We are open for business!

We passed the inspection on March 3rd, and we opened On March 5th! Erin has been great, she was there through the whole process. When we opened, some pipes were leaking and the gas wasn't coming out, but she showed up within 30 minutes of my call and saved the day.

My first fear was that we were not going to sell anything... but we did! Tons of feijoada! Our crepe machine is still not working and I am angry about that, but I think we can fix it for the upcoming weekend. The acai was a huge success, and so was the feijoada. People were very open to try it even when they were not totally sure what it was.

I also realized that we need to be more clear with the type of food that we are selling. I guess "samba" and the statue of Jesus don't really scream Brazil as I thought it woul. Hope to see you there sometime soon!

It's almost Show Time!

My head is pounding, and my body is aching. We just parked our cart in the D-Street Noshery. We spent the day looking for n alternative for my crepe machine, which comes from Brazil and it's not set up for propane tanks. No one knows how to figure it out so far.

I discovered Rose's restaurant supply. They have used and new restaurant supplies. Pretty much everything you'll ever need for a food cart. I also discovered Curtis trailer supplies. They have everything for trailers. That's where I bought the cables to connect the electricity.

D-Street requires liability insurance, which is great, but I wasn't expecting the extra $85 dollars per month. They also require compostable disposables. I am happy about that. There are about 600 food carts in Portland right now. Just imagine the amount of waste they produce if they are not composting. At least I am part of the solution, and not the problem.

We have our pre-opening inspection today, and Erin is going to be there. There are still several things that need to be in place, such as a thermometer, and a sanitizing kit. Mostly discovering as we go. I am a bit scared now that we are finally parked and ready to blow up. 

SHACK-STATUS

SAMBA SHACK does NOT like the rain.
SAMBA SHACK's new door frame is swelling more and more.
SAMBA SHACK is dripping water ever so slightly from her ceiling vent
SAMBA SHACK's windows and interior walls are nice and clean
SAMBA SHACK is having gas issues, and BEANO is not helping
SAMBA SHACK is very sad that her more successful and popular cousin, RADIO, has not called to wish her good luck :-(

We found a home!

We are now moving to the D-Street Noshery and it seems like the downtown fiasco worked out for the better. After Al told us to look for another spot, we went desperately looking for something else that would be reasonable and we wouldn't be just feeding 3 people per day. We went to the D-Street Noshery on 32nd and Division and it turned out that I knew the guy who was managing the lot, Michael. He is a friend of a friend of a friend... who I met when he was running his cart on Alberta. The lot was pretty much full, but Michael said that he would take my cart because it's Brazilian food, and because I was a friend of Phil.

The pot has some famous carts, which is good and bad, and a heated area in the middle. Besides that, there is a beer cart too! I know, everything is falling into place, and this spot seems to be much better than downtown.

Erin dropped off our cart today, and the water heater is not working. She said that she is dropping one off tomorrow. Our inspection is scheduled for Tuesday, so everything has to be ready to go. I am glad Erin wants to be there when we park the cart to make sure everything is working and to walk us through any sort of trouble shooting and what-nots.

We need a spot!

What a bummer! I just spoke to Al from the City Center parking lots, which dominate all the lots in downtown, and he does not like our trailer. He thinks it looks too old and rusty to put in one of his lots. I am a little hurt because of all the love that we have put into our little Shasta. He told me he knows I did not spend too much money on my trailer, and it's not fair to park next to someone who spent 40K to build their trailer. Does anyone really spends that much money building a food cart? If so, I guess I really don't belong in the fancy part of town, because I might as well buy a restaurant for that amount of money...

Feelings aside, I found out that Star Park is another company that manages some of the lots in downtown, and I contacted them today. Their number is 503.223.4128. The lady said that she would check with their customers (the owners of the lots) and call us back to let us know if anything is available. We are know frantically desperate to find a spot and I am very afraid of having to settle for a pot that is not successful. Downtown is sort of guaranteed, so that is why I am sticking with it for now.

Apparently Guarana soda is worth its weight in gold. We cannot find that anywhere. Even the only Brazilian restaurant in town does not carry it anymore. They told me that the only distributor who used to sell Brazilian products went bankrupt and does not sell it anymore. I am almost giving up, but it would be sooo great to carry Guarana soda. For the ones who are not familiar, Guarana is a soda made with guarana, which is a fruit that is only found in the Amazon forest. It's an energy fruit, and healthy for you.

We received the response from the county and our plan is approved. Yey! Now we have to call them one week before we open and make an appointment. We pay the last part of the fee, and they will inspect everything. There is a list of things we must have in order to pass the health inspection. It doesn't sound very hard.

After a long and difficult search for environmentally friendly to go containers and flatware, I found a place right around my house. I looked everywhere, and asked several people, and the deals online just weren't great. Finally, I had the brilliant idea of asking my friend Katie who also owns a food cart. The place is called Cash & Carry and they have most of the things one might need for a food cart, even food. Although their food is not cheaper then Costco, so we are going with Costco for that.

Painting

I have the greatest friends I could ask for. I asked Jonas and Smiley if they wanted to help me paint and they didn't even hesitate, they both jumped at the opportunity. They came with me and Adam, and Jonas figured out that we should file the trailer first, so we did that. Hopefully the paint will stick.

We still have not received a response from Multnomah County for our license. I am glad we sent it in early enough. Our cart was supposed to be ready on the 11th, but there seems to be some delays. Erin is having a hard time finding all the equipment. We are still missing a fresh water tank, we got the gray. We found a stove and a refrigerator that run on propane. We want to be ready to go to festivals with no generators, just propane.