Portland Food Cart Stories: Behind the Scenes with the City’s Culinary Entrepreneurs

For more than five years every August around the time of Carina’s birthday, Nick and Carina would host a gathering at Delores Park in San Francisco. The rule of this gathering was that everyone had to bring his or her favorite cheese, chocolate or sparkling beverage.

Once a year, they would spend the whole day “eating the most awesome cheese and choice sparkling wine.” That event is where Nick and Carina spent many beautiful hours enjoying themselves and cherishing others. Those joy-filled days fed the amazing souls that they both are.

That annual party featuring quality cheese is the genesis of the Cheese Plate PDX Food Cart.

In December 2008, Nick and Carina moved to Portland, Oregon. Carina had taken the position of managing editor and publisher of Mandala, the official publication of the Foundation for the Preservation of the Mahayana Tradition. FPMT is a very impressive charitable organization that was founded by two Tibetan Buddhist masters, Lama Thubten Yeshe and Lama Thubten Zopa Rinpoche. This organization is of the same lineage as the Dalai Lama.

In the winter of 2012, Carina and Nick went away for the weekend to Hood River, and it was there that the idea for the Cheese Plate PDX was born. They decided that they were going start a food cart that focused on cheese. Carina and Nick spent the next few months getting ready to launch their business. For them, the food cart they were working on opening was going to be the first step in a bigger plan.

On July 6, 2012, the Dalia Lama’s birthday, the Cheese Plate PDX opened its doors. The Cheese Plate PDX doesn’t specialize in just any cheese. It specializes in serving high-quality local cheese. It features cheese from creameries such as Willamette Valley Cheese, Briar Rose Creamery, Portland Creamery and Rogue Creamery. If you love fine-quality cheese, the cheese plates they have will be right up your alley.

True confession time: I love meat. I love bacon. And I have had lots of really bad vegetarian food. In my world, hot dogs that come from a can are just wrong. The Cheese Plate, like two other food carts in this book, is a vegetarian food cart. It is serious about this vegetarian thing.

Cheese is made with something called rennet, which is, most of the time, made from the stomach of a cow, a goat or a sheep. Vegetarians are not real big on eating mammal stomachs. The Cheese Plate PDX only sells cheese that is made with rennet that is not animal based. Although the Cheese Plate is seriously vegetarian, let me be clear: I love the food at this cart. When I eat there, I do not miss meat. Not one bit.

Yes, the cheeses that they serve at the Cheese Plate are superb. What people tend to overlook is the amazing sides that you can get there. The menu is seasonal, so depending on the time of year, you can get items like olives, spiced nuts, truffle potato salad, roasted beets, mushroom kale pâté, cantaloupe with cardamom salt or watermelon with ginger salt.

The grilled cheese “sammiches” that they have at the Cheese Plate are a revelation. It sometimes has on the menu a lavender caramel grilled cheese sammich made with goat cheese and fontina. It is decadent. It has a seasonal grilled cheese sammich made with smoked mozzarella, roasted Brussels sprouts and caramelized onion aioli. Really? Brussels sprouts on a grilled cheese sandwich? It works. It works really well.

The Cheese Plate PDX is very popular with vegans. I am talking real vegans—the kind who don’t eat cheese. Carina said that some of her friends who are vegetarians sometimes miss meat. Vegans don’t miss meat; however, some of them do miss cheese. With that in mind, Nick and Carina set out to come up with a vegan cheese that tastes good. The amazing thing to me is that they did it. They sell a cashew-based vegan fromage fort, and it actually tastes great.

For Nick and Carina, their most significant highlight to date was in May 2013, when the Dalai Lama came to Portland. The Cheese Plate PDX Food Cart and the Gonzo Falafel and Hummus Food Cart were both chosen to have their food served at a reception for the Dalai Lama. I was lucky enough to be there that day, and Carina and Nick were absolutely thrilled to be part of that event. It is funny how the universe works. In July 2012, Nick and Carina had purposely opened their food cart on the Dalai Lama’s birthday, and just ten months later, their food was served at a reception for him.

Carina and Nick have a dream, and that dream is coming together. They built that dream on their love for cheese and the joy it brought into their lives back in San Francisco at Delores Park.

