Ahead of the Forecasted Snowstorm This Weekend, Portland Chefs Are Selling ‘Snowpocalypse Kits’
Meteorologists anticipate a wave of winter weather Friday and Saturday in Portland due to an arctic blast that is impacting much of the country. Forecasts project anywhere from 1 to 8 inches of snow accumulation, plus freezing rain and temperatures in the teens.
Those winter conditions could make travel tricky through the weekend, which dramatically impacts diners’ and food service workers’ ability to access restaurants and food carts. Snow days can be financially disastrous for restaurant and food cart owners, who have estimated that snow days can cost them thousands of dollars in lost revenue.
For some business owners — either those unsure if they will close, or those who are closing preemptively — the solution is to lean into the concept of “stocking up.” Restaurants and carts have started offering winter meal kits ahead of the storm: large-scale family meals labeled “snowpocalypse kits” or “survival kits.”
While Sugarpine Drive-In doesn’t plan to close over the weekend, the Troutdale spot will offer sandwich fixings, salads, and soups in a single kit ahead of the weekend, with food for two or three people. Deepak Saxena, the owner of Indian American restaurant Masala Lab and food carts Desi PDX and Chaat Wallah, plans to close his carts ahead of the weekend, using the restaurant space as a pickup location for meal kits. The hope is to soften the financial blow while also providing a genuine service for diners.
“It’s a lot of lost revenue,” Saxena says. “Especially this time of year, coming out of the holidays. … This is a way to make up for some of that.”
Historically, snowstorms in Portland have impacted the restaurant industry more significantly than in other cities because of the lack of extreme weather infrastructure: Compared to cities in the Midwest or on the East Coast, Portland’s snow response is limited. As a result, restaurants and food carts have to adapt to the winter weather in creative ways, offering meal kits to help customers stock up before the weather hits and bolster their business.
