Barone Meatball Company had a huge line during the Downtown Raleigh Food Truck Rodeo.
(Copyright 2013 Capitol Broadcasting Company)

The food truck movement is finally coming to Raleigh … in a big way.

Of course, the City of Oaks has had smaller rodeos as these collections of food trucks are called. I’ve been to a few of them, picking up an ice cream cone at Lumpy’s at one or a sandwich at Baguettaboutit at another. A neighbor had Captain Poncho’s stop in her cul de sac. Another had Chick-N-Que stop in for a party.

But I’ve always looked longingly at our neighbor, Durham, which has had big events featuring dozens of food trucks, for a few years now. Sadly, those events, what with birthday parties, soccer games and all the usual kid activities, seem to always land on busy weekends for my family.

So when I heard about the plans for the Downtown Raleigh Food Truck Rodeo, held for the first time on Mother’s Day, I knew we’d be there. It was a Mother’s Day wish.

For the uninitiated, including the man who sat next to us at last Sunday’s event, these aren’t your garden variety sandwich and taco trucks, which move around to construction sites and other workplaces during the day. And it’s not usually the food that you find at a fair or festival either (though I’ve seen some food trucks at these too).

Though they do make stops on a regular basis at office buildings and elsewhere during the week, they often have more gourmet or unusual offerings. Some feature locally made products. Others excel at just one type of food – burgers, pizza, barbecue, Chinese style dumplings, cupcakes, ice cream.

I expected huge lines at Sunday’s event, the first of four planned this year. Luckily, the church my family attends gets out at 11:30 a.m. on Sundays. So we walked over to Fayetteville Street and were among the first in line when it opened at noon.

This event was huge. More than 40 trucks were parked along Fayetteville Street and a few other streets. Even before the rodeo opened, lines were forming at some of the most popular ones. Within 20 minutes or so, there were really long lines at those places.

Fayetteville Street was packed with food trucks and hungry people during downtown Raleigh’s first food truck rodeo.
(Copyright 2013 Capitol Broadcasting Company)

Getting there early and getting our food at the very beginning were key to our family’s great time. After we ate, we walked up and down the street to see a bit of the scene and then headed on to our next stop for the day.

Here’s what we’ll do when we go again with our kids, ages 3 and 8:

1. Before the event, we’ll research each of the trucks and figure out which ones we want to hit. My eight-year-old really loves food of all kinds. The number of choices was a bit overwhelming for her when we got there … burritos or crepes or pizza or dumplings. Next time, we’ll be better prepared. I’ll probably even check in on the truck’s different Facebook and Twitter pages to see what the menu will be.

2. We’ll get there early again. It was nice to be able to check out the scene without huge lines getting in our way. We could inspect the menus and make decisions without feeling rushed. Getting there early also meant that we had absolutely no problem finding a table to eat at.

3. Eat at the trucks with smaller lines. Yes … I did want dumplings from Chirba Chirba. I was craving an Only Burger. And the Urban Street Grill’s Korean dishes looked amazing. But I also had absolutely no desire to wait in a long line with a hungry, antsy three-year-old. If I wanted to keep my sanity, I would have to enjoy those dumplings on another day. And bonus: Now I know which trucks to keep an eye on in case they stop somewhere near me again.

4. Get out of there once the lines get crazy. I’m sure this would be a fun date afternoon with the husband or some friends. We’d get a beer, walk around, wait in line and try some amazing food. That kind of leisurely pace is not going to happen with my kids right now. So once it’s busy, we’ll be out of there.

What can I recommend? The cheese pizza from Pie Pushers, the pulled pork sandwich from The Humble Pig, the chicken burrito from D’Burritos, and the tomato, basil and mozzarella panini from Deli.icious. Oh, and the Italian ice from SweetWater Ices was out of this world.

Smaller ice cream carts participated in downtown Raleigh’s food truck rodeo as well.
(Copyright 2013 Capitol Broadcasting Company)

The prices were all responsible. We paid between $2 for a small Italian ice and about $7 for the pork sandwich. Bottles of water were just $1. I definitely didn’t feel like were being gouged there.

And hats off to the organizers for setting up so many tables and the city workers for keeping it all so clean.