What’s Next: Before 2014 ends, Carina and Nick plan to remodel their food cart and add a cheese and specialty food shop onto the end. In the long term, they would love to grow their brand to the point that they could have a brick-and-mortar establishment. I personally think that they are on to something with their cashew-based vegan fromage fort, and I will not be surprised if someday the Cheese Plate Cashew Fromage Fort is sold nationwide.

When You Go: First get a Cheese Lovers’ Oregon Cheese Plate and whichever seasonal grilled cheese sandwich catches your eye. Then, depending on the time of the year, I have three favorites you would do well to get. If it is late fall or winter when you visit, the cheddar ale soup is on my list of the best things I have ever enjoyed at a food cart. If it is summer, and either the cantaloupe with cardamom salt or the watermelon with ginger salt is available, get it!

Recipes: You can find three of the Cheese Plate PDX recipes (Cilantro and Goat Cheese Spring Rolls with Peach Chutney; Wild Mushroom and Kale Pâté; and Fromage Fort) in Trailer Food Diaries Cookbook, Portland edition, vol. 1. Two more of the Cheese Plate PDX recipes (Smoky Caramel Grilled Cheese; and Spicy Kale and Garlic Cheese on Toast) can be found in Trailer Food Diaries Cookbook, Portland edition, vol. 2.

Some food cart owners will say, “Back when I opened my cart, the Portland food cart scene was just getting started.” In the fall of 2013, I was privileged to attend the twelfth anniversary of the Divine Café Food Cart. That’s right, I said twelfth. The Divine Café Food Cart has been around for twelve years. When the Divine Café Food Cart moved to the 9^th and Alder pod, it was the fourth food cart to open there.

One of the tough parts of being a food cart fan is seeing how many of them go out of business. Often a food cart owner’s initial goal is make it through the first winter, and it is quite an achievement for a food cart to make it through two winters. The Divine Café has been through thirteen winters.

Rose Guardino visited Portland in the summer of 1990, and in 1991, she graduated high school, having attending Santa Catalina School for Girls in Monterey, California. Following graduation, Rose knew that she wanted to live in Portland, and she proceeded to hitchhike her way to the “City of Roses” itself. She then spent nine years working in the restaurant business. During that time, she worked in both the front and back of the house and attended culinary school. Rose had been professionally cooking for a number of years before attending culinary school, which taught Rose to think in ounces and pennies and helped her realize how important each of those pennies and ounces were to succeeding as a small business owner working in the food industry.

Rose opened the Divine Café Food Cart in 2001. In March 2000, she was going through a tough transition phase in her life, and a friend asked, “What do you want to do with your life?” Rose answered, “You know that Snow White Food Cart downtown? I want to open a food cart, a vegetarian food cart.”

In May 2000, while meditating, Rose saw the name that her food cart would have—the concept, the colors and so on. Rose then began putting together a business plan. At this point in her journey, Rose also worked with a SCORE mentor, and she found that experience to be extremely helpful. SCORE is a nonprofit association that provides entrepreneurs access to coaching from active and retired businesspeople who have had success in their field. The company was previously known as the Service Corps of Retired Executives, but it is now recognized as SCORE, “Counselors to America’s Small Business.”

Rose occasionally gets asked, “What does the name of your food cart mean to you? Are you trying to make a religious statement?” Rose believes that none of us is perfect and that each of us is divine and special. Rose wants people to know that that they are worth it. She loves providing people with healthy, high-quality food that is delicious, and she hopes that her food helps people realize that good food can also be healthy.

In 2006, Rose was given the opportunity to open a food cart on the campus of the National College of Natural Medicine located near the Ross Island Bridge just off of Southwest Naito Parkway. She bought a second food cart and, for a time, had two carts opened. Rose ended up selling her first food cart, which was located at 9^th and Alder, to Kir Jensen, who opened the Sugar Cube Food Cart in that very cart.

The Divine Café Food Cart remained at the National College of Natural Medicine until July 2012, when Rose moved to the Good Food Here Food Cart Pod on 43^rd and Belmont. Rose has done very well at her latest location. The Divine Café Food Cart now has a beer and wine garden, and Rose was among the very first food cart owners to get an Oregon Liquor Control Commission (OLCC) liquor license for a food cart.

