Photograph courtesy of Jeffrey S. Rovner
For nearly a year now, we’ve been thinking more about takeout food than we used to. Local restaurant owners have been thinking a LOT more about it, and many have taken a deep dive into things such as take-away containers, microwave settings, and menu shifts.
At Fork and Knife in Costa Mesa, the plan was always to provide gourmet to-go meals. But co-owner Jonathan Blackford discovered there were some surprises. “Everyone in the country is using the same to-go containers, and they are so expensive. We’re spending about twice what I budgeted for to-go containers,” he says. And it’s not just the price, but availability issues are also a challenge. “This is going to sound ridiculous, but I bought a new truck just so we could have extra space for the containers. It’s not like I can buy one case and the next week buy another. They might be out, so I have to buy five cases and then store it.”