
Dream That You Dare To
It’s a sad day. We’ve gone and lost one of the good ones, people. After almost four years on the road with Rainbo, Ben and Xochi have decided it’s time to step back from the griddle and pass the business on to someone who can take it to its next incarnation. Yes – incarnation. These are spiritual people. And you don’t just buy Rainbo. You need to earn her. Their vegetarian food was a treat. And they have always done well at the British Street Food Awards. Our only regret was that they were too big to get them up to the first floor for Trinity Kitchen. Light a candle, cross your legs, and read these words from Xochi…if we were evolved enough, we would take care of her ourselves.
During my time running Rainbo, I exhausted myself and burnt out, not helped by eating sugar, coffee and all the burgers and chips that surrounded us at events. This led to a short course in Nutrition, which turned into a diploma – I am due to complete this in June – and starting a blog called The Naturalista, documenting my journey back to wellness through food and more mindful living. This in turn led Ben and me to spend time at a meditation community in Costa Rica each January and delve deeper into wellness and holistic living. The blog quickly gained traction and I am publishing a book based on it in April; during this time we agreed that Ben would focus on running Rainbo while I studied and wrote. The time has come to dedicate ourselves fully to this new world and we are starting to hold retreats in London and beyond, sharing what we have learned through running Rainbo as a couple and all the physical and energetic challenges it gave us. Street food is certainly very demanding as a career but we are definitely not the only ones who felt overly-stressed and exhausted by the London life: we feel excited and very lucky to have had this experience and share what it has taught us. The most important thing to us is that Rainbo goes to the right person who can continue our vision and what we have grown in a passionate and creative way. Whether this entails the van or not, there are so many possibilities for the brand and we are excited to cast the net wide and see what visions and ideas are out there. We want to hear your vision for the brand. What Rainbo means to you and where you would take it, menu ideas, a business plan (if you have one — we never did!), and why the street food life calls you. At this point we are flexible with how the process and takeover unfold; most of all, we want to ensure that Rainbo goes to the right person(s), who is suited to this lifestyle and who will thrive in this amazing scene. We know how much potential Rainbo has and would love to see it continue to flourish. If you are interested, send a proposal with a short paragraph to [email protected] on the following:
why the street food life calls to you
what Rainbo means to you
where you envisage taking the brand (both in terms of strategy and menu)
how much you are ready to invest
We will be meeting potential candidates over the next couple of months and will announce the new owner in the spring….”