This summer Buffalo will welcome yet another mobile food operation, in the form of a pedal-powered cupcake trike. Timothy Meade, the young man behind the idea, told me that he felt there should be more pedal powered culinary businesses on the road. “The bikes and trikes can get places where the food trucks can’t,” says Tim. “It’s a pretty amazing world when you start to look into it. Not since the 50s have we seen entrepreneurs resorting to pedal power to deliver food. Just picture the era, with the ice cream man and his cooler and umbrella for shade. I want to bring that image to Buffalo.”
Another twist that Tim has up his sleeve revolves around pin-ups girls who will be serving up the frosting covered cakes. He’s already enlisted some of his friends who will be selling the cupcakes in full 50s pin-up attire. He says that the costumes will be classy, as if they were right out of the Buddy Holly restaurant in the movie Pulp Fiction.
It won’t be long before Cutie Cakes 716 is up and rolling. In order to get to that point, Tim is researching the best cupcakes to add to the cart, which will be outfitted with a battery-powered cooler. Tim has also met with a friend who recently graduated from culinary school – she is helping him perfect the prototype cupcakes. He’s also working on honing the overall 50s theme with the sleek, classy umbrella look and the complementing soda shop outfits.
So far, Tim has commissioned one trike to be assembled. He is planning to be up and operational with the trike by the time the warm weather breaks for good. If all goes according to plan, he would like to add another cupcake trike to his operation in the near future.
In the meantime, you can visit Cutie Cakes 716 on Facebook. Then, keep an eye out for your favorite cupcake cutie to visit any one of a number of Downtown destinations this summer.
Twitter: @cutiecakes716 | twitter.com/cutiecakes716