Three more Downtown Raleigh Food Truck Rodeos are scheduled through October. They are noon to 5 p.m., June 9; 4 p.m. to 9 p.m., Aug. 11; and noon to 5 p.m., Oct. 13, Can’t wait!

http://www.wral.com/destination-downtown-raleigh-food-truck-rodeo/12442164/

NewsChannel5.com | Nashville News, Weather

NASHVILLE, Tenn. - Last year, the Metro Public Works started a pilot program that designated zones for mobile food vendor parking. One of those zones has drivers upset their parking spaces are gone.

Reedy Reynolds came to the Birch Building on 2nd Avenue North Thursday and had a hard time finding street parking.

He had to get out of his car to see a sign posted on all the parking meters close to the courthouse.

“I wanted to see what the time limits were, to see if I could get in here, but it’s 10 to 2, so I can’t park,” Reedy said.

Many people have complained about the mobile food vendor parking on that street, because they have never seen a food truck park there.

“Not one. What does that say,” Reedy asked.

The designated zones are part of a pilot program to help find places for food trucks to park.

“We tried to find locations that worked for everybody,” said Jenna Smith from Metro Public Works.

This is a pilot program that the department is constantly evaluating.

“Because we understand, this is not what we want, that there’s an empty spot and no one’s there because the food trucks aren’t there and somebody wants to park there,” Smith said.

The people who drive Nashville’s food trucks also understand the concerns people have raised about parking.

“Right away, when food trucks hit the scene, people were concerned about the potential issues, so we wanted to address them straight away,” according to Nashville Food Truck Association President B.J. Lofback.

The truck owners have worked closely with Metro Public Works to try and find the best approach to parking in downtown Nashville.

“And we understand people are looking for parking spots, and so are we, and how do we find that balance, well, we’re working on that right now,” Lofback said.

There are eight different sites located on downtown streets.

Changes are already planned for the zone in question on 2nd Avenue North. Public Works will reduce the number of spaces at that location next week.

“Basically reducing the size of the zone. So right now about three trucks can fit, probably one, to two trucks, depending on the size of the trucks, will be able to fit there,” Smith said.

The department is also looking into a reservation system. A vendor would call in the morning, reserve a spot and then the city would go and bag that spot. That way, only the spots actually needed would be off-limits to drivers.

There is an on-line survey you can take that will allow you to evaluate Nashville’s food truck program. Click here for the survey.

http://www.newschannel5.com/story/22275775/food-vendor-parking-cooking-up-controversy-downtown

Tasha Hubbard, left, waits for her order from a food truck parked at Farragut… (Matt McClain/The Washington…)

Hoping to fend off the argument that the District’s proposed street-vending regulationswould squash the local food-truck scene, directors of two city agencies plan Friday to identify more than 150 prime locations for mobile vendors in the Central Business District.

At a public hearing at which dozens of speakers are expected to rant about the regulations that would govern street food and merchandising, the officials plan to unveil a map showing the exact number of vending locations for food trucks and other mobile merchandisers in the main commercial zone.

Terry Bellamy, director of the Department of Transportation, and Nicholas A. Majett, who heads the Department of Consumer and Regulatory Affairs, are expected to identify 19 parking spots around Farragut Square, 15 near Union Station and 13 around Franklin Square — to highlight just three of the most popular downtown vending locations — that would be open to vendors while satisfying the agencies’ rules for public safety and space management. Those figures compare favorably with the number of food trucks now operating in those areas.

“You won’t see fewer [locations] than this,” said a city official who requested anonymity because he was not permitted to speak about the city’s plan ahead of the public hearing before the Committee on Business, Consumer and Regulatory Affairs, chaired by Council member Vincent B. Orange (D-At Large). “The map is basically what we believe is a pretty good baseline on where we’re going to be.”

The District’s number of vending locations is far greater than those estimated by the Food Truck Association of Metropolitan Washington when it conducted a sidewalk survey in March and concluded that many trucks would be effectively locked out of downtown unless they were part of the city’s proposed “mobile roadway vending zones.” The association created its own map outlining the areas that would be off-limits under the new regulations.

The food truck association had been trying for months to learn the exact number of vehicles the city would allow in the zones, which the District has proposed as a way to relieve congested sidewalks, blocked Metro bus stops and a lack of public parking at the most popular vending sites downtown. But until the figures were provided Thursday afternoon to a reporter, the association had heard no concrete numbers other than what is printed in the regulations, which proposed at least three spaces for trucks at each mobile roadway vending zone.

