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An ice cream expert takes a confusing stab at Austin's food truck scene in a blog post published on The Atlantic's website. Bostonian Gus Rancatore, co-founder of a critically-acclaimed ice cream shop in Cambridge, starts with the curious statement that "Austin, Texas has many charms, but the city seems determined to obliterate as many of them as possible in the name of progress," and then goes on to paint a portrait of a city whose eateries are hopelessly saddled by city and county health regulations while food trucks run by foreigners operate under the radar. Oh, and the people are just too damned lazy to walk across a street. Statesman food writer Addie Broyles was the first to respond to the vaguely condescending piece, whose crux seems to be that the author and his restaurateur buddy, Rob, were able to ferret out the fact that chicken-and-waffles stand Lucky J's (5703 Burnet Road) is run by an ex-New Yorker. It's an interesting read, if for no other reason than that this is how some perceive the culinary scene in Austin. [Chicken and Waffles, Texas Style]
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where's the public outcry over the condition of waterloo park?
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Gus Rancatore is also the guy who owed $167K in back taxes on his "critically acclaimed ice-cream shop" and got his customers to donate money to him so he could keep the place open. It is hard for me to take someone with these business practices seriously when he talks about how "burdened with regulations" our restaurants are. As you mention, the condescending tone doesn't help either.
He doesn't explain anything about the health codes after his first mention. He doesn't talk about what the sauces are, which is his big reveal allegedly. And how does his friend "sheepishly" admitting Ivy Group and Manhattan bona fides have anything to do with the story? Atlantic is one of my favorite magazines, but it seems like they gave this jargoff a blog based on his name alone. I hope they didn't foot the bill. And, chicken and waffles isn't anything new. Ask Atlanta or Los Angeles
At the last City Council meeting there was a public hearing on mobile food vendors. The owner of "Snappy Snacks" was rightfully ticked-off about how many food truck vendors in the city are currently in violation of health and safety standards. He had a lot of pictures to prove it. One of the sets of pictures was of an old Ford Ranger w/ a camper that had a home-oven in the back of the truck hooked up to a couple of propane tanks!
On the subject of Chicken and Waffles, there used to be Roy Henry's Chicken and Waffles on Ben White in south austin and it was always empty. Maybe it was just before is time...or maybe it's just a stupid idea to serve chicken and waffles...I don't know, but that place closed years ago.
No link to the Statesman article? Come on, fellas.
Oh, I see, Addie Broyles, the Statesman food writer, responded in the comments to the original piece, not in an article of her own.
Oh, I see. Addie Broyles responded in the comments to Rancatore's piece, and not in an article of her own. My mistake.
Wow. That's just bad form on the part of the Atlantic. What's the point of a blog post that is supposedly about food trucks and health codes, yet spends half its word count playing the Ivy name game? Embarrassing. Not to mention the bizarre underhanded racism early on: "Most of the street vendors are immigrants, and they cheerfully ignore regulations..."
WTF? *Sigh.
The comments are the most annoying thing about that post, Broyles excepted. So sensitive!
Also, he's right, Burnet is nearly impossible to navigate for pedestrians. That street sucks.
Rob and I were curious so we hopped into a rental car and drove across Burnet Road, which is what Texans do when they want to cross the street.
It is when Austin motorists, with APD sanction, have declared open season on pedestrians who dare to cross a busy street.
people go tearing down Burnet Rd all the time. Crosswalks are few and far between. So yeah, it's a death trap.
This guy obviously did not explore the food cart subculture of Austin much more than this initial experience. Flip Happy? That one guy with the Ford Ranger? These are entrepreneurs! Laissez-faire, mon frère :P
WTF is a hipster enclave anyway?
In my opinion, Gus Rancatore can say whatever he wants and be as uninformed and sloppy with his work as he cares to be.
But, THE ATLANTIC should have higher standards and not allow a post on its site that is seemingly slopped together with assumptions of fact strewn in for ...who knows what purpose. Don't they have online editors?!