' new Kitchens concept - launching over two days this week on Wednesday 10 and Thursday 11 June.
On the surface The Kitchens certainly sounds like the collaborative street food events we've come to recognise through the likes of B.Eat Street and Guerrilla Eats, multiple food vendors trading side-by-side. Except this feels different, it's bright, well-finished, genteel... very, well, un-street.
Wholesome & Raw, The KitchensThe point of difference here is unlike nearly all other street food operations The Kitchens has some serious financial clout behind it. The project has been devised and managed by Allied London, the property investment juggernauts behind Spinningfields and plans for the nearby £1bn St John's neighbourhood.
The start-up project is giving six finalists - Bangers & Bacon, Chaat Cart, Hip Hop Chip Shop, Mumma Schnitzel, Wholesome & Raw and Yakumama - from Manchester's food and drink small-fry the opportunity to win a permanent and highly lucrative unit in Spinningfields and long-term support from Allied London. The eventual winner - judged on criteria including turnover, brand and effort - will be decided in twelve months time.
As far as street food goes, this is The Grail.
The Kitchens finalists"They didn't make it easy for us," explains Bangers & Bacon's Richie Brown. "We were told to draw up a business plan and pitch to a board in a Dragons' Den-style format." Roughly 200 traders applied to the project.
"Allied London have been unbelievable," he continues, "We're used to scrimping and saving, but now we have a budget to work to - we've got Salamander grills, six burners and all the fridge space we need. They've even given us designers to refine and polish our brands into what you see today."
It's a culinary version of My Fair Lady. But does he still feel 'street'?
"Yes," he pauses. "For me you cease to be a street food trader once you stop trading on the streets and we're still out there at the events and the festivals - we love it. But this is the beginning of the bricks'n'mortar dream for us."
Ah, yes, 'the dream'... and that's the crux.
Bangers & Bacon's James (left) and Richie (right) - fighting for the dreamAs much as you'll hear street food traders state, hand on heart: 'we're not in it for the money'. Of course, they are. And so they should be. They need it. Because one thing every single street food trader across the world has in common is the desire to open their own restaurant ("I welled up when we finally got the keys," says Brown). Problem is opening a restaurant is so brutally expensive.
"This lot cost in the region of half a million," says Allied London's Rochelle Silverstein.
Half a million? Don't get me wrong, The Kitchens are handsome enough, but half a bloody million for two shoeboxes? No wonder these poor buggers don't stand a chance on their own.
That's where Allied London, fair play to 'em, have stepped in; investing up to £10,000 per trader to give them a leg up and Leftbank some 'street cred'. This is no charity, of course, there's still rent to pay; but at a 'very decent rate', we're assured.
Ok, so the streets moving inside and the dream has been dilluted. But then, who cares, the food's as good (if not better), the prices are still under £7 and these hard-working folks are finally being given a fighting chance of making it in an industry that is near impossible without serious venture capital.
'Street Food' has moved on, and this lot won't be left out in the cold.
The Kitchens, Irwell Square, Leftbank, Spinningfields, M3 3AG. @_TheKitchens
7am to 10pm, seven days a week.
