By Contributor | NOLA.com
Rachel Billow takes orders from two customers, Eli Bench, left, and Tim Allerton, right, from the window of her food truck, La Cocinita, while parked at the LSU Health Sciences Center on Bolivar Street, Jan. 26, 2012. (Photo by Ted Jackson, NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune)
New Orleans is famous for its culinary scene, and food trucks represent a new gourmet niche that can only further enhance our city’s reputation and communities. But the city’s outdated laws severely limit how, where and when food trucks like mine, La Cocinita, can operate, robbing many residents of the experience we have to offer.
It is time to reform the city’s laws, and a new proposal by City Council President Stacy Head – scheduled for a public hearing on Tuesday (March 12) — will do just that.
Upon moving to New Orleans, eager to explore the city’s famous culinary scene, I got a job at Commander’s Palace. There, I met my chef and partner, Benoit Angulo. Benoit’s role model growing up was Emeril Lagasse, whom he watched intently on television, his voice dubbed over in Spanish. Benoit attended culinary school in Caracas, then moved to the States eager to pursue his dream of becoming the Venezuelan Emeril.
While lamenting the lack of late-night food options in New Orleans — something he missed about Caracas — it hit him: We should start a food truck.
Like countless entrepreneurs across the country, we discovered that food trucks are an affordable way to start our own culinary business. Less than a week after we bought our truck, I attended a conference in California on street food, where New Orleans’ regulations were routinely used as examples of the harshest in the nation.
I was familiar with the prohibition on food trucks within 600 feet of a restaurant; the Central Business District and French Quarter ban; and the requirement that we only park for 45 minutes in any given spot. But when the speaker mentioned the 100-permit cap — and the fact that all 100 are, at any given time, in circulation — my heart stopped. Benoit and I had just spent thousands of dollars, only to discover that it would be difficult, if not impossible, to obtain a permit. Eventually, after several months of frustrating visits to City Hall, La Cocinita became one of the 100 permitted mobile food vendors.
Research and first-hand experience demonstrate that food trucks provide important benefits to the communities they serve. They are a great way for culinary entrepreneurs of all backgrounds to start their own businesses. They bring food options to underserved areas, brighten up blighted neighborhoods, increase foot traffic, and complement store-front businesses. Food trucks also generate tax revenue and create jobs. And they feature delicious, innovative cuisine.
Council President Head has proposed critical and common sense changes that will allow more of New Orleans to experience these benefits. The changes call for increased permit availability, which will encourage entrepreneurs to start their own businesses. They would allow us to stay in one spot for four hours, and allow food trucks access to a small section of the CBD currently off-limits. This area includes the biomedical district, an area considered a “food desert.”
The proposal also reduces the proximity restriction around restaurants to 100 feet. Our vibrant restaurants don’t need governmental protections to succeed, and having to park the length of two football fields from any restaurant is ridiculous. Customers looking for a sit-down meal with air conditioning, protection from the elements, wait service, restrooms and alcoholic beverages are not going to forgo those amenities to dine at a food truck. Food trucks fill a distinct niche for those looking for a quick, inexpensive, tasty bite to eat on the go.
These changes are absolutely necessary to encourage the start-up and success of these small businesses and to allow residents of New Orleans to experience all of the benefits that food trucks provide.
Rachel Billow is president of the New Orleans Food Truck Coalition and co-owner of La Cocinita Food Truck. For information, visit www.nolafoodtrucks.com.
