Sandra and Lloyd Smith of St. Catharines receive meals from Kristy Rosenberg of the Rome ‘N Chariot food truck at the Food Truck Eats event at Peller Estates Winery Saturday, May 18, 2013.

NIAGARA-ON-THE-LAKE - The trucks rolled in and gave Lou Appel a taste of a different flavour of Niagara-on-the-Lake.

With 20 food trucks drawing crowds on the grounds of Peller Estate Winery Saturday, Appel, of Port Dalhousie, had a veritable smorgasbord before him. He took advantage, sampling Greek eats and wood-fired pizza – and wine to go along – as he and his friends tasted what the trucks had to offer.

“This is wonderful. This is a great idea,” he said. “It (makes) Niagara-on-the-Lake a little more country, and not so pretentious.”

The trucks were in town for Peller’s second yearly Food Truck Eats event. The gathering of mobile eateries saw the various trucks – 20 in all – paired with 20 wines from Peller’s wine list.

It left Appel wanting more.

“I like it. I think they could bring in a few more trucks next time,” he said.

“You’re here. You’re enjoying good wine. You’re meeting a lot of new friends while you’re here.”

By now most are over the surprise of finding quality food served from the back of a truck, said Jason Parsons, Peller’s executive chef and restaurant general manager. But he said their popularity is rising because the nature of how we dine is changing.

“People are not sitting down for three courses anymore,” he said.

“People want small bites and a larger variety. That’s what (a) food truck is.”

And he said food trucks fit in with people’s busier lives. “People are out and about more than they used to be. There’s a lot of times in the day and night when they want to enjoy quick, simple food.”

Parsons said Peller paired up the wines with foods largely by flavour profile – a rose, for example, with one truck’s peanut butter-topped twist on a burger.

Rob Jobson of St. Catharines said he knew what to expect from food trucks after watching Eat Street on the Food Network. But he and his family found plenty of goodies: He raved about a slider dish, while daughter Laura praised a dish of toasted ravioli and a lobster roll.

Saturday, he said, was his first time snagging a bite to eat from a food truck.

“I was very happy with the results,” Jobson said.

“I always wanted to come to a food truck thing. I’m from St. Catharines. It’s kind of an easy trip.”

The trucks were a draw for Cassandra Finn and Pam Fernandez of Toronto.

“We came especially for this,” Finn said. And after trying what the trucks had to offer, she said she’d come again.

http://www.wellandtribune.ca/2013/05/18/food-trucks-roll-into-niagara-on-the-lake

Customers line up outside the Perogy Boyz food truck last summer in this file photo.

More food trucks are likely to roll on to Calgary streets this summer with city council set to review the results of a lengthy pilot project.

The food truck pilot project is drawing to a close after beginning in August 2011, and city officials have drafted a bylaw that would allow more trucks to launch as soon as August of this year.

Keith Pallister, chief license inspector with the city, said council is expected to review a draft bylaw for food trucks on July 29, and if approved, the current cap of 40 trucks would be lifted, potentially creating more competition.

“Calgary seemed to have a lot of interest, a lot of people that really like them,” he said, adding the city has had consistent inquires about launching food trucks.

“I would imagine that the market is going to dictate who’s going to be successful or not.”

James Boettcher, founder of YYC Food Trucks, currently works with 20 of the city’s trucks, and said he sees the potential addition of new trucks as an incentive for existing trucks to create the best products they can.

“I think there’s a lot of people that are actually in a holding pattern in terms of getting in to the industry and they’re actually at a slight advantage because they’ve got to see what business looks like prior to investing in it,” he said.

“The cream will rise to the top; I think the best trucks will succeed.”

Details:

• The proposed by law would still include “no-roll zones” in certain Business Revitalization Zones such as Kensington and 17 Avenue.
• Trucks would also be prevented from parking within 25 metres of a brick-and-mortar restaurant, unless they receive the restaurants consent.
• Pallister said the city is planning to host one more open house before the proposed bylaw comes before council.

http://metronews.ca/news/calgary/670776/food-truck-review-could-bring-more-street-eats-to-calgary/

via flickr – jbassett9(http://www.flickr.com/photos/jbassett9/)

If there is one person bearing witness to the food-truck phenomenon sweeping North American streets, it’s probably James Cunningham, a Canadian standup comedian and the host of the Vancouver-produced Food Network show Eat St.

And even he is impressed by the impending explosion of street-meat variety that is coming to Ottawa streets this month.

“I had no idea how many trucks were coming to Ottawa until I started looking at your articles on the website (ottawacitizenstyle.com). You got like a crazy number.”

Cunningham is the self-described “food-truck man,” but he has been doing standup in Ottawa for many years. Ottawa, he says, is like his second home.

Eat St. just finished shooting its fourth season and there are 26 episodes that have begun airing, which will take in 104 food trucks. There is also a companion cookbook available featuring 125 recipes from across North America. It’s called Eat Street: Recipes from the Tastiest, Messiest, and Most Irresistible Food Trucks and costs $24, available from Penguin Canada.

Featuring 104 trucks may seem like a lot, but it is really only scratching the surface of this business.

“Every time we think that we’ve found the ultimate food truck, we move on to another city and find a better one.”

Over four seasons, they’ve featured more than 200 trucks.

There is a distinct difference between the U.S. and Canada.

In Greater Toronto, with its population of about five to six million people, there are 30 to 35 food trucks. “It’s been such a slow thing to catch on.” In Portland, Oregon, population 2.2 million, there are 700 food trucks. Austin, Texas, has 500 food trucks.

The weather is a major factor. In Canada, in most places, Cunningham says, a food truck is a seasonal business.

