Ohhh look at the shiny Cart

Now it's time focus on the project within the project. THE FOOD CART. It has always been a very large part of the plan to get on board with the gourmet food cart revolution that is becoming so popular in our cities.

I had been busy from day 1 highlighting the g

eographical areas to start this retail arm in. It was decided at a very early stage that the Ballston area in Arlington was an excellent location. The Arlington authorities are very much in favor of this street scene, and there a some very successful enterprises proving that the concept works.

So, having checked out the code and spoken to the nice people in the Arlington police department (Pilar is a star) I new exactly what I was looking for. It was a Custom Cart DC650. I visited their factory in New Jersey early on in the year to see what they could do. Jay Celona gave every confidence, being the kind of person that will find a solution to make anything work.

Since then I was lucky with a find of 2nd hand cart in excellent condition. It was totally clean, it had never even been cooked in. All it needed was the addition of an oven with a warm display unit. Plus in U.S terms it wasn't far away, West Chester PA. So after a couple trips up I95 I had bought it, then moved it to Jay's factory in NJ to have the necessary ovens fitted. Friday was the big day to tow it back 4.5 hours down the wonderful I95, finishing with welcome home of the rush hour traffic on the DC beltway.

Eventually we had it parked up in the lot outside the shop, and it's just waiting for the Pure Pasty logo make over, courtesy of the Banana Banner (signs with appeal - great strapline) people.

So the plan is we open the bakery, get the pasties rolling off the beautiful marble pastry tables, then the cart opens up in Arlington (Ballston to be precise) for lunchtime service. Later we'll open the cart up to weekend events, sports, music and wine festivals. I'm guessing a twitter account is going to come into play to let everybody know where we are going to be. This seems to be the communication method of choice in the gourmet cart world. So pasty lovers, you'll have 2 locations to get your hands on the UK's greatest food to go item.

In Vienna we are still aiming for September 10th. You can see from the picture, there are improvements everyday. We have now started the joinery on the counter area. This week we ran through the sign offs that we require leading to the big target of 'Certificate of Occupancy'. At this stage the date is still achievable, but it really does do depend on gaining those sign-offs. I think each one will be met with a cheer and probably a glass of something to celebrate with. Paul has done a great job with the plans, and Jose has been equally good at converting those from paper to a tangible premises. So I'm confident any problems won't be in the way for long.

This next week, it's all about finalizing the menu for the promotional material, and internal signs/decor. Plus - Business Insurance, burglar alarms, fire alarms, internet and phone access ..... the list goes on.