A number of Portland food carts have a connection to the TV show Grimm. Rose actually works on the show, serving as a food stylist. She really enjoys seeing food that she has styled end up on TV.

As I have mentioned elsewhere in this book, I love bacon, and there is nothing like the smell of meat cooking over a flame. That being said, when I eat at the Divine Café, I thoroughly enjoy my meal. In fact, only about 25 percent of Rose’s clients are vegetarians. The majority of her customers are people who simply go for the wonderful food.

What’s Next: Rose plans to expand the catering that she does out of her food cart, and she hopes to continue to do even more food styling for the TV and film industry.

When You Go: Get the quesadilla! It is delightful. The Tempeh Rueben is stellar, as is whatever soup and dessert they happen to be serving that day. I think that I could live on the wonderful soups they have at the Divine Café.

Ryan opened the Moberi Food Cart in August 2012, launching one of Portland’s most innovative food carts. At Moberi, they ride a bike hooked up to a blender to make phenomenal smoothies that taste fantastic and are quite healthy for you.

“None of the traditional options appealed to me,” said Ryan. When he was in high school, he would hear about career options that he could pursue following college. It was then that he realized that he would most likely end up being self-employed. Working “nine to five” Monday through Friday for the “man” for forty years was not a path that Ryan wanted to take.

In his twenties, Ryan traveled the world. He would say that he was looking for the perfect business idea. Ryan always said this half jokingly and with a smile…but only half jokingly. Someday he would have to start his business; he just did not know what it would be.

Ryan traveled the globe, seeing South America, Europe, Vietnam, Australia, New Zealand and many other places. Ryan had a number of adventures along the way, and I hope that someday he writes about them. For example, in Morocco, Ryan met a very special turtle named Mo and even ran out of money and ended up sleeping on a roof for a few weeks.

Ryan is not a trust fund baby, and he funded much of his traveling working odd jobs as he roamed the planet. In Australia, he had part-time job washing dishes, and a coworker showed him a YouTube video featuring a Guatemalan NGO named Maya Pedal. Maya Pedal makes a number of bike-powered machines. Ryan knew then that he had found the business idea that he had been searching the world over for.

In 2010, he returned home to Portland, got a job to pay the bills, bought a journal and began to sketch out his new business. In the spring of 2011, Ryan set up a bike-powered blender on the sidewalk in front of his house. He had a modified Schwinn, a blender, a cooler full of fruit and a dream. People liked his smoothies, and over that summer, he hauled around the bike, the blender and a portable sink and made smoothies at events all over Portland. Moberi was on its way!

Moberi is so named to honor Ryan’s turtle Mo, as well as because Ryan likes the awesome berries that we have in Oregon. One day, that name popped into his head, and once he said it out loud, it stuck. He knew that he could build a great brand around that name.

“Money aside, Kickstarter was the best thing I ever did for my business,” Ryan noted. He bought his first cart in 2012 and opened up at a food cart pod in August that same year. He soon realized that he would do well to have a second food cart that he could use for events, and on April 12, 2013, he launched a Kickstarter project. Ryan was able to raise the $6,000 he needed for his second cart. In addition to the needed funds, he also got two huge unexpected benefits from his Kickstarter efforts.

The first was that in preparing for his Kickstarter, he basically had to sit down and finally write a comprehensive business plan. He found that process to be immensely valuable. It is actually common for food cart owners to open their food cart without a business plan.

The second unexpected benefit was the Kickstarter video itself. That video allowed people to see what Ryan means when he says, “Moberi is smoothies powered by bikes.” I tell food cart owners all the time that you have to tell people your brand story, and the Moberi Kickstarter video does just that for Ryan. Go watch the video for yourself and see what I mean. Ryan is very grateful to Ken Wilson for the work he did filming and editing that video.

Ryan has done a fantastic job providing amazing smoothies that taste great and have ingredients like kale, beets and spinach in them. I have to admit, the first time I had one of Ryan’s healthier-sounding smoothies I had some fear and trepidation. But wow, Ryan’s concoctions are great—even the ones with kale!

