An exciting new venture in the culinary world is the launch of Jamie’s Ministry of Food. I love it when people with personal success look to change industry’s and culture, and challenge the status quo. Jamie Oliver spearheads a food revolution where “sublime dining” and “healthy eating” worlds can collide.

http://www.theworldlovesmelbourne.com/en/19-food/182-jamie-oliver-s-mobile-kitchen-launch.html

The mobile food vans. Gumbo Kitchen (right) will not receive a new permit. Photo: Joe Armao

 Gumbo Kitchen, a trendy food truck specialising in spicy Cajun New Orleans cuisine, has attracted the ire of some local traders and Melbourne City Council, with the van’s owner told they were no longer welcome at Docklands and would not be issued a new permit.

Gumbo Kitchen owner Michael Cotter said they were hoping to trade at Docklands until March, when a new cafe was expected to open on Harbour Esplanade.

On Wednesday he was told the van, a regular at Docklands on Friday lunchtime, would not receive a new permit.

He said the van attracted new business to Docklands and did not cannibalise existing restaurants and cafes.

”Ninety-nine per cent of our customers are not walk-by people, so they’re not people that are heading to other locations in the Docklands and just happen to stumble on to us.”

”These are people who have followed us on social media and seen that we are there and decided to come down; to say that we are stealing their customers is a bit inaccurate,” he said. He said the food vans drew people to Docklands.

Fifteen restaurants have closed at Docklands – or 40 per cent – in the past 10 months. Some have blamed a lack of marketing.

Melbourne City Council said the food vans had temporary permits that expired at the end of October and a number of Docklands businesses had raised concerns.

http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/mobile-food-vans-told-to-get-going-20121123-29yz4.html

Michael Ibrahim runs the mobile coffee van Soul Kitchen, which has become an institution on St Kilda Road, opposite the Arts Centre. Photo: Michael Clayton-Jones

WHILE food trucks appear to have stormed into Melbourne after taking cues from cities like Portland and Los Angeles, one enterprising Melburnian has been successfully working at the trade for almost 10 years.

Michael Ibrahim, owner of the Soul Kitchen mobile cafe is a pioneer of the Melbourne food truck movement, which has recently seen its popularity explode with the likes of Taco Truck, Gumbo Kitchen and Dhaba joining the convoy of food trucks populating Melbourne’s streets.

Starting nearly a decade ago, providing refreshments to Moonlight Cinema crowds on balmy nights in the Royal Botanic Gardens, Ibrahim now owns a small fleet of customised vans and trucks that serve coffee and cafe-quality food at several locations.

His passion for coffee is matched by his passion for Melbourne and with his memorable vans adding to the eclectic fabric of the city it’s no wonder he has the support of the City of Melbourne, which has granted him a 24-hour licence to operate his customised 1971 VW Kombi in an enviable spot opposite the Arts Centre on tree-lined St Kilda Road.

Customers range from passing cyclists to suited office workers and tourists drawn to the good looks of the vintage Kombi-cum-mobile cafe.

Ibrahim’s business grew organically over the years. Now, he believes, the food truck and street food trend is beginning to gain momentum.

”The shift is happening. I’ve seen the scene change rapidly in the last few years,” he said. ”In the past, Melbourne’s relatively small population and strong cafe and pub scene made it difficult for food trucks to gain traction. But now this is changing and I predict the next two years is going to go off.”

To capitalise on this, Ibrahim is expanding his fleet. A big Mercedes truck that transported tools in its former, less glamorous life is being repainted, rebranded and refitted with a wood-fired pizza oven.

When it hits the road, it will offer a rotating menu of pizza and gourmet foods made from fresh, seasonal produce. Will it be Melbourne’s answer to Sydney’s iconic Harry’s Cafe de Wheels? Not according to Ibrahim.

”What we’re doing is taking top-shelf cafe food out to the street,” he says.

Observing Ibrahim at work on a breezy Sunday morning, he gives the impression of relishing the freedom of interacting with customers outside the confines of a traditional cafe setting. Although there may be challenges that come with running this kind of business – poor weather and traffic jams spring to mind – Ibrahim looks to be in his element.

With upbeat world music pumping from the van and a line of customers ready to order, he says: ”I wouldn’t change a thing. I love it too much.”