EatStreet, The Culinary Incubation Platform That Never Was

In 1996, a friend wrote one of the most memorable opening paragraphs for a high school year book (Thank you Anish) that I feel is quite appropriate in introducing my reflections of the last eight months in trying to establish EatStreet, The Culinary Incubation Platform That Never Was. So without further a do, allow me to begin by plagiarizing it with the hope of starting with some level of humor.

Time is a wonderful thing. Always present, but no-one can touch it. It has been eight months since my involvement in the Food and Beverage Sector in Dubai. Eight long, arduous months, through which so many in the Mobile Food Sector have trudged through. All of us have worked hard. We have all put in large amounts of effort. We have all contributed to the fiery heat that exists in the engines that drove the U.A.E.’s Food Trucks. And what was the result? What was our final recompense? A large chocolate fudge cake! Now that the season is over and the aftermath is being vacuumed into that vat of infinite volume we call time, I dolefully reflect on the last eight months.

Allow for a moment, for the stage to be set.

Culinary Innovation and Creativity is challenged in two major ways amongst others in the U.A.E. The first is the lack of an agricultural sector. Chefs in global culinary hubs have an intrinsic, almost symbiotic relationship with their local agricultural partners that allows them to constantly menu engineer, a relationship that is, to a large extent, put to the guillotine, seeing that most produce is supplied through a network of importers whose main link to the restaurants are the heads of procurement. Secondly, Chefs in global culinary hubs, re-engineer their menus based on urban cultural trends that influence them. Albeit, Dubai making great strides in the last decade in producing home grown cultural content, its urban cultural make up is still very much based on a commercial / entertainment offering that supports a bottom line well and beyond contributing to the city’s urban identity. Some may cringe when I say this publicly, but privately, many agree although an exaggeration: Great chefs have come to Dubai and died (figuratively speaking of course). Yes, there is hope, there is always hope.

I have always had a predominantly strong affection towards the cultural development of Dubai. The platform was a channel towards that affection.

In the high stakes game of growth and innovation that has defined the 21st Century, what are the citizens and residents of the Emirates as well as all other stakeholders looking for in Dubai? In my experience, they value two attributes above all others: integrity and knowledge.

Integrity earns respect. Integrity will continue to bring trade, tourism and grow and attract talent pools from and into Dubai, but usefulness will keep them here. Knowledge is what makes all of us useful. We may occasionally fall by chance into an effective solution, but what will continue to separate Dubai from other cities in the world is the knowledge value it brings.

I strongly believe that cultural dynamism is important to build urban economies that would continue to make Dubai a desirable place to live and visit. A strong city without a base of cultural dynamism is one that cannot form, attract or retain its talent pool. I believe that urban culture is an important factor to Dubai’s brand identity and equity. Weaving culture into the vital life of an urban area will attract human and financial capital that Dubai will need to continue succeeding.

To that effect, Public and Private spaces across Dubai have seen the emergence of initiatives such as Ripe Market, Market OTB, the Beach Canteen, Market at The Beach, Kite Beach, Street Nights, Sole DXB and many others. These events and sites have demonstrated that residents and visitors alike are hungry for creative and innovative culinary concepts. More specifically, homegrown owner operated ones.

In support of this, eight months ago, the EatStreet platform was initiated with the intent to be a non-profit culinary incubation platform through the auspices of Mobile Food Vending. No pun indented, but we felt it was an appropriate vehicle that could have possibly helped incubate the culinary stars of tomorrow and possibly contribute to Dubai’s urban culture that is so intrinsic to its overall success.

The current culinary cosmopolitan nature of the city is shaped by a large number of franchised brands. International chains dominate the Food and Beverage Sector in the UAE. EatStreet focused on adding and creating value with homegrown culinary concepts while generating a strong return on investment for everyone with a vested interest in increasing Dubai and the U.A.E.’s global positioning.

Emboldening the image of Dubai and the U.A.E. around the world was very much at the core of EatStreet. The platform hoped to help incubate jobs, strengthen the economy and as a result, enhance the foundations of vitality and livability of communities across the city, which are core objectives of the Dubai Plan and UAE Vision 2021.

The platform fostered the development of emerging local (Emirati and Resident) talent in the culinary arts and hoped to stimulate the transitional mobility of global culinary talent to the city of Dubai, with the hope that it would exert a broad local, regional and international influence on culinary trends and sectors, with, what we had hoped to be, lasting effect.

EatStreet embraced Dubai’s Food Trucks as the city’s communities turned to Mobile Food Vending as a new way to experience the city’s culinary scene. While this emerging industry gave the impression of great opportunity for culinary entrepreneurs looking to break into the food service industry, actually getting a food truck up and running was and is overwhelming – even for experienced restaurant operators due to a whole host of economic and regulatory issues.

The number of Mobile Food Vending requests will only grow from here on, while many public-private stakeholders currently lack the will and sufficient knowledge about the Mobile Food Vending Industry to guide the necessary policy and its implementation. Furthermore, the rising start-up costs including the scarcity of viable commercial retail space is making it increasingly difficult for culinary talent and entrepreneurship to blossom in Dubai.

Of course the platform existed to go far beyond government regulation and legislation. EatStreet hoped to contribute to creating a public-private sector ecosystem that would have allowed for grass roots business to flourish and potentially become global brands.

Without some degree of planning for the future of Mobile Food Vending and culinary incubation as a whole, the public benefits and micro-enterprise opportunity they provide may be reduced, or even lost. The need for bylaws from existing regulation, a mechanism to implement them and a platform to identify and incubate successful culinary businesses will heavily influence Mobile Food Vending viability, and will dictate how and where Mobile Food Vending can survive through innovative strategies that are employed to identify new ways to incorporate Mobile Food Vending into the urban fabric of Dubai. Alternatively, over-regulating Mobile Food Vending will significantly reduce the community end economic benefits it provides.

For now, the future of Mobile Food Vending is uncertain, but all of us who have worked so hard towards its success hope that the necessary stakeholders take another and closer look at its merits.

Back to my dear friend Anish and his words, “And now my friends, time has caught up with me, so long mes Amis, and thanks for all the fish!”