I know a bunch of reprints at the moment (thanks again courtesy of
Santa Monica Observer), but this is also
timely since today (Tuesday night) is Food Truck night in Santa Monica. So if
you're into Food Trucks (and what Angeleno isn't???) go check them out (it's
for a good cause!)
Finally! Food Trucks in Santa Monica! (And Saving the Day for the
Californian Heritage Museum!)
By Kat Thomas
Perhaps you’ve heard the news, but Gourmet Food Trucks have finally made it
to Santa Monica! Thanks to a temporary three month permit, from 5:30-9:30 at
the California Heritage Museum and Victorian parking lot (home of the Sunday
Santa Monica’s Farmers Market) the residents of Santa Monica can enjoy such
exotic fare as Cubano Sandwiches, Vietnamese Pho, and Don Draper flavored ice
cream (comprised of Vanilla, Bourbon, Carmel, and Smoke!) And although the
event has been rained out twice since starting a little over a month ago,
there’s nothing but smiling faces on the friends of the California Heritage
Museum as this event is helping financially save both it and its Main Street
neighbors.
“About six months ago we began working to have Food Trucks in our parking
lot on a day of the week that Main Street is typically very very quiet,”
explains Tobi Smith, Director of California Heritage Museum. “It was suggested
first to our staff and then to our directors that having these Gourmet Food
Trucks would be a non traditional means of supporting museum, but also support
the Main Street merchants.
The Heritage Museum has tried very hard from the being to have the approval
of the neighborhood, making sure to get the support of the Main Street
Merchants Association and Ocean Park Association. “We did some research on
other areas that were already offering Food Truck evens, such as Abbot Kinney’s
on First Fridays. And discovered that a good amount of people ended up dining
in restaurants and going into stores because a lot of people don’t want wait in
line,” explains Smith.
Tuesday nights are normally very sleepy on Main Street, especially in this
economy, but two weeks ago (since last week’s event was called due to inclement
weather, a continuing chagrin for the museum who was hoping to start their
offerings during the summer’s sunny skies) restaurants in close proximity to
the event such LaVecchia, Lula, and Finn McCool’s were definitely bustling more
than usually.
Everyone has a different take on how to enjoy the trucks. A hipster couple
on a date might use the trucks as a source of appetizers and then go somewhere
else for the main course. A group on a double date might dine at the trucks for
dinner and then end up at the Galley for dessert. And some people just look at
it as the ultimate option in take out. “My brother who lives nearby comes to
the lot, buys the food, and takes it home, so he doesn’t have to worry about
cooking,” notes Smith. And along with the benefit to the nearby restaurants the
museum is also hoping for a spillover to retail side of Main Street. “If we can
bring a lot of people to the street than the Main Street stores might keep
their doors open later in the future,” states Smith.
And for those who are not residents, there are a many reasons for the Food
Truck followers to make Santa Monica their destination choice, such as the
comfy al fresco dinning. “Instead being forced to stand up while eating,”
explains Smith, “you can picnic on the museum’s lawn (as long as it’s not
raining); we’ve just put new lighting so it’s now very well lit out there.”
Another great perk of the Tuesday night Food Trucks is the option to imbibe
alcohol. “You can go out to the Victorian and can actually get a beer or wine
to enjoy with your meal.” Definitely a perk for the wine loving SoCal crowd.
And for those who fancy another drink afterwards, there is the option of going
downstairs to the Tavern, the basement bar at the Victorian, and enjoying their
offerings.
The Gourmet Food Trucks are somewhat of a litmus test for the Heritage
Museum into nontraditional forms of fundraising. “Times are tough for everyone.
We normally have the Heritage Award dinner in October but we already knew ahead
of time, that with the economy being what it is, we didn’t have enough people
for it to be profitable for us so we decided to push it to the Spring of next
year.” In the past, ironically, the one day of the week that fully features the
museum, the Sunday Santa Monica Farmers Market, has also caused the biggest
financial obstacle. Because of the business of the market there is a lack of
Sunday parking for the California Heritage Museum, typically the most popular
day for museum attendance. “The museum is not as accessible on Sundays as it is
any other day. We don’t have the handicap parking, or even normal parking,
available that we do any other day of the week. Plus even though the market
ends at 1:00 it isn’t really packed up till around 3:00.”
Add on top of this that many people (including yours truly) did not even
realize that the museum was open on Sundays (FYI: they are open Wed – Sunday
11-4). “In the end, we lose at lot of money with the Sunday Farmers Market, the
city used to pay rent to us, but they haven’t done that in a long time.” So the
Tuesday Food Truck night is a win-win fundraiser that falls under the visible
radar for many Santa Monica residents. “With the food trucks people can enjoy
gourmet food, and most of them don’t even know that there supporting us. Plus
the Food Trucks Twitter to their fans advertising to their Heritage Museum
location to their followers, people who are not the our typical audience.”
As most foodies know Santa Monica has dragged its feet for quite awhile on
the Food Truck phenomenon. Even when the Santa Monica City Council finally gave
approval for mobile food trucks to create “food courts” in private parking lots
it still took quite awhile. “We were talking about this six months ago.
Everyone was very helpful and nice, but it took awhile because… well it just
takes awhile.” Since it’s everyone’s first time numerous things had to be added
as the planning went on. “Initially we didn’t have bike valet,” notes Smith.
“We hadn’t budgeted for it, but the city required it. So the Victorian has
generously donated the money so we could offer free bike valet to the residents
of Santa Monica. And for those who can’t walk or bike we have parking at the
museum along with ample of street parking, a lot more than Abbot Kinney.”
Along with the working diligently with the city, the California Heritage
Museum also united with Southern California Mobile Food Vendors Association and
it’s CEO Matt Geller. With about ninety members, the association makes sure
that the trucks featured at the museum are up to snuff, meeting all the health
code restrictions required by the association’s rules. Every week there are ten
trucks featured, but what makes it interesting is that the association does a
Round Robin. “So one week we have ten trucks, and next week have ten completely
different trucks.” You can go to museum’s website each week to read about the
Food Trucks available for that week. “I’m allergic to garlic,” notes Smith, “so
since the museum has links to all of the Food Truck’s menus so I can check out
their menus and see what options work with my diet.”
So far everyone has been super supportive of these Tuesday nights. “Our
first week, one of the neighbors came by and ended up giving us a check for
$1,000. It was amazing. He’s a neighbor who wanted to support the museum and
what we're doing.” Smith hopes that with the Tuesday Food Truck night their
Santa Monica neighbors will be reintroduced the museum and get to know their
exhibitions. They have recently wrapped their skateboard show, which was the
most popular exhibit the museums ever had. “We’re in between exhibits at the
moment, but our next show will be starting on November 6th. We try and do
exhibits that everyone in the family likes. Next summer we’re going to do a
surfboard show featuring Short Boards from 1967-1982. This is Dogtown, this is
where all the surfing and skating happened. It’s Ocean Park, we’re in the
middle of it.”
But for all this to happen the California Heritage Museum needs to pay its
bills. And hopefully the families, hipsters on dates, and people who just don’t
want to cook on a Tuesday night will help them do so, while also helping their
neighbors. “We’re trying really hard to make it successful so that people enjoy
themselves and help out the Main Street. We want it to be a destination spot.
Come to Santa Monica, eat, and walk the streets. Participate.“