The new numbers didn’t immediately calm the food truck association, which has been urging the D.C. Council to kill the regulations. The association has dubbed its grass-roots campaign“Save D.C. Food Trucks.”

“Our main concern is that they put [the numbers] on paper in the actual regulations,” said Doug Povich, chairman of the food truck association and co-owner of the Red Hook Lobster Pound DC truck.

The problem with not having the numbers in the regulations, said Povich, is that there is turnover among agency directors and officials. The next leaders of the city transportation and consumer agencies may decide they no longer want 19 trucks at Farragut Square; they may decide they want only five, Povich said. There’s no language in the regulations now that would prevent the agencies from changing the number, he said.

What’s more, Povich said, the food truck association still has problems with other parts of the regulations, such as a proposed rule requiring 10 feet of unobstructed sidewalk next to any parking space not part of a mobile roadway vending zone. This rule, in effect, turns mobile vendors into stationary ones in the Central Business District, Povich said.

Roaming to meet customer demand “is one of the unique things about the [food truck] industry,” said Che Ruddell-Tabisola, the food truck association’s political director. “There are very few other industries that hand off so much operational control to their customers, where they have this highly individual experience shaping their dining. It’s one of the things that makes us successful.”

The Restaurant Association of Metropolitan Washington, which launched its own e-mail campaign last week to promote passage of the vending regulations, had no immediate comment on the number of food trucks that the city plans for popular vending sites. In an interview last week, Andrew Kline, legislative consultant for the group, expressed concern that the city would allow more trucks in mobile roadway vending zones than the association would like.

Upon hearing the new figures, Kline said, “The pure numbers don’t mean a whole lot out of context of where the precise locations are.”

Leona Agouridis, executive director of the Golden Triangle Business Improvement District, said she thought the number of trucks planned for Farragut Square is virtually the same as the number currently operating there. Golden Triangle has expressed frustration for years about the congestion and trash produced by food trucks at Farragut Square.

Agouridis said she hopes that District officials have plans for how to manage the lines that form outside food trucks. She said she also hopes the proposed regulations pass the D.C. Council, since they include a plan to use vending-permit fees to pay for trash removal in places such as Farragut Square. “Right now,” she said, “we’re stepping in [and removing trash] without compensation.”

If District officials hoped their new numbers would halt the food truck association’s protests at Friday’s public hearing, they’ll likely be disappointed. The association apparently plans to follow through with its efforts to kill the proposed rules, but Povich said the city has no one to blame but itself for that situation.

District officials, he said, put the association in a difficult position when they decided to simultaneously release the regulations and send them before the D.C. Council. The council has until June 22 to either pass or reject the regulations or take no action; the legislative body cannot amend the rules to appease any public concern or comment.

“If they hadn’t dropped the regulations on the city council at the same time they came out with the rule-making, then we would be in the position of saying, ‘These proposed rules, we’re okay with 80 percent of them or whatever. We want to fix these’ ” other 20 percent, Povich said. “To be shut out of that process by this procedural tactic was extremely frustrating, and we were backed into a corner.”

http://articles.washingtonpost.com/2013-05-09/lifestyle/39143007_1_food-truck-association-locations-public-hearing

ALEX HOLT | DISPATCH
Thomas Hill, left, of the Columbus Division of Fire reads through an inspection list with Ben Cloose in the Foodie Truck. The inspection is part of a pilot program the city is developing to more closely regulate the city’s estimated 150 food trucks.

Because of complaints from food-truck owners about Columbus’ plan to regulate the popular mobile restaurants, public-safety officials are delaying the start of the program and considering more changes.

Truck owners say the 18 to 20 metered parking spots the city planned to make available on a first-come, first-served basis are not enough and would create a hostile environment among owners scrambling for the spots.

The city is trying to balance allowing the trucks in already cramped areas such as the Short North, Arena District and Downtown while maintaining public safety and not hurting surrounding businesses.

A pilot program was to have been in place by June 1, but the latest back and forth with owners has led to at least a two-week delay to develop new ideas.

The popularity of the culinary cruisers has exploded in the past few years, with an estimated 150 or more of the trucks in the city.

City officials say regulating the trucks is necessary because of complaints from residents and business owners who said some trucks were leaving behind trash, creating noise and parking outside brick-and-mortar restaurants. At the same time, food-truck owners have complained that the city’s commercial sales-license policy is too difficult to understand.

