?catering trucks/mobile kitchens?

Check out some of the film catering operations for tips & advice.
One things for sure ..no evening work.
If you get a good pitch you will do well.
Weather & climate are big factors though.
Licenses & location are important.
Fairs,trade shows,industrial,office etc.
Speed of service important too.

what food do you have in mind.

Mon plaisir mon petit poussin, bon chance,
Anytime

ps MFK Fisher ...discovered her recently, she is great

Hi there marmalade,
Welcome back and good luck with your new venture.
Let us know how it goes...
Danielle

You are so lucky! I love Charleston! I don't work out of a truck, but my business is delivery. At night (I'm sooo tired of nights!) we mostly serve college students. But in the day, it's hospitals, hospitals, hospitals!! If you could get in on that where you are, I think that would be great for you. The medical field isn't getting any smaller, only growing. I can tell you from experience where I am at, they order the heck out of big salads. That seems ideal for the kind of set up you are considering. The food cost ain't bad either:)

As far as suggestions, I don't know SC's particular regulations as far as Health Department. I guess they are similar pretty much everywhere. I'm sure you know what you need to do there to comply. I would check into Charleston's zoning regulations. I don't know how it is there, but where I am, they make it kind of difficult to run a food related business from home. But then your kitchen wouldn't really be at home would it? In my town, catering vehicles are regulated by saying that the vehicle has to have a health dept. approved kitchen as a base. In other words, I can do a catering job out of my truck on the other side of town as long as I have a 3 comp. sink, etc. somewhere. But you are talking about having it all health dept. approved within the vehicle, right? Interesting. It seems to me you should be able to make something like that work. One thing I might worry about is that if you find an unconventional way to do things that the business license/ health dept. people haven't thought of before - even if your way of doing it complies with the letter of the law - they might still say "no you can't do that" because there is no physical address for the business (or some other silly reason). I hope they don't do that for you. It sounds like a good idea.

Surely there is a local distributor in the area where you could pick up necessary items rather than having them delivered. That could solve the homeowner's assoc. rules. It seems to me that would fit well into your idea - since you are on the road anyway.

I'd like to see this work for you! Keep updating your progress, okay?

RF

Another Idea

I was talking to my roommate about this just now. He thought your topic was interesting, too. His suggestion- If the city/county/health dept. gives you flack about a physical address, perhaps you could look into renting some inexpensive industrial property- a small warehouse or something- to work out of.

Just brainstorming,
RF

Hey honey! Ya know where Fred used to park his boat before he sold his house? Well the new neighbors have a shinny thing out there and they seem to sneak into it in the early morning and that thing is rocking back and forth with the lights on inside.
I tell you, I can't figure people out! BTW did you take cooking lessons? If that's breakfast, it smells great!:D

Hi Marmalade,
Good luck with the closing of your Jersey place. Real estate is such fun, isn't it, right up until the end! :( :confused: :rolleyes:

Once you get your check and start your planning, I doubt if you'll get many problems with city or county tax as far as getting a business license. I still worry if the Health Department might be ornery, though - not because what you are proposing to do would be unsanitary, but because health departments have a way of being ornery sometimes seemingly just because they can. I know an environmental scientist in my state who is a health inspector. If you want, I could pose the question to him just to see what he says about it. Even though the laws vary from state to state, he might be able to provide some info you could use as a starting point. Let me know if you want me to do that.

RF