Bristol is more than ready for gourmet street food. Over the last few months, when I’ve talked to people about my plans for StrEAT, I’ve heard nothing but positivity. We have to accept street food is a relatively new concept in Bristol – so part of the challenge is to educate Bristolians and Bristol City Council on how street food can be a positive force for local communities.

I made it my mission to check out lots of street food stuff around the world. We need to give Bristol a collective that’s just what Bristolians want. Not something that’s picking up on trends elsewhere.

San Francisco was the first stop on my research tour. It’s home to the city’s ‘Off The Grid’ collective*.

‘Off the Grid’ has been operating for over three years. It’s certainly made its mark on this cosmopolitan city which is often compared to having a similar feel to Bristol. People travel from all over the States to the regular Friday night gatherings, to satisfy their appetites for new and different foods. The atmosphere is jovial, thoroughly welcoming and the food truck businesses seem to be thriving.

It’s a very different streetfood scene to ours in the UK. Over here, it’s all compact and cute, street food & vintage often go hand in hand. Great quality British fare from yesteryear is served. Think piping hot, crispy fish and chips wrapped in proper newspaper. Or rich vanilla cream ices dripping between your fingers on a hot summer’s day. And the vehicles are often retro too. In Bristol, we’re lucky enough to have @veedoublemoo – Bridget selling from her VW camper van and even a couple of bespoke and lovingly renovated Citroen HY vans (@tincanevents and @cuppteabar). But street food hasn’t become mainstream like it has in the US.

On my return from the states, I took a trip to London to see what street food could be found on a dreary & drizzley weekday lunchtime. On Kings Boulevard, near Kings Cross, were four of Eat Street’s vendors including Anna Mae’s – famous for ‘mac and cheese’ aka macaroni and cheese. Also, trading were Mother Flipper burgers, Homeslice London and The Ribman.

Eat Street is first and foremost about the food. Sure, the vendors make an effort to market themselves – they’ve all got their own brands and are social media whizz kids, but it’s not as ‘styled’ as I’d expected.

First up was a huge slice of margherita from George and the @homesliceLDN crew. These antipodeans strive to find the best ingredients & are masters of their trade – my eight year old couldn’t sing their praises enough. We then massacred a slice of ‘chorizo, cream and rocket’, piping fresh out of the wood fired oven – which was built by hand & on the back of a trailer.

Next up was a pulled pork wrap from @theribman - we’d clearly arrived too late for the actual ribs. And I went for the ‘Christ on a Bike’ sauce. It’s hotter than Holy F#*k – a bit too hot actually, and I’m Indian, so I can stand a bit of chilli, believe me.