Councilwoman Michelle Mills is leading the charge for regulation that appeases food-truck owners but, she said, “My No. 1 priority is public safety and protecting our residents.”

“There has to be some things that we have to say no to,” she said. “We absolutely want to support the food-truck industry, and it is a huge part of our tour-ism industry here, so we have to strike a balance.”

The city’s pilot program includes the following provisions to operate on city-owned property:

• Trucks have to obey time limits at the meters.

• Public spaces must be vacated by 3 a.m. every day.

• Trucks cannot be longer than 25 feet.

• Owners must obtain a temporary sales permit.

Some owners want the city to reserve the metered spots just for food trucks during certain hours of the day. Mills said the city is considering that.

William Hunt, co-owner of the Pickled Swine truck, said the limited number of spots would open “ the doors for extortion” with someone parking a car in a spot and then forcing a truck owner to pay them to move.

Mills said that would be against the law and told food-truck owners to report such activity to police if it ever occurs.

Brian Reed, the owner of Mojo TaGo food truck and president of the Central Ohio Food Truck Association, said, “Some food-truck owners feel the city should implement a reservation system so we can let our customers know where we will be and we know how much food to prepare.”

“We are not that sophisticated yet to do a reservation system,” Mills said, “ but we have heard these concerns, and we are going to be as responsive as we can.”

Laura Lee, the owner of Ajumama food truck, said the city’s requirement that trucks be no longer than 25 feet would disqualify her from using the public spaces.

“I wish the city would reconsider that,” she said.

Public-safety officials said trucks longer than 25 feet would impede drivers’ line of sight and hang over into crosswalks because most of the proposed metered locations are on street corners.

Food-truck owners are not required to participate in the pilot program, but only those who register can use metered locations. They can bypass some of the regulations by doing business on private property.

http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/local/2013/05/20/pilot-program-to-regulate-food-trucks-stuck-on-slow-boil.html

(QMI AGENCY PHOTO)

Toronto the hungry, meet Toronto the good.

Once again, residents of Canada’s biggest city have been confronted with the issue of food carts.

Do we set them free or keep the current tight operational rein through licensing and health restrictions?

Members of a group called Food Forward want a definitive answer.

They went to City Hall last Wednesday with an “illegal” food cart of fruit to “shine a light on Toronto’s ridiculous restrictions” on street food.

“Torontonians want to end the delays that prevent food carts and trucks from selling from streets and parks so they can enjoy diverse street food this summer,” said Darcy Higgins, executive director of Food Forward.

“We are asking why Toronto residents or tourists can’t even enjoy a healthy fruit stand downtown.”

It’s a good question on a needlessly vexed issue for city fathers — and presumably mothers.

Needlessly vexed because it’s not the first time we’ve been here.

Back in 2007, Ontario eased a regulation that limited street vendors to just selling hot dogs, sausages and a handful of other pre-cooked items. The aim was to bring the world to our streets on a sizzling plate and expand the range of edible options available.

It was a great idea that was strangled at birth by official meddling.

Rather than let a new street food scene flourish and be governed by the simple laws of supply and demand, former mayor David Miller and his council thought they knew better.

Remember the A la Cart program? It was a centrally-controlled experiment that forced vendors to buy bulky standard-issue vending carts that required significant capital outlay before a single sidewalk burrito could be sold.

Epic fail.

Vendors struggled under the combined weight of the official carts and red tape. The project was the quietly killed with its creators running as fast as they could from the scene of their culinary crime.

The pressure to do something at City Hall — anything — about Toronto’s lack of street food alternatives has returned ahead of a staff report due next spring expected to bring with it a host of recommendations.

Before then, perhaps, a few sets of councillor eyes could be cast towards Singapore.

Next Friday, the tiny island nation will be holding the inaugural World Street Food Congress. It will be 10-days of eating and debating the future of this truly global cuisine style in a city where eating out isn’t so much a hobby as a national sport.

The congress will acknowledge that an overwhelming majority of the world’s population relies regularly on the biggest, most loved, yet most unstructured culinary culture for sustenance.

From curbside jeepneys in the Philippines, the kaki limas of Indonesia, falafel stands in the Middle East, food trucks and burger stalls in the U.S., street stalls in Bangkok, taco stands in Mexico, pie carts in Australia, street food inns in China and hawker stalls in Singapore and Malaysia, eating on the street is part of the pleasure of life in major cities the world over.

Singapore especially has an affinity with the food style that draws visitors from around the world.

