When we think of food carts, the first thought that usually comes to mind is probably an old hot dog making cart on wheel in New York City. The smoke is thick and you can smell it from afar. You may get served a burnt hot dog or pretzel and pay ridiculous amounts of money considering the quality of the food. A classic tourist trap.
But food carts can be so much more. During the pandemic, Lissette Morales Willis and her husband Tom opened the food cart Poppyseed, which brings fine dining to the streets of Portland, OR. Don’t expect to find any of the aforementioned snacks on the menu. Instead, you can order Oysters served with Pernod mignonette, a curried lamb shoulder hand pie with snap pea salad and buttermilk ranch, a Petrale sole over cannellini beans with green garlic, fennel soubise, spring vegetable escabeche and mustard greens as well as butterscotch tart with chocolate crispies and brulee banana. Those are just a few highlights and the menu keeps changing based on the seasons.
The cart is located on 2216 SE 50th Street and is open on Wednesday and Thursday as well as Friday and Saturday. Given that food carts don’t have the same operational costs as full-scale restaurants, it allows the food to be priced at very reasonable prices – especially considering the quality of food that you get. We are very curious to see if this is the start of a broader trend emerging and if other restaurant owners will decide to bring their food to the streets.
All images courtesy of Poppyseed
