This weekend lots of exciting things are happening. In the middle of this will also be the only chance we have of seeing my family before Christmas, which will be possibly the nicest part of it all. The thing about street food is that you don’t really see anyone, and while everyone has been really understanding, it doesn’t mean I don’t miss them.
This Friday is our second time trading at Digbeth Dining Club, and this time I’m committed to actually getting some proper photos. On all three of the previous occasions the thought has dropped out of my mind, apart from that one occasion when we were chatting to the folks next door and wondered if you could make a churros toastie. Naturally you can, as the toastie lends itself to all things, but if I’m totally honest, it was a little carb-tastic. If you do ever encounter both ourselves and the Churros Susanne in the same place then I’d recommend one then the other. Or toasties if you can’t choose. I’m sure they’d understand.
If you are anywhere near Birmingham then it’s worth the trip even just to wonder round the custard factory after dark for a few minutes (there’s a giant wall-dragon, an Ent and some pretty spacey graffiti). Realistically though, it will probably be pretty chilly, so grab food and a beer, then come chat with us round the nice warm toastie presses. We will be entertaining with our Christmas menu, jokes about putting petrol in vans, and there will be a fresh quote to guess. I could suggest that if you can’t make it you might try simulating the sensation with a rustlers microwave burger eaten on the street while reading imdb; but that would be much like saying my drive home in Stevo the Stilo is like taking a Toyota GT 86 on a track day. It isn’t.
Sunday is our last toastie outing (toasting?) of 2012, before the Christmas rush sets in and Barny’s head chef day job suddenly becomes his night and evening job as well. As if on cue the temperature is set to drop over the weekend, meaning that the Beast, not usually a morning vehicle, will become even more grumpy about having to get up.
It will also be the closest to home that we have ever traded, beating previous Leamington-based festivals by a good quarter of a mile and officially taking place in our part of the town. The Leamington Old Town Winter Festival is hopefully the first of many events organised in the area since the Portas Pilot Scheme started a few months ago. There will, by all accounts, be street performers, stalls and live music, along with an exceptional spread of toasties and our buddies from the Hungry Toad.
We’re hoping that it will be a lovely day, and that even people from north of the river will venture down there. It’s one of those events that really needs to do well, but luckily for us we just need to break even and enjoy the day, chat about how cold everyone else looks while standing smugly behind the presses and show off the lovely new lights. Should you really need to you can try (and fail) to recreate this feeling by looking at the picture below while standing in your garden watching other people enjoy the heat from a rustlers burger. Realistically though you need to stop that and come try the real thing.
Did you just invent the Churro Butty? Dios mio…