KOi Fusion is super grateful to you, our customers and readers, and to the strong cart scene both here in Portland and beyond. We here at KOi appreciate all your support, and we try our best every day to bring scrumptious K-treats to a street near you. KOi Fusion also has a philosophy of sorts, looking at food carts as a positive national movement that benefits diners and cities alike.
That’s why this recent LA Times article rubs us the wrong way. It appears that Los Angeles is cracking down on mobile food cart vendors (AKA our food cart homies) in some dubious ways. According to the article:
“Some drivers said they were cited for minimal violations such as parking too close to the curb, or parking too far away. Others said they were ordered to pack up and leave.
Police officials said the crackdown Wednesday was part of a one-day operation to clear the area of illegal vendors.”
So now you’re thinking, “KOi peeps, have you inhaled too many grill fumes? Of course we don’t want illegal vendors serving us food!” But the real problem came from one of the officers quoted in the article:
“Restaurants complain because the lunch trucks are taking their business, and they don’t have [proper] permits.”
KOi’s view? Food carts don’t “take” business from non-mobile eating locals any more than the stationary folk “take” from us. We know you’re making choices based on the food factors that are most important to you – whether it’s local, convenience of location, price, or degree of deliciousness. All we (and our food cart brethren) are out to do is meet your wants the best we know how.
Picture courtesy of a Miracle Mile customer's blog post on the issue - click on the pic to read it!
This also means we know you can’t eat KOi 24/7/365 (oh that it could be so…but we digress). You’re going to support other food vendors, and we think that’s great! A strong dining scene, from high end fancy places to food carts, makes a stronger economy overall. Portland has one of the most diverse food scenes you’ll ever come across, and we want to keep the community hopping as much as anybody. The cool thing is that YOU – not the cops and certainly not us or other vendors – get to decide what to support and what to eat. It’s all about consumer choice.
So, for the record, we want you all to know that KOi Fusion supports our mobile vendor peeps in LA. They create jobs, start independently owned businesses, and bring positive and active uses to somewhat stale and empty parts of the city. Food cart vendors also provide good food that is affordable to just about everyone. The City of Los Angeles should take note.
What do you think about the role of food carts in the PDX economy? Leave a comment and let us know!
In case you haven’t noticed, KOi has yet again been all over the interwebs (and the city) yet again. Remember the KBOO Food Carts podcast that featured Daddy Bo explaining the wonders of a tweeting food purveyor? Well, we’ve finally tracked down the link! Give it a listen:
KBOO Food Cart podcast, 7/15/09
Plus, our friends over at Portland Monthly gave out some K-love:
If you’re hoping to sample one of Portland’s most recent culinary experiments, you’ll need a Twitter account.
Check it out here:
Portland Monthly feature, 8/22/09
And how could we forget about you, our adoring, tweeting fans?
"Korean tacos from @koifusionpdx are so METAL!!" @tallperson77
"Rockin' the @koifusionpdx burritos tonight. So excited. North Portland y'all!" @PDXfoodcarts
Photo courtesy of Kogi's Eric Shin. He is also the man.. much love to Kogi!
YO! Good morning ktaco family. I hope all you had a, um, healthy and productive friday night yesterday, and you’re up bright and early on this Saturday morning like I am. Don’t worry, I come bearing good news.
That’s cause KOi is gonna be at not one, but two events around the city today.
1. For all you suburb peeps who love rib tacos but hate driving into downtown, we got you. The KOi team is partnering up with the fine gentlemen behind 503 Motoring for their annual block party TODAY, from 12-6 in Beaverton. You’ve probably seen their work on half a dozen Portland Trailblazer’s cars, as well as countlessly wealthy, but non-famous Portlanders.
The block party is about to pop. Aside from featuring a ridiculous amount of expensive and custom cars, the Portland food elite will be in full effect, with Voodoo Donuts, 50 Licks, and the Lebron James of street food, KOi Fusion, all slated to appear. Blazer guard Martell Webster will be kickin it with us from 2-4, and there’s gonna be prizes, givaways, a DJ… what more do you want? Come down today and say whatup! We’ll be there from 11-6.
