2015年经济学人 街头小食 体面户外餐饮的兴起

Street food

Sandwich spread

The rise of decent outdoor dining

ON A cold, blustery morning at Canary Wharf¹, London's second financial district, eating outside does not seem appealing.

Yet on a solitary² concrete quay³, suited workers huddle⁴ around picnic benches. Half a dozen food stalls line the water's edge.

One sells Thai food out of a rickshaw, another salted pork buns from a converted horse box. Everything on offer is about6 (10).

Such is the latest in Britain's culinary evolution.

Street dining is hardly new. Kebab vans in university towns serve oily gunk to sozzled students;

on weekends in London, grizzled men hawk⁵ frankfurters outside Tube stations.

But until recently smarter nosh was mostly available only in restaurants.

Now most big cities have at least one regular street food event, as a London fashion has spread out.

Britain's faltering⁶ economy is part of the explanation. “In a recession, people go into food businesses”,

says Mark Laurie of NCASS, a trade association for caterers.

Setting up a street food stall takes little capital or specialist knowledge.

At Canary Wharf, the traders include a former architect and a bank worker, as well as restaurateurs.

Demand is increasing, too, as pinched customers trade down from restaurants.

Yet the biggest driver of outdoor eating is officialdom.

Local authorities and commercial property developers see street stalls as a means of quickly gingering up struggling high streets and sterile⁷ plazas⁸.

The Canary Wharf Group does not charge for the use of its land by the cluster of street vendors⁹

(the market is organised by Kerb, a profit-making firm).

Alistair Turnham, who runs Stock Mkt, a similar outfit¹⁰, says some councils will even pay his firm to run events.

Street food vendors thus avoid paying hefty rents or business rates—which helps them to undercut restaurants.

Still, the distinction between indoor and outdoor food is blurring¹¹.

The Marriot, an upmarket hotel in Mayfair, recently put on a street food-inspired menu.

Trinity Leeds, a new shopping centre in Yorkshire, hosts rolling street food traders as part of its food hall.

Some successful street food vendors are setting up restaurants—few want to work out of vans forever.

Others are moving into catering¹² for private events. The market economy is triumphing.

1 wharf   

n.码头，停泊处

参考例句：

• We fetch up at the wharf exactly on time.我们准时到达码头。
• We reached the wharf gasping for breath.我们气喘吁吁地抵达了码头。

2 solitary   

adj.孤独的，独立的，荒凉的；n.隐士

参考例句：

• I am rather fond of a solitary stroll in the country.我颇喜欢在乡间独自徜徉。
• The castle rises in solitary splendour on the fringe of the desert.这座城堡巍然耸立在沙漠的边际，显得十分壮美。

3 quay   

n.码头，靠岸处

参考例句：

• There are all kinds of ships in a quay.码头停泊各式各样的船。
• The side of the boat hit the quay with a grinding jar.船舷撞到码头发出刺耳的声音。

4 huddle   

vi.挤作一团；蜷缩；vt.聚集；n.挤在一起的人

参考例句：

• They like living in a huddle.他们喜欢杂居在一起。
• The cold wind made the boy huddle inside his coat.寒风使这个男孩卷缩在他的外衣里。

5 hawk   

n.鹰，骗子；鹰派成员

参考例句：

• The hawk swooped down on the rabbit and killed it.鹰猛地朝兔子扑下来,并把它杀死。
• The hawk snatched the chicken and flew away.老鹰叼了小鸡就飞走了。

6 faltering   

犹豫的，支吾的，蹒跚的

参考例句：

• The economy shows no signs of faltering. 经济没有衰退的迹象。
• I canfeel my legs faltering. 我感到我的腿在颤抖。

7 sterile   

adj.不毛的，不孕的，无菌的，枯燥的，贫瘠的

参考例句：

• This top fits over the bottle and keeps the teat sterile.这个盖子严实地盖在奶瓶上，保持奶嘴无菌。
• The farmers turned the sterile land into high fields.农民们把不毛之地变成了高产田。

8 plazas   

n.（尤指西班牙语城镇的）露天广场( plaza的名词复数 )；购物中心

参考例句：

• At focal points, there are seating plazas as rest points for users. 在主要主景点上，有空间较大的广场提供休息的地方。 来自互联网
• Such products are suitable for lighting and decoration of plazas, courtyards, parks, residential district and roadside. 本产品适合于广场、庭院，公园、小区草坪和道路的装饰和照明。 来自互联网

9 vendors   

n.摊贩( vendor的名词复数 )；小贩；（房屋等的）卖主；卖方

参考例句：

• The vendors were gazundered at the last minute. 卖主在最后一刻被要求降低房价。
• At the same time, interface standards also benefIt'software vendors. 同时，界面标准也有利于软件开发商。 来自About Face 3交互设计精髓

10 outfit   

n.（为特殊用途的）全套装备，全套服装

参考例句：

• Jenney bought a new outfit for her daughter's wedding.珍妮为参加女儿的婚礼买了一套新装。
• His father bought a ski outfit for him on his birthday.他父亲在他生日那天给他买了一套滑雪用具。

11 blurring   

n.模糊，斑点甚多，（图像的）混乱v.（使）变模糊( blur的现在分词 )；（使）难以区分

参考例句：

• Retinal hemorrhage, and blurring of the optic dise cause visual disturbances. 视网膜出血及神经盘模糊等可导致视力障碍。 来自辞典例句
• In other ways the Bible limited Puritan writing, blurring and deadening the pages. 另一方面，圣经又限制了清教时期的作品，使它们显得晦涩沉闷。 来自辞典例句

12 catering   

n. 给养

参考例句：

• Most of our work now involves catering for weddings. 我们现在的工作多半是承办婚宴。
• Who did the catering for your son's wedding? 你儿子的婚宴是由谁承办的？