Ryan’s two most popular smoothies are the Delorean (strawberries, banana and mango) and the Captain Planet (kale, spinach, mango, banana, hemp protein, ginger and coconut milk). In addition to those smoothies, you can get an Uncle Jessie, a One Night in Bangkok, a Johnny Utah and others.

What’s Next: Ryan is working on a smoothie cookbook, and then he hopes to launch a website where he will share some of his travel stories and talk about the lessons he has learned on his startup adventure.

When You Go: My favorite Moberi smoothie is the One Night in Bangkok, a savory smoothie made with peanut butter, Sriracha, sesame oil, banana, whey protein and almond milk. For me, it is the crème de la crème of the smoothie world. Whenever I have one, I feel smart enough to play chess.

Recipes: You can find two Moberi recipes (the Delorean; and Turtle Power) in Trailer Food Diaries Cookbook, Portland edition, vol. 2.

Jeff Ridabock opened the Homegrown Smoker Vegan BBQ Food Cart in April 2009. He himself became a fully fledged vegan two months later.

For many years, Jeff worked at a corporate job that he loved. He was a chef consultant in the food services industries. In 2008, he lost his job, and as he looked toward finding new employment, he discovered that the only jobs he could get in that industry were going to pay him half or even less than the one he lost.

In 2006, Jeff’s two teenage kids came home one day and announced that they were now vegetarian. Jeff, being a chef in his own right and the one who did all the cooking in the house, started learning to cook vegetarian. Two years later, his kids decided to go vegan, and Jeff was faced with learning to cook without butter, cream or cheese.

This culinary challenge actually invigorated him. Jeff found that he loved getting to be creative in the kitchen once again. The more he cooked vegan cuisine, the more excited he got. He found that he could make vegan food that tasted great.

Jeff had previously been involved with a Westside company that did meat barbecue. The more he cooked vegan, the more the idea of applying barbecue techniques to vegan cuisine appealed to him.

In late 2008, Jeff began to realize that instead of taking another corporate job, he could choose the self-employment route and open a food cart. Jeff then began to toy with the idea of opening a vegan food cart. His big question was: would people buy his vegan concepts and dishes?

In early 2009, Jeff did the cooking for his son’s birthday party, and all the items were vegan dishes prepared with barbecue techniques. He wanted to see if young people would like his food. The items were a huge hit, and by the time that party was over, Jeff knew that he could make a vegan barbecue food cart work.

Jeff had the master bathroom mirror peppered with post-its that had potential names on them. Yet he did not like any of the names that he came up with. It eventually came down to three concepts. Jeff felt that this was homegrown business, the food was vegan and much of it was prepared with barbecue techniques. Eventually, he settled on calling his cart Homegrown Smoker Vegan BBQ. To Jeff, this name was memorable, fun and accurate.

I asked Jeff, “How can your cart be vegan and barbecue?” Jeff’s answer made sense to me. He uses natural woods and smoke, and he cooks at a low temperature. He uses rubs and marinades and sauces. Jeff employs the same techniques now that he used when he was barbecuing meat.

Jeff Ridabock, owner of the Homegrown Smoker Vegan BBQ Food Cart. Photo by Ken Wilson.

Jeff first opened his cart on 23^rd and Alberta in 2009. By the time 2012 rolled around, Jeff had two food carts—one downtown and one at the now-defunct Green Castle Food Cart Pod. Jeff was able to make two carts work for nine months before he had to shut down one of his carts and move the other. The year 2012 was a rough one, and Homegrown Smoker Vegan BBQ almost did not make it.

Thankfully, Jeff was able to move his remaining cart to the Mississippi Marketplace Food Cart Pod, and the summer of 2013 was his best ever. The future of Homegrown Smoker Vegan BBQ is once again looking bright.

Jeff actually had a tough time himself going vegan. Just before his cart opened in 2009, he had given up the last bit of chicken and cheese that he had occasionally nibbled on. With all the vegan dishes that the had learned to cook, giving those two items up was no big deal. The cart had been open two months, and Jeff was still having two ounces of cream in his coffee each morning. It was then that he told himself, “Jeff, if you are going to go vegan, you have to go whole hog [or “hawg,” as he often puts it].” With that, he became 100 percent vegan.

