A weekly gig at a Williamsburg bar serving hotdogs topped with kimchi and other Asian treats was a welcome diversion after Melanie Campbell, 29, and Steve Porto, 30, lost jobs in the fashion industry.
Now their fledgling business, Asiadog, may soon eclipse their current day jobs.
“Steve always loved cooking and is always talking about food,” Campbell, 29, said. “It’s a common topic of conversation with our friends.”
A cookout at Trophy Bar in Williamsburg was a one-time event that grew into a regular Tuesday appearance. Now they sell Asia-dogs on weekends at the Brooklyn Flea and elsewhere. They may run a “pop-up restaurant” Mondays when a friend’s Lower East Side eatery is closed.
“We do want to open a place,” Campbell said. “It’s just so scary with the overhead and commitment.”
In this down economy, talking about food has become more obsessive, and perhaps comforting, than real estate. Food job fantasies have replaced dreams of writing a novel.
Murray’s Cheese relocated a recent lecture by “Food Jobs” author Irena Chalmers to a larger venue because of demand. Afterward, Murray’s owner Rob Kaufelt said he forgot to warn would-be career changers: “Don’t do it.”
“Some people should stay on Wall Street or at their law firms,” he added.