Kitchenette: Gourmet Lunch Grub out of a loading dock.

During this time when the economic recession has hit everyone of any industry, we've seen an emergence of restauranteurs and food proprietors opening up street food joints, all in efforts to allow consumers to enjoy delectable food, orchestrated with organic and sustainable ingredients, at prices a fraction of what it would cost to sit and dine inside their restaurants. Chez Spencer's Laurent Lategly has a taco truck nessled on 7th and Folsom serving French fare. The people that brought you Farmer Brown, opened a window that they call Little Skillet on Ritch right off of Townsend that serves chicken and waffles and other southern fare. At the Lung Shan Restaurant on Mission in between 18th and 19th, a guest chef and crew are brought in every Thursday and Saturday nights to put together a menu for Mission Street Food. It's poignant insight into how the food industry is trying to beat the downturn. And who doesn't love street food? It's cheap and often times, something very minimal-cozy about it, to steal a phrase from a friend of mine.

So that brings me to Kitchenette for today's chalk talk. Kitchenette isn't exactly 'street-food.' It's more or less a lunch stand that runs out of a loading dock on Illinois in between 20th and 22nd (apparently, there is no 21st there). The selling point is that everything that they use is organic and sustainable, even the cups, utensils, and box-wear that they use. The menu changes every day with usually two main entrees to boot, always under $10. They do gourmet sandwiches and handheld type of fare, making it very 'street-food' and 'grub-to-go' friendly.


This particular afternoon was a Thursday and I took the 22nd from my place to go outbound and get to the last stop, 20th and 3rd. The menu for that day announced Korean Tacos. They were white corn tortillas filled with kabi-style beef, marinated and grilled. Nicely cooked medium rare, they were tender and tasty. They were topped with three different types of salsa: roasted tomato-sesame salsa, spring onion-cilantro salsa, and avocado salsa. They also added some spicy cabbage. The heat was nicely balanced with the acid from the avocado salsa. And the cilantro was maybe the best part of the taco, very bright and bold in flavor with a very round bitterness to it. This was $8.50. The only problem that I had was that I wanted more. $8.50 for a few gourmet tacos that were excellent just was still a bit pricey for me, considering that I left needing to eat something else still.

The chicharrones ($3 bag) were fantastic. Pork skin cracklings are usually too heavy and saturated with too much oil for my taste. These, on the other hand were fried to a crisp, yet light and airy in texture. Seasoned with simply salt and a little sugar, I could probably eat them all day. The strawberry-rhubarb refresher ($2.50) is exactly that, quite refreshing. It wasn't overly sweet and sugary and it was touched with just the right amount of acid and tartness.

The total damage was $14 + $1 for tip. Not exactly 'cheap' for eating off of a loading dock standing up, or if you are lucky to get a bench. Not too expensive, but considering that I still needed some more chow afterwards, I could probably find other places to satisfy my hunger for less than that. Nevertheless, it is an experience that had its share of high points and I will be sure to visit again on another day, when they have heartier sandwiches on the menu.