Gearing Up for Open House Weekend 2006
Looks like Marfa fever is setting in. We've noticed a sharp increase of eyeballs here at Marfa.Org. Usually we have about 120 visitors a day, but these days we are recording over 3 times that.
The anticipation for this year's event is palatable; there is a buzz in the air (or is that a buzz saw?) Everyone is scurrying to get ready for the annual onslaught of art pilgrims. The folks over at El Cosmico are building a stage and installing their dutchtubs, and can be seen around town in a big truck that has "Follow me to El Cosmico" painted on it.
Unfortunately, this year The Pizza Foundation will be closed for the weekend due to staffing shortages and insufficient infrastructure. This is unwelcome news for the arriving masses because Marfa's meager food offerings already get overwhelmed every Open House weekend. This news will take us back a few years; we'll be lunchin' at the DQ like the good ole days. Rather than close entirely, I suggested that The Pizza Foundation run a stripped-down operation this year - nothing but cheese slices and ice tea, but this doesn't get to the heart of the problem. You may remember last year that many areas of town had "issues" with the sewage system - that's right, the downtown businesses like Paisano, Pizza Foundation, possibly Maiya's and many others are all sharing an inadequate undersized sewer line that basically prevents PF from running their kitchen at full steam.
One welcome addition to the culinary options is the Food Shark, a roaming cuisine machine. (Is it true that the shark used to be a Mrs. Baird's truck?) The food's great and the attire is come-as-you-are. This year I hear they will be debuting the special Marfalafel, sure to match the success of food invention predecessors, the corn dog (Texas State Fair, 1941) and the hamburger (Erie County Fair & Expo, 1885). Here's a photo of the Shark from February. (Yes that's Ben from the Secret Machines having a torta.)
Another less obvious food choice, for those of you that don't know, is the Burrito Lady. She serves traditional Mexican burritos out of her house(?) on south Highway 67.
The anticipation for this year's event is palatable; there is a buzz in the air (or is that a buzz saw?) Everyone is scurrying to get ready for the annual onslaught of art pilgrims. The folks over at El Cosmico are building a stage and installing their dutchtubs, and can be seen around town in a big truck that has "Follow me to El Cosmico" painted on it.
Unfortunately, this year The Pizza Foundation will be closed for the weekend due to staffing shortages and insufficient infrastructure. This is unwelcome news for the arriving masses because Marfa's meager food offerings already get overwhelmed every Open House weekend. This news will take us back a few years; we'll be lunchin' at the DQ like the good ole days. Rather than close entirely, I suggested that The Pizza Foundation run a stripped-down operation this year - nothing but cheese slices and ice tea, but this doesn't get to the heart of the problem. You may remember last year that many areas of town had "issues" with the sewage system - that's right, the downtown businesses like Paisano, Pizza Foundation, possibly Maiya's and many others are all sharing an inadequate undersized sewer line that basically prevents PF from running their kitchen at full steam.
One welcome addition to the culinary options is the Food Shark, a roaming cuisine machine. (Is it true that the shark used to be a Mrs. Baird's truck?) The food's great and the attire is come-as-you-are. This year I hear they will be debuting the special Marfalafel, sure to match the success of food invention predecessors, the corn dog (Texas State Fair, 1941) and the hamburger (Erie County Fair & Expo, 1885). Here's a photo of the Shark from February. (Yes that's Ben from the Secret Machines having a torta.)
Another less obvious food choice, for those of you that don't know, is the Burrito Lady. She serves traditional Mexican burritos out of her house(?) on south Highway 67.
posted by Mark permanent link
5 Comments:
I don't blame the pizza foundation for closing on a weekend like Chinati's. How can a business adjust from a town of 2,000 to 4,000 plus population in a weekend? But go Food Shark!
I bet the Pizza F really didn't have anything to worry about this year. If all the customers who got a raw deal and too much attitude last year held to their word, they weren't going back to eat there anyway. So actually there would be no rise in business from a normal day. Just the few poor souls who don't mind being mistreated and overcharged would even go there. Real businesses adjust to the rise in population by adding some extra burgers to the grill and they SMILE when they serve you. Go Dairy Queen!
I spoke with the PF guys, and it turns out that the long lines are a byproduct of the real problem: staff and infrastructure. Almost all the employees graduated and moved on, and there is not enough time to hire and train before Chinati.
As I recall, it wasn't the sewer system that went kaput last year; it was the water system itself, which got plonked by a lightning strike. The sewer system is a dinosaur, true, but in this case, it was water that was not available.
Yeah, that's what it was - the water was the high profile snafu. But the sewer problem is there every open house weekend too. Thanks for the correction.
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