2. For all you downtown Portlanders, hipsters, families, and nature enthusiasts, we’ve also got you covered. That’s cause we’re bring the second truck out (AKA lil’ ghetto KOi) for the 2nd annual RiverFest festival, held on the banks of the gorgeous Willamette River.
From the Riverfest site: “Popular attractions from last year return, including The Freshwater Trust Portland Triathlon, Portland Audubon events, the Festival at South Waterfront, Kayak Tours, and the SOLV Cleanup. We have also added many new and exciting events for the whole family to enjoy. Join us this summer to celebrate the river on the river.”
They forgot to mention that KOi is the main draw of the event, but oh well. We’ll be there in full force today and hope to see some of the k-taco familia out there to keep us company. 2 events, 2 cities, multiple hours, no excuses. Come and say hi!
1. First, let’s start our day off right with some Parliament Funkadelic, shall we? We may or may not be bumping the funk all day today in the truck (probably).
2. Yes, it’s true. The black and white stickers are finally in! We have only produced a limited number of these bad boys, so while they last, we’re going to give them away with every order.
So come on down, brave the heat, listen to some funk, grab a pork taco, and enjoy a free vinyl gloss sticker of your favorite food cart in the world.
You see it every time you want a K-taco fix before a Beavers or Timbers game: that signature blue awning at Stadium Flowers outside PGE park.
Eduardo, the owner of Stadium Flowers, is kind enough to let us park our mobile kitchen in his front yard before every game. His family sold flowers in Mexico, and he’s been in the business ever since.
First of all, everyone who stops by the cart today simply must wish our fearless leader the best on his special day. After all the truck problems that have been happening lately, he deserves an engine trouble-free day today, don’t you think?
But let’s get down to the real business of the weekend. First of all, let’s face it: you think that k-tacos are delicious. You sit at work craving your bulgogi beef taco or spicy pork burrito, always throw an order of sliders or a tasty kimchee quesadilla in with your order, and you send us your tweet love after a lunch run just like the peeps over @hopworksbrewery:
Can TwitPic handle this much delicious?
But is there something in this world that can make your beloved k-treats even better? Enter: bikes and pie.
A few weeks ago we had a run of our color stickers printed with our secondary logo. In the past week or so, it’s come to our attention that some people have taken the liberty of tagging stickers around the chinatown and 23rd neighborhoods. Here’s some of ones we noticed walking around the city.
Also don’t forget to come by the cart next week. We’ll have a limited run of our black and white stickers for the first few hundred people that show up.
In case you missed the action, there was plenty of fun to be had at Lizard Lounge for First Thursday last week! Many thanks to our friends at Fifty Licks for the delicious ice cream/burrito swap and to Lizard Lounge for hosting all the awesome.
WHEN? This week! Thursday 8/6 starting around 7:00 PM
WHERE? Lizard Lounge at 13th and NW Irving
If you haven’t checked out First Thursday in the Pearl yet, well…how long have you been in Portland? But really, petty insults aside, we’ve got a few very good reasons for you to check out FT this week.
1. KOi will be there (as if you didn’t know!)
The ultimate charmer doing what he does best
Trust me, it's a good trade.
2. Support the awesome folks at Lizard Lounge (@lizardloungepdx)
They lend us the space, and we try our best to deliver the goods. This month, they’re featuring Arsenio Torres (@arsenio77).
3. Feel the PDX love.
Widmer Brothers (@widmer_brothers) and Fifty Licks (@fiftylicks) handmade ice cream will be there to round out the fun, and that’s just in our corner of the bash.
Visit us and all the great artisans and food purveyors of First Thursday!
As some of you have probably already heard, we lost another great artist this morning. Baatin, of the legendary Detroit hip-hip outfit Slum Village, was found dead this morning. 1997’s Fantastic Vol. 1 and 2000’s Fantastic Vol. 2 will always remain on the short list for two of my top ten favorite rap albums of all time. Jay Dilla’s soulful production on those albums is still regarded as some of the finest production on any hip-hop release ever, and although Dilla himself passed away in 2006, I still find myself throwing on some old Slum Village tracks consistently. RIP, Baatin. Here’s some of my favorite SV tracks.
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