We ran into La Cocina executive director Caleb Zigas in line at Blue Bottle at Ferry Plaza today -- he was waiting, we don't have the patience -- and asked what his plans are for next year's Street Food Festival.
Turns out Zigas has some big dreams: a two-day festival with theme buses bringing folks from different parts of the city.
Unlike many dreamers', Zigas' ideas should not be easily dismissed. This is a young guy who thought, "Hey, let's make San Francisco's biggest food event happen on the streets of the Mission with fine dining restaurants lining up to sell mini bites alongside taco vendors, and practically the whole area supporting us." Last week he made that happen.
So what's next?
Foremost on Zigas' mind is next year's venue. While he says he only had three complaints from neighbors, this year's crowd was so large that the festival might have outgrown the Mission.
Zigas already told us he's thinking of Mission Bay, near AT&T Park. He's also thinking of holding the festival over two days instead of one: perhaps a night festival and a daytime one.
"In a two-day festival, we'll be able to feed more people and it'll be less rushed," Zigas said. "If I was a consumer this year, I would have been frustrated by not being able to eat all the food I want to eat."
We can relate to that: the lines were intimidating at some booths, but SFoodie was held back from eating everything mainly because we don't have innards as expandable as the legend of Japan's TV Champion, Takako Akasaka.
A night festival would also have a different feel. "We want people to walk around with alcohol," Zigas said.
But he said he wouldn't consider a night festival in one place and a daytime festival in another, for logistical reasons: moving all the vendors in and out in one day is already challenging.
As for moving, the theme buses are a new idea.
"We could have Italian-themed buses from North Beach, and Chinese-themed buses from Chinatown," Zigas said. "We could have vendors from the area sell something to eat before you get on the bus, and music on the bus."
SFoodie thought, there's a transit-friendly way to bring people from around town. But Zigas said that's not the motivation.
"Mission Bay has great public transportation links because the Giants are there," he said. "It's not necessary, but it would be cool. We're into cool."