Street food started there in the 1900s out of necessity because there was a 10:1 male-female ratio in the city.

Lacking anyone to cook their meals, the hungry but hopeless male population was forced to go outdoors and seek sustenance. The solution was on the curbside — hot, comforting and cheap.

Anyone who has been to modern Singapore knows that the food cart vendors are now offered more permanent homes at places like Newton Circus or in air-conditioned, under-cover hawker markets.

They are regulated for health and safety but still allowed to flourish with a minimum of bureaucratic interference.

Given that robust capitalism and personal endeavor form part of Singapore’s DNA, it’s no wonder food carts find a happy home there.

The city makes Toronto look positively provincial by comparison.

Here’s a list of the current food cart fare which can be sold on Toronto’s streets:

• Pre-packaged cut fruits and vegetables using only vinaigrette dips

• Whole fruits and vegetables, including corn on the cob

• Pre-packaged fruit salad

• Bagels with individual serving containers of butter, margarine, peanut butter or jam

• Pre-packaged nuts and seeds

• Pre-packaged salads containing only vegetables and/or fruits with all dressings to be pre-packaged and not requiring refrigeration

• Pre-packaged Tabbouleh salad and pita bread

• Soups

•   Pre-cooked veggie burgers

•   Coffees and teas

http://www.torontosun.com/2013/05/19/torontos-street-food-provincial-compared-to-other-cities

WBIR-Morristown) A Morristown business on the cusp of celebrating its one-year anniversary is now taking steps to repair damage from flames that destroyed the food truck about a week ago.

Crazy Good Burgers & Fries used to park its food truck along the town’s main stretch, Monday through Saturday.

“It’s been great. We’ve grown, we were about to open up a second truck, we were probably about a month away,” said Corbin Trent, the owner.

Those plans were put on hold when flames sparked on Friday, May 10th.

“It got hot in there enough obviously to melt aluminum. It destroyed the air conditioners, the hoods, the electricity,” said Trent.

Now, some local customers are disappointed their favorite burger joint is temporarily closed.

“Everybody is saying, ‘Well what are we going to do for lunch?,” said Sheri Hatcher.

Trent wants that answer to be Crazy Good Burgers & Fries as soon as possible. He’s already in repair mode, replacing the ceiling and working on the electrical system. But with $15,000 to $20,000 worth of damage, he said he’s asking the community for help.

Trent used Kickstarter to upload a homemade video and launch website for a fundraising campaign.

“We had one little kitchen fire that destroyed the whole place. But that shouldn’t stop us,” said Trent in the video.

Using Facebook, Twitter, and other social media, he’s hoping customers like Hatcher will pledge donations.

“A lot of people are pledging,” said Hatcher.

“It hurt because it’s like they’re family, the way they treat us,” said Hatcher’s husband, Ron Hatcher.

The Hatchers also said customers appreciate the food truck for using local supplies and ingredients.

“Everything is local as possible. Our beef is ground everyday by a local butcher, our tomatoes, our produce all come from the area, Grainger County, Knox County,” said Trent.

As of Sunday afternoon, the fundraiser had 33 ‘backers’ and nearly $1,900 pledged. The goal is $8,000 by May 29th.

“(We’re) Getting to a quarter of the way there, but we’ve got ten days left. I think we can make it,” said Trent.

“We’ll be the first in line,” said Sheri Hatcher. “Or try to be,” said Ron Hatcher.

For more information on the fundraiser ‘Crazy Good Burgers Rebuild,’ head to http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/927932295/crazy-good-burgers-rebuild.

http://www.wbir.com/news/article/274858/2/Morristown-food-truck-launches-fundraiser-after-fire

(credit: NYSF)

We went over to midtown’s Food Truck Central last Thursday for lunch. Food Truck Central is not an official designation, but on 47th St between Madison & Park, on Park Ave between 47th & 48th St, and across Park Ave towards Lexington, there were about 10 food trucks. That doesn’t even count the Mister Softee and Frozen Yogurt trucks.

On Park Ave by 47th St was a new food truck we had not seen before called Bread & Olives. They describe their food as Authentic Lebanese Cuisine, with falafel, shawarma, hummus and the like as their mainstays. After eating lunch, we had some correspondence with Janah, the chef and owner (?).

We ordered chicken shish tawouk in a deluxe platter, which comes with fries and hummus for $7. You can also get it over rice for the same price, or in a sandwich for a buck less.

