Nobody Wants a Pre-Cooked Grilled Cheese

Desperate to find money to buy my grilled cheese cart, I decided to look into government funding.  I took Henry's advice & one Friday morning after work I drove to the San Diego County Department of Environmental Health in Kearny Mesa.  I didn't have an appointment, but Henry said that wouldn't matter.

"Hi, um yes, I was wondering if I could talk to somebody about what grants are available to start a food cart?" I asked at the reception desk.

"Okay, well I'm not sure if we have anything right now, but let me check with Robert, he would be the one to ask," she said & got on the phone to ring him up.  I waited patiently with my Mad Munch folder of documents.

"Hey Robert, this gentleman was asking if we currently have any grants for running a food truck."

"No, sorry it's actually a food cart," I interrupted her & pointed at the printout of the $800 Craigslist Ad.    

"Oh, I see," Robert said.  "So you wanna start your own hot dog cart, huh?"

"No, I want to sell grilled cheese sandwiches from this cart.  There's a bar in OB that said I could set up outside & sell to their patrons," I said.  "I was told to come here & see if you guys had any grants or small business loans available.  I need a little extra cash to get started out."

"Oh, grilled cheese?  Wow, that sounds good," Robert sounded impressed.  "Well, unfortunately right now we don't have any grants available, but it sounds like you're gonna need info on a Temporary Food Facility Permit or a 'TFF.'  And, for one of those you'll also have to have a Commissary Kitchen to cook the food ahead of time.  Let me grab you the info packet for both."

He returned with the stapled papers.  "So why do I need a commissary kitchen, again?" I asked.  "I was planning on storing food at home & just grilling on site with my cart."

"No, sorry, it doesn't work that way.   You'll need to store & cook all your food ahead of time at a county approved commissary before go out in your cart," he explained.

"Ahead of time?  Nobody's gonna want a pre-cooked grilled cheese.  They gotta be made fresh, to order,"  I couldn't believe what he was suggesting.  

"Well, technically with a cart you're just transporting the food- like with tamales & hot dogs.  They're already fully-cooked so you're just reheating them for your customers.  So you'd have to do the same with your grilled cheese sandwiches."

"How would I know how many to make?"

"You'd have to figure that out ahead of time," he explained.