《文化对比阅读》(上) Unit 3-- Fast Food 6.Street Food Takes Cover.docVIP

Street Food Takes Cover Bruce Palling How does a trend go mainstream? An idiosyncratically dressed teenager is spotted in a market or nightclub, and suddenly becomes the new “face〞 of a perfume or fashion line. Something similar is occurring with casual food, where a food truck near a city bridge or a pop-up bar in a hip part of town morph into standalone restaurants. These days, thanks to the power of social media, two kids with a skillet and an iPad can suddenly become a viable business model. With the lessening of the power of haute cuisine and fine dining, the food scene has become a free-fire zone with a greater array of food styles coming together than ever before. While combinations can hail from Korea and Japan, they all seem to have been tweaked and converted by coming to Europe via the United States. One chef said their mission “has always been about the democratisation of food and the breaking down of barriers.〞 However, they are not all aiming at the lower end of the food chain. One of the most fashionable bars in central London goes very high-low by serving designer hot dogs with a range of excellent champagnes. Called Bubbledogs , in the zone known as “NoHo〞 (North of Soho) or Fitzrovia, this place combines chic with street in one manifestation of chef James Knappett’s talents – he has a highly regarded set menu establishment behind it, called Kitchen Table. Another example is Pitt Cue, also in London, a tiny establishment serving classic southern US barbecue along with an encyclopaedic range of Bourbons. Pitt Cue began as a food truck under the arches of Hungerford Bridge on the South Bank, between the London Eye and Festival Hall, where long queues formed to try their 14-hour slow-roasted pulled pork with beans and salad or beef brisket with pickles on toast. Now, Pitt Cue has its own bestselling cookbook, published in the US in June, and has set new standards for quality sourcing of ingredients. Co-owner Jamie Berger, with a PhD from Harvard i