At the time, Geneva’s food truck scene was beginning to find its feet, and a visit to the Zurich Street Food Festival confirmed what they had been sensing: Geneva was ready for something like this. They presented the project to the city in 2015. The green light came. The outcome, at that first edition on the rue Saint-Antoine, surprised everyone, including them. A decade later, the festival has settled into the Plaine de Plainpalais, and she is confident about why it works. The location is the most accessible the festival has ever had, drawing the widest mix of people: all ages, all backgrounds, all styles. “When we walk around and see all these people having fun and looking happy and gathering together, that’s the cool part.” The festival is a true testament to community building … the ultimate IRL experience in today’s hyper-digitalized world.
This year, 62 food trucks will line the site across eleven days. There is also a new concept making its debut: Cuisine Ouverte. “We have so many restaurants in Geneva of Bistronomie who also need the spotlight sometimes, it’s not always easy for them.” The idea is straightforward and generous: open the festival doors to some of Geneva’s finest restaurants, including Michelin-starred names like Tosca and La Chaumière, so they can serve a signature dish at an accessible price. A different kitchen each day, available for dinner on weekdays and all day on weekends. Fine dining, standing up, in the open air. Restaurants were, she says, immediately excited about this idea.
Beyond food, the festival serves another purpose entirely. For the food trucks themselves, it is a professional platform: a chance to test products, read the crowd, and sharpen their brand in real time. Lara Mai and her team actively help the trucks along the way, giving advice on everything from the food itself to how the stand looks and how the concept communicates. A truck with great food but weak branding will not go as far as it could, and this is the moment to work on it, with sixty other stands nearby for comparison and inspiration. Many trucks go on to be booked for other events off the back of their presence here. It is, in that sense, as much an incubator as a festival.
Ask her about favourite stands, and she lights up. The classics she keeps coming back to are Pretty Patty and Maix. This year, she is particularly excited to try La Basquerie, which serves Basque country cheesecake. She is also looking forward to Gallo at Cuisine Ouverte with a particular kind of anticipation: she has never managed to book a table there. And then there is Oh My Greek, which she describes as a perennial crowd favourite, year after year.