(credit: NYSF)

Upon ordering our lunch (at 1:10), we were told they had no more fries, and the chicken would be over rice. Sure, no problem.

We were luckier than the guy behind us, who was told they were out of rice. Guess we got the last order of rice.

Chicken shish tawouk is described on the menu as grilled cubes of marinated chicken brests (sic). The “shish” was misleading, because it wasn’t grilled chicken shish kebab as we expected. Janah told us after the chicken is cooked, it is dipped in tawouk sauce.

Instead is was cubes of chicken kept in what can best be described as a steam tray, with a saucy broth keeping the chicken moist. However Janah told us he cooks the chicken in the truck every morning around 11am, and when it sells out by 1:30 or so, there is no more. That’s how they ensure the chicken is fresh.

They also do the “white sauce/hot sauce” thing that all the halal carts do. The chicken and rice were a step up from the standard halal cart chicken over rice, which is a good thing, because it was $2 more than the standard halal cart.

(credit: NYSF)

The hummus on the other hand was not so great. It was not smooth and creamy, as the best hummus is. The hummus at Bread & Olives was nice and lemony, but it was grainy and coarse. The hummus would have benefitted from some pita bread to dip into it. Unfortunately, they ran out of pita bread too before we got there.

Janah told us his hummus was coarse that day because he made it at 6am that morning. Normally he makes it the day beforeso it can sit in the fridge for 24 hours before serving. He made it that morning because he had run out the day before.

We’ll wait to see what the hummus is like next time we go there before passing judgement. This food truck has only been around for a few weeks, so we’ll give them another try soon.

We asked Janah if they were affiliated with the recently closed Bread & Olive restaurant in midtown, but he told us they were not.  He has a restaurant in Lebanon called Bread & Olives.

We do want to try Bread & Olive again because the chicken shawarma looked pretty good. You could see it roasting on a spit, and if they carve it off as ordered, it has a shot at becoming a recommended dish.

They don’t have a website or twitter account, but Janah told us they are in the process of putting together a facebook page. Otherwise, find them at 47th & Park weekdays for lunch.

(credit: NYSF)

http://newyorkstreetfood.com/42099/street-eats-chicken-shish-tawouk-from-bread-olives/

Son of Kong (credit: Gorilla Cheese NYC)

(credit: NYSF)

As we told you last month, Gorilla Cheese is having a baby…and it arrived over the weekend.

James told us he had to turn down a bunch of private events because he only had 1 truck in operation. Now he will be able to double up on those private events, and when there are none, you should be able to enjoy Gorilla Cheese whether you are in midtown or downtown.

It may be a short while before you see Son of Kong on the street because James has to install a new awning, but it’s wrapped and just about ready to go.

Congratulations to James Klayman and the whole Gorilla Cheese NYC family. Hope you’re not planning on breastfeeding that little monster.

(credit: NYSF)

http://newyorkstreetfood.com/42138/wanna-see-a-cute-baby-gorilla/

City Hall’s plan for transforming Market Square into a bustling food court hit a snag this year — lack of interest.

Officials rolled out the food cart program in spring 2011, hoping to enliven the usually quiet plaza with an array of eating options as well as tables and seats for hungry office workers, tourists and residents. Three years later, just the tables, adorned by bright yellow umbrellas, remain.

The concept, then touted by former City Councilor Rob Krupicka as Alexandria’s answer to the food truck craze, got off to an inauspicious start. Officials planned for eight carts, all deployed by brick-and-mortar Old Town restaurants, serving customers on a daily basis.

But at its peak, the program saw just five takers. By the end of the first year, two carts still vied for hungry pedestrians. And only one expressed interest in continuing last year.

Not a single restaurateur applied for the program this year.

Val Hawkins, president and CEO of the Alexandria Economic Development Partnership, points to the hassle of getting the city-approved carts to and from Market Square as one obstacle. The other is financial.

“It wasn’t really a profitable venture for these folks, for the vendors that did it,” Hawkins said. “When people ran their numbers … they could see that there was a very tight margin on that cart. When they got into it, [their concerns] were confirmed, basically.”

While Bread and Chocolate as well as Fontaine Caffe and Creperie — the two that survived the program’s inaugural year — did not return media inquiries, restaurateur Mike Anderson imagines profits didn’t meet expectations for the businesses involved.

