Amid tents offering fresh produce, artwork and jewelry at the Lakeland Farmer’s Market, a booth called The Poor Porker presents passerby’s with something a little out of the ordinary—beignets and chicory coffee.
The decorative booth sits at the edge of the market at the intersection of East Pine and Kentucky. It was built from spare parts that owners Robyn Wilson and Jarrid Masse found in fields, dumpsters, basements and thrift stores. Reworked and refinished, these parts have been adapted into an open and attractive booth much resembling its friendly owners.
Masse and Wilson say they were inspired by the concept of the Café Du Monde in New Orleans, which started as a coffee stand at the French market in 1862 and is famous for its French donuts and coffee made from chicory root. The idea for their booth came alive while Masse and Wilson were making beignets using the Café Du Monde cooking mix.
“It’s the same concept,” Masse said. ‘We saw something where you couldn’t get it anywhere but there, and we wanted to make it more accessible to everyone else.”
Masse and Wilson don’t just want The Poor Porker to be a successful booth, though. Their ultimate goal is to start from scratch and build The Poor Porker into a world-renowned brand.
“We’re starting a self-reliance movement, you know?” Wilson said. “Do it yourself, start your own business. You can do it with nothing. You can do it without a lot.”
Chefs create their own style
As aspiring professional chefs, Masse and Wilson say they put their own spin on their products. They smoke the coffee with the chicory so that it’s not as thick, and they offer it iced as well as hot. They craft the dough for the beignets from scratch and make the entire recipe with free-range chicken eggs, sugarcane and other natural ingredients.
“We have our own interpretation of things, and we take away the things we don’t like,” Masse said.
Masse and Wilson formed their partnership while working on a cooking show called Marcel’s Quantum Kitchen, which aired on Syfy. The show’s first season ended, but Masse and Wilson are in talks to star in another television show.
“That’s why this is a booth, and that’s why we turned down any restaurant spaces we were offered, because we need to be mobile,” Masse said.
Masse began his career as an aspiring chef when he stole a chef’s outfit from a high-end restaurant where he was employed as a food runner. Masse started working for free as a chef during the day while still running food at night, and eventually the restaurant hired him as a chef. From there, he became involved with almost every aspect of the restaurant industry and continued on to work with molecular chefs like Michael Voltaggio and José Andrés.
Wilson ran a catering company for big music festivals like Van’s Warped Tour and Mayhem festival.
“I’ve always done front of the house,” Wilson said. “I’ve always been the voice of the business, so it was a perfect match, really.”
Masse and Wilson say they went back and forth about what to name their new brand, and Wilson threw out the idea of The Poor Porker.
“I think it perfectly describes us,” Wilson said. “We’re not from rich families, we don’t have money, but we want to start a business. We love food, we love nice things, we love to eat well and we love to cook for our families.”
Masse and Wilson bring their booth to both the Lakeland Downtown Farmer’s Curb Market and the Celebration Farmer’s Market. Masse, who is originally from Lakeland but moved to Los Angeles 12 years ago, says the theme of the markets fits well with what they are trying to establish.
“It makes sense to go to a corner booth and buy beignets and chicory coffee,” Masse said. “It just makes sense.”
The Poor Porker sweeps over social media
The Poor Porker has been operational in Lakeland for only a month, but Masse says people are already becoming aware of it through social media sites like Facebook and Twitter. Masse and Wilson interact with customers and give updates on their progress.
The updates are personable and gracious, often including pictures of customers and words of thanks. Masse and Wilson clearly have an understanding of how social media can help build a solid supportive customer base, and they say they are lucky to be able to reach their followers in such a way.
“I’m amazed at how many people read everything we put up,” Masse said.
In addition to the Twitter and Facebook pages, The Poor Porker also has thepoorporker.com, which is a blog detailing their development. The blog also offers their opinions on art, music, food and fashion, and will show their process of building and creating craft pieces like their booth.
“You can follow our trail and see how it happened, how it worked for us, what it took and how much it took,” Masse said.
Masse and Wilson have already started making upgrades to The Poor Porker. Using the money they earned from the farmer’s markets, the owners bought a cart to make their booth fully mobile. They also plan to add new items to the menu, including The Poor Porker beignet, which will come with maple brown butter sauce, bacon bits, smoked sea salt and the traditional powdered sugar.
They will add flavored beignets to the menu as well as a chicory glaze to go over the French donuts. These new additions will be tested at the Celebration Farmer’s Market first and then brought to Lakeland.