The Scoop on Street Beet

The Detroit dining scene has been going through a transformation over the last five years. First, we got a few fancy restaurants, then the food trucks came, and finally the pop-ups started. Pop-ups are by far our favorite part of this new golden age of food. These flash food mobs appear and disappear faster than you can say foodie, but they are all unique in their own ways. Some well known chefs use them as a way to explore new cuisines and other up and coming cooks use them as a way to get their names onto people's lips and their food into their mouths.

One of the most talked about pop-up events of 2018 were the Street Beet Vegan Taco Hell events at PJ's Lager House. This plant based take on Taco Bell flooded our Instagram feed and made us craze a crunch wrap like nobody's business, but it took us a few attempts to get our butts into a seat at one of their events because we weren't the only ones that were intrigued by what chef Nina Paletta & Meghan Shaw were cooking up. Thankfully, last weekend we finally got in and stuffed a breakfast version of that crunch-wrap in our mouths and we are pleased to report that it is everything we hoped it would be.

Street Beet is special because they take the time to make cashew cheese that melts in your mouth just like the "real" stuff would. They go out of their way to re-create the tastes and textures that you are looking for when you splurge on some Taco Hell or Pizza Butt and they make vegan food accessible and fun for everyone. They host their pop-ups at places like PJ's and Nancy Whiskey's and they don't bullshit with selling you some corny experience. The only problem is, everyone wants in and they can only cook so much. They have added a lot more events to their roster and are helping to create a menu for a future space in Royal Oak, but access is still very limited. You can see the dates of their next Vegan Taco Hell and their first McDaddy's event here. You can follow them here to keep up with everything they are doing.

~C