“My guess is if everybody is making money then they would go through whatever aggravation there is to stay open,” Anderson said. “My guess is the volume of sales just wasn’t there to make it worth the effort to set up every single day.”

When Anderson stopped by Market Square, the carts seemed busy. But that doesn’t mean they were economically viable.

“What you see and what those guys actually ring up is sometimes two different things,” Anderson said.

Former Vice Mayor Kerry Donley backed the proposal when it went before city council and recalls plenty of interest from the local business community. But at the end of the day, he said, restaurateurs had to put up several thousand dollars — from $2,899 to nearly $6,000 — for the carts and then operate them along with their brick-and-mortar shops.

“I think it’s hard for existing restaurants to say, ‘Here, I’m going to invest $5,000 or whatever it costs to buy one of these carts,’ when they’re trying to run a restaurant at the same time,” Donley said. “I think there was a lot of interest in it, but I think when push came to shove … a lot of people shied away from it.”

Before retiring as deputy planning director in recent months, Barbara Ross spearheaded the initiative. Even as interested vendors dwindled, she stood by the program’s success.

The idea behind the proposal, she told the Times in fall 2011, was invigorating Market Square. And the addition of tables and chairs did just that, she said.

Officials are contacting restaurants previously interested in the program, hoping to find vendors for the summer months. If that doesn’t work, then the city needs alternative ideas for further enlivening the plaza, Donley said.

“I do think Market Square is a wonderful place, and we ought to look for better ways to utilize this attractive, peaceful open space in an urban environment,” he said. “If it’s not going to be food carts, we ought to look for other ways to make Market Square an attractive and nice place for people to congregate.”

http://alextimes.com/2013/05/wheels-come-off-market-square-food-cart-program/

Much excitement this week over the launch of the 18 new street food licensees here in Ottawa last Wednesday. Great news! Only problem was that only a few of those 18 actually made it out on the street. Bad news.

But the good thing is that the bad news is only temporary. At least that’s what we’ve been told.

Every new program has some growing pains, and the city’s food truck scheme is no exception. In fact, getting food trucks onto Ottawa’s city streets by May 15 was always going to be a challenge considering the list of successful candidates for licences was only officially announced March 15. No one is going to pour thousands of capital into a truck or cart before they know if they have they have the go-ahead. Three months isn’t a lot of time to order up a customer-made vehicle, let alone get all the requisite approvals needed.

For example, BOBites — run by the folks from Bowich (Best Organic Sandwich) — was waiting on a seal of approval from the Technical Safety Standards Association (a provincial thing).

Ottawa Streat Gourmet, which is headed by the owner of Urban Pear, is having issues with parking his truck. There was some idea that the problem had to do with a sign not being up on time allowing him to bring his food truck to Queen Street, just west of O’Connor, but the reality is more complicated than that (as usual).

According to Philip Powell, the city’s program manager for licensing permits and markets (and a champion of this street food project), the problem with Streat Gourmet is the length of the truck. According to the city’s business licensing bylaw, a refreshment truck can be a maximum of 10 metres (or 30 feet) long.

Now, the Streat Gourmet truck is 27 feet long, so no problem, right? Technically no, but in reality, small snag. Seems the food trucks of old — and remember, the city hasn’t issued a new street food licence in more than 20 years — used to fit in a single parking space. The latest ones, not so much. While the Streat Gourmet truck does meet the business licence requirements, the city hadn’t expected it to take up more than one parking space.

So city officials are running around getting permission to use up two spaces instead of one (street food shoppers may not think it’s a big deal, but local businesses aren’t too keen on losing what few on-street parking spots they have). Staff is also trying to get signs made that will allow Streat Gourmet to use the space when it needs it, but that allows the slots to return to parking spots when Streat Gourmet is elsewhere — say on the weekends or during the winter.

This is all supposed to be cleared up before next Wednesday when Streat Gourmet is planning to be back in its slot.

So there are dozens of these little fires to put out. As far as we can tell, they’re haven’t been any major organizational disasters, but each new food vendor has his or her unique problems. And, as you can see from Streat Gourmet’s example, they’re a bit convoluted.

At the Citizen, we’re hoping to blanket the streets again next month for an update on how the street food program is doing. If there are still technical issues keeping vendors off the street, then someone will have some explaining to do.

http://blogs.ottawacitizen.com/2013/05/17/food-truck-growing-pains-good-news-and-bad-news/

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