BeefCake London Street Food Stand

I am thrilled to bring a little bit of Chicago-love to the vibrant city of London…(“You say ‘Chi-City? I just touched down in London-Town.”) Chi-town and cooking are my passion and my livelihood, and here I am (hoping to be) combining the best of both worlds.Backing the venture with £2,000 of my own money, and my family providing a super-generous £3,000, I’m looking to friends and believers for a remaining supportive donation of £8,500 that will bring this vision to life.

To get BeefCake up-and-rolling, I will use the money to purchase the necessary equipment, e.g., a small van, 3×3 gazebo, meat slicer, bain marie, prep station, refrigerator, table, generators, food, pitch fees, permits, licenses, and marketing - just to name a few things.

Why believe in me

Having worked as a Creative Director in advertising for the past 20 years, coming from the US and with a respective six and two years in Frankfurt and Paris behind me, upon my recent move to London I found it time to hang-up my ‘ad-hat’ and follow my true, inner passion: making food that delights the mouths and hearts of people around me.

I’ve gathered talent starting at a young age with my mother, a culinary professor, and sought inspiration at every touchpoint in my life: a true Chicago boy, through-and-through, with an international exuberance and a desire to fill bellies with convenience and goodness.

So what is it

BeefCake is a blooming Street Food stand bringing a little piece of Chi-City love to London-Town, popping up at markets or events in and around the city. Competitor-wise, it’s a non-existing concept - and I’m excited to share something I have a huge, childhood-rooted passion for (not to mention, having lived abroad for the last eight years, something I thoroughly miss): Chicago Italian Beef Sandwiches (my soul-warming specialty and delectable passion) and my mother’s hands-down, best-in-class, Cheesecake. They fit hand-in-hand!

Excitingly, with the little marketing I have done (posting some pictures of the product I’ll be selling) and the associations I have joined, I’ve already received big ‘bites’ (haha) leading to potential opportunities to sell my sandwiches at multiple locations - the heart is there, the goods are there, the demand is there, now I just need the equipment to execute!

I am extremely confident that BeefCake will hit the ground running and never turn back.

The Italian Beef Sandwich is a staple in Chicago, and there are many ways to make it - surely, everyone thinks theirs is the best. As do I - but I’ve got the ‘creds’ (and ‘taste-patrol’ via so many friends and countries throughout the years) to back it…

The secret

For the Sandwich, I’m using a recipe that comes from my grandfather (and of course, it is The Best). He grew up in the famous Chicago neighborhood, Little Italy on Taylor Street, the same street that Al Capone would walk down. This is the recipe he learned as a young man, and which has been in my family for decades.

And I’m bringing this Chicago-famous (best-kept-secret) recipe to a city that does not sell anything close to it.

For the Cheesecake, the recipe comes from my mother - and having ‘tested’ it across the world (purposefully organizing “Cheesecake competitions” from Germany to France and into Portugal), I’ve found: despite country/regional ‘taste’ and what you’ll find at a typical bakery in any of these places (Germans seem to prefer dryer, and less-sweet, while French like cheese, but not necessarily in a cake, and custards and macaroons…), mom’s Cheesecake seems to (always) win, hands-down, cross-borders, no matter the audience. It’s just yummy. Very, very yummy.
 
Link to the Project:

https://www.gofundme.com/beefcakelondon/