Owning a food cart in the year of our lord 2023 requires more footwork and power moves than a breakdancer.
Chef Richard Văn Lê should know: Until recently, he was behind the iconic Matta food cart, which he opened to immediate success in 2019. Critics, myself included, fawned over Lê’s interpretations of family dishes he learned growing up in California.
Lê always wanted to open a restaurant, a dream that faded as the realities of the industry—escalating food, rent, and labor costs among them—grew more stark during the pandemic. The next idea was a catering and event planning business, focused on breakdancing and other hip hop culture facets that Lê loves. That was the plan when Lê announced the cart was closing.