Jeff is quite a character. He is often wearing a tie-dyed T-shirt, and he calls himself a “psychedelic relic.” And yes, I did ask—the Grateful Dead is indeed his favorite band. Jeff and his vegan food cart are very much a part of the always interesting Portland food cart scene, and he has many vegan fans who count on him for their supply of vegan ’cue.

What’s Next: Jeff has been working on a cookbook, and he gets many requests to bottle and sell his barbecue sauce.

When You Go: Get the Slosmomofo—smoked soy curls with a maple bourbon barbecue sauce and a chipotle slaw. I also recommend the smoked tempeh burger. If you want to sample a number of Jeff’s dishes, the combo platter is the way to go.

Food Writer’s Perspective:

JENNIFER CHAN

Portland is a city of many things, but from my visits, I see a city of determined and innovative people. It is a city of intense lovers, so focused in the “what” yet cognizant of the need for the social glue to make it also about the community they’re raising around it.

Portland’s food cart scene is nearly legendary, and yet I still had no idea how robust it was. Nor did I realize how intimidating it would be to even begin. Ultimately, I started with the Frying Scotsman. I couldn’t have picked a better cart—James King is such a character and so willing to share his story. Eventually, I would pick out the craziest carts or the ones with dishes I’d not seen. Those are the carts with a story behind them—they’re doing something out of the ordinary either with their décor or in their kitchen.

The maturity in Portland’s food cart scene is the thing that I wish for most in other cities. Seeing how pods have fostered a real community space was also really eye-opening. Food trucks in other cities don’t have the advantage of a permanent area to stay in, and so they never have the chance to establish something more than transient with the people they serve. I can only hope that other cites embrace the unique Portland pod concept—it’s a great way to create real ties beyond service.

In the end, great food carts are not just about a good product; they are about the people behind it. There are plenty of carts out there that are there only to feed your hunger, but the ones that stand out are the ones that share their enthusiasm and connect with you. Whether by verbal means or beyond by using social media, it’s the connection that will keep people coming back. Social media plays heavily into that these days, but it’s more because that is where a large portion of their audience lives. Sometimes just talking face to face is the best way.

For those visiting and wanting to get right into food carts, I’d tell them to do some research first. Having an idea of what’s worth eating will cut down on all the aimless wandering. Here are my top food cart dishes:

Khachapuri from Kargi Gogo. This hot bread oozing with cheese and with a lightly crisped exterior is the perfect carb-bomb. With salty melted butter running down my chin, this just hit me in all the right ways right from the first bite.

Liège Waffle from Gaufre Gourmet. It’s the smell that gets you first—that distinctive smell of caramelizing sugar and yeast. But what spurs you on is the waffle’s crunch from sugar and an extra toasty exterior. Then there’s the “just right” give of a perfectly chewy interior. I love these over Belgians as the liège-style waffle gives your teeth something to sink into.

Fish and Chips from the Frying Scotsman. This classic dish is just done really well here. The batter is airy and not greasy, the fish is perfectly done and the fries are amazing. Love that hint of turmeric in the batter.

Carnitas al Güero from Guero. I’ve had little experience with Mexican sandwiches, but these were just flat-out delicious. Great punchy flavors, but they are still really well balanced, encased in these fluffy breads with just the right give. So good.

Eggs Benedict from the Egg Carton. Love their take on the classic eggs benny. Tangy lemon hollandaise sauce over beautifully poached eggs and a cart-made sausage patty. Then topped with a hit of saltiness from the kale chip.

Kelaguen Mannok from PDX Six Seven One. Cold and smoky chicken cubes liberally mixed with coconut, peppers, onions, lemon and a good kick of chili. Ridiculously good. My mouth is watering as I type this.

Arbor Lodge Sandwich from the Big Egg. A perfect breakfast sandwich—meaty, but not in a way that would weigh you down. The garlicky goodness and peppery bite of arugula are perfect touches. And of course, it’s finished with a fried egg. Terrific.