It’s hard to believe what has happened in the world since March 6, when we opened our 10th year of Off the Grid Fort Mason with a single event before being shuttered by COVID. Since then, all of us at OTG have been serving thousands of meals per week to health care workers and at-risk communities under new socially distanced norms. We’ve also been taking this time to better understand how we can continue building on a decade of food experience to help bring back opportunities for struggling food businesses to support and sustain their businesses.
We are excited to announce that we’re ready to begin reactivating our food community, starting later this month with initial spaces we’re calling Food Spots; where you can get quick takeout and our Creator community can find viable, legal spaces to sell. Our vision is to—at first—simply offer opportunities for our food community that prioritizes health and safety. Fort Mason Center will host our first Food Spot Monday through Friday from 5 – 8pm where 2 – 3 rotating trucks will regularly add extra diversity and deliciousness to the Marina neighborhood in San Francisco. While we were initially set to open on Monday, June 8, we’ve had to push back a few days and should be open by the middle of June. Stay tuned for official announcements about our starting dates.
Over the course of June, we’ll be announcing additional Food Spot locations with the goal of opening as many of these spaces as possible in the near future. These outdoor takeout experiences will facilitate responsible social distancing, feature no-touch ordering options, and the ability to order your food ahead of time using our new OTG Experience app (while avoiding costly charges through delivery app services). Residents will have an opportunity to mix up their routines with a variety of food options, while supporting small businesses—our third-party food Creators.
The opening of new Food Spots is our Chapter 1 for the summer, and we’re hard at work on what Chapter 2 of what socially distanced and safe food gatherings will look like. Supporting local restaurants, new entrepreneurs, and, importantly, encouraging diversity in our guests as well as our Creator food entrepreneur community are all top of mind as we consider this new mobile food landscape.
If you have space on private property and want to support small local food businesses by hosting a daily Food Spot, please contact us here.
Matt
Matt Cohen
Founder and CEO
Off the Grid
