Last Saturday I wound up in the quintessentially Cornish town of Wadebridge, at the heart of the Camel Trail on a hike with Expedition Society. We stopped at the foot of the towns’ iconic bridge, and called it quits for a 1 hour lunch break. Tight for time but raring to explore, there was one venue that caught my attention; Saltbox. With the members of my posse having vastly different lunchtime desires, there as an almost euphoric feeling when we entered.
Upon arrival, our palpable hunger pangs were delighted to discover the rich variety on display. Joseph Whalley, with a raging Neapolitan flame burning in his young heart, B-lined straight to Woody’s Woodfired Pizza at the far left of the container. With a commanding presence he ordered a Margarita, and trotted above deck with a buzzer device to let him know when his sacred dough was ready.
Jem Turner, with an unquenchable thirst for a crisp lager, was allured to the Salt Bar, a contemporary, beach-style barroom that wouldn’t have looked out of place in 1988’s Cocktail. He strutted in and was reminded of securing a tipple at a blissful oceanfront vista, effortlessly relaxed by the ambience despite being a stones throw from the gushing River Camel.
Chasing the timelessly cool aura of Samuel L. Jackson and his penchant for an all-American burger in Pulp Fiction, MSC Marine Vertebrae student Owen Davies dropped everything and was virtually sent packing to Hellfire Cantina, an Illawarra-inspired food-truck in the venue. The fusion of cultures and flavours rose to his snout like yeast in the oven, and he was elated when the time came to collect the beast in a petit red basket.
In need of something with a little more of a pungent kick, Sophie Crossley-Hardeman made a proverbial appointment with SUKI – a tour-de-force of South East Asian street food, for some gourmet fries. Small but mighty, the bold reinvention the every man’s dish drenched in nori salt was just what the doctor ordered.
So enamoured by the seemingly endless variety, dessert was also procured last, but certainly not least, the Saltbox Kitchen itself. A strawberry and chocolate crepe was whipped up with love and labour from the duo behind the counter, and before we finally departed to return to the Camel’s way, a delectably blended latte from the coffee station rounded off our Saltboxing.
So, after I experienced such an unexpectedly vibrant lunch stop in this Cornish town, it has got me thinking, are mini-malls the future for small businesses in the food truck trade?
I certainly think so. In the current climate, with overheads ballooning to the point of lunacy, sharing a roof with other vivacious outlets not only softens the financial blow, but also greatly enriches that warm, community feel that struck such resonance with my chums and I. With specialist foodie services such as Kernow Dine & Deli, and post-modernist craft beer boozer LAUTER bottle shop both biting the bullet in Falmouth due to ‘soaring’ costs, the more collaborative model seems to have its benefits.
This can be seen in the uproarious launch of Redruth’s new Buttermarket, which saw a huge number flock to its ‘laid-back playground for foodies and culture vultures alike’. A similar ordeal to Saltbox, this new sheriff in Redruth is a courtyard where 8 kitchens proudly stand shoulder-to-shoulder, embracing each others produce that spans from street food, pastries, wine and coffee. These spaces are an opportunity for eclectic mash-ups, a marrying of culture built on the sentiment as old as time itself: ‘When you go to the restaurant, why would two people ever order the same thing?’