Ann Arbor gets street food!

Mark's carts

Last week I took a trip down to Washington street, near the intersection with Ashley, behind one of my favorite stores in all of Michigan, Downtown Home and Garden.   Street food carts, all the rage around the country, have finally reached Ann Arbor.  If you haven't heard about this yet, A2ites, Mark's carts is a new food courtyard downtown that serves a variety of ethnic foods.

For this first time around we order from EAT, an Ann Arbor catering partnership with roots in the old Jefferson Market.  Last week we lunched on three different styles of sliders, a sloppy youssef (joe) moroccan style with a cucumber raita, pork confit with mustard gremolata, and korean bbq beef (without the kimchi for the little guy).  They were all different and wonderfully full flavored.  I loved getting the opportunity to try the different flavors, and I love the distinct flavor profiles all done clearly and well.  This is the way I love to attack my cooking projects, with a shout out to the edible flavor and texture icons of a culture.

I'm ruminating on the possibility of running one of these carts myself.  It's like a restaurant without all of the front of the house details.  I could do it; I'd love to attack this project. But I'd have to start from square one which is a bit daunting. I don't have a current catering business to work out of.  So for now, I'll start by sampling the other stands.  And maybe one day...