Before the Ritz-Carlton rose 460 feet above downtown Portland, the block where it sits was home to a vibrant, chaotic cluster of food carts. At its peak, the 10th and Alder cart pod served as one of the first places tourists went for a taste of Portland’s celebrated food culture, while simultaneously providing an affordable lunch option for workers downtown. The developers behind the Block 216 project, which includes the 5-star Ritz-Carlton hotel, luxury condos, office space and a 20th floor fine-dining restaurant, are hoping to capture some of that energy — and, perhaps, utility — via Flock, a new “food gallery” coming to the project’s ground floor. “The developer asked us to see if we could bring back the old food cart pod, in a way,” said Jae Kim, the local Tous Les Jours franchise owner who helped pick the food hall vendors with partner Daniel Lee. Click the link in our bio for a full list of vendors. Photo by SeansPix/The Oregonian #Portland #FoodCarts