CONTEXT:
In Romania, there’s a sound older than any ringtone. The sizzle of fresh minced meat aka "mici" on the hot grill.
Mici. The unofficial official soundtrack of May 1st, mountain side beers and trauma inducing family gatherings. Mahala cuisine. Maximum nostalgia, minimal wi-fi.
But the streets changed. Food trucks, pop-ups, sneaker drops, content drops and influencer owned restaurants. Mici needed their own urban stage: the foodcourt.
Younger Romanians love street culture… but mici stayed stuck at the picnic table.
In Romanian, mici literally means „smalls”. The brand name, Smols, is a phonetic wink to that meaning. Meet SMOLS. Not your buzzed uncle’s grill, but your pop culture’s new crush.
We pulled them out of the smoke and into the spotlight. From guilty pleasure to daily pleasure. Could the most traditional bite became the most urban contemporary flex?
We called it Micultura Urbană. Urban Mic Culture.
It’s a wordplay, mic plus culture. A nod to culinary art meeting street art.
Street food, street wear, street art, street music.
It’s not a recipe change, more of a shift in culture.