Vancouver leads in Canada, he says. The city has thought through what it wants on its streets. There are healthy menu requirements. Trucks are auditioned at city hall to get their permits, that sort of thing, Cunningham says.

The spark for this explosion is the crash of 2008 when a lot of good chefs were tossed on the streets.

What happened? Cunningham explains that chefs improvised and the street was the beneficiary of a lot of creative cookery. Trucks were much cheaper than opening a bricks and mortars restaurant. In the U.S., food trucks are available on leases. In Canada, proprietors tend to buy their trucks.

But the accessibility of the trucks allowed chefs to experiment with combinations of food styles, Cunningham says, and the result is what Ottawans will start eating this month. The other thing that happened is social media, which allowed the food trucks to reach their consumers directly, tweeting location and menu. So when a truck would pull into a stop, the patrons would be waiting. In Ottawa, the trucks and carts have assigned spots, but expect social media to play a large role in the future of their business (don’t forget to tweet #ocfoodtrucks when you eat on Ottawa’s streets).

In other cities, the trucks have tended to locate away from restaurant districts, moving into the suburbs or into working-class neighbourhoods to reach a new audience. The result has been an improvement of the diet in some of these tougher neighbourhoods. As well, some restaurants have converted to a food truck and vice versa, Cunningham says.

In Ottawa’s case, with many trucks located downtown, Cunningham suggests, they may start moving outside the core over time to find new markets and avoid the competition provided by á la carte menus.

Cunningham says Ottawa has been slow to get in the food truck game. Montreal, too.

“We’re really far behind in Canada, compared to the U.S.”

James Cunningham is at the Ottawa Spring Writers Festival, May 8, Ottawa City Hall at 7 p.m.

Tickets: $15, $10 for seniors, members free; writersfest.org Join Ottawa Citizen writers on May 15. Eat and tweet your views on the new food trucks and carts to #ocfoodtrucks.

Read more: http://www.ottawacitizen.com/life/Keep+truckin/8352145/story.html#ixzz2T7lTyslD

http://www.ottawacitizen.com/life/Keep+truckin/8352145/story.html

These are good times for omnivores in Ottawa!

Ottawa City Hall is a place, I suspect, where politicians are more accustomed to circling wagons than food trucks.

So imagine my curiosity Wednesday on spotting a cluster of street vendors corralled over lunch hour at Marion Dewar Plaza, outside the Laurier Street entrance, where they served eager folk a taste of new and interesting sidewalk eats the public can expect in the nation’s capital this summer.

By any measure it was a glorious, warm and bright early-summer afternoon, with postcard-perfect weather smiling on a momentous occasion — celebrating an end to the city’s moratorium on new street food vendors that, sadly, saw the number of carts and trucks dwindle to 32 from about 100 just two decades ago. For a complete list of trucks, carts and locations, click here.

Accomplished restaurateurs and experienced vendors promise much more diverse fare, often with an ethnic twist, to supplement the usual tired staples of poutine, fries, dogs and sausages that have distinguished the city’s street food scene for so long. But at the end of the day it’s all still sidewalk food and much of it remains high-caloric, which in popular Food Network culture seems enough to thrill an enthusiastic audience.

Above left, Layne Belcher and Matthew Hinds of Urban Cowboy serve brisket from a table Wednesday outside Ottawa City Hall. They expect their truck will be ready later this month.

And what an audience it is. People Wednesday were encouraged to purchase one of 550 plastic bracelets for a $10 donation to the Shepherds of Good Hope soup kitchen, which entitled bearers to try the victuals. The astonishing thing was, within 20 minutes every bracelet was snapped up — and still the people came, queuing in long lines here, there and everywhere — well over 1,000 by my estimate — all anxious to sample, and every one hungry for more.

Those who didn’t get a coveted bracelet had to pay as they munched. Not surprisingly, some carts ran out.

“We had to limit the bracelets because vendors are donating the food,” says Anna Silverman, executive director of the Shepherds Foundation. “We’re very pleasantly shocked by the turnout.

“It’s clearly something Ottawa wants, so having all these new vendors is a very good thing. Everyone is anxious to sample their food,” Silverman says.

It’s all about new and interesting choices,” adds city employee Maria Grant, in line outside the brightly coloured Ottawa Streat Gourmet, one of 11 new trucks (plus another seven carts), by chef/owner Ben Baird (photo, left), who previously launched his successful upscale Urban Pear restaurant in the Glebe in 2002.

Baird’s is a repurposed 21-foot, 1994 Chevy P30 diesel van, formerly a Snap-On Tools wagon, he had outfitted by Kitchens on Wheels Canada in Alexandria, at a cost of $60,000.

“For lunch it means you can get not just the usual fries and sausages,” Grant says.

“Now you can find everything from Korean to Vietnamese, and the big turnout today speaks to the fact Ottawa is dying for food like this.”

A selection of street eats served outside city hall. Clockwise from top left, Mr. Churritos’ traditional deep-fried Mexican flour dough dusted with cinnamon and sugar; from Bobites, baked potato, sour cream, butter, cheddar and chives; from Urban Cowboy, the Belcher Burger with smoked brisket, barbecue sauce on a potato bun with onion, pickle.

On hand for the honours was mayor Jim Watson, as always, along with a small gaggle of councillors including Mark Taylor, chair of the city’s community and protective services committee that shephered the new and relaxed rules for 18 successful applicants through city hall in February. Also on hand were four out of five members of the volunteer selection committee who vetted 61 applications based on a potential score of 100, as well as standup comedian and television celebrity James Cunningham, host of the Food Network show Eat St.

“Ottawa is so hungry, and it’s so wonderful to see this,” Cunningham told revenous well-wishers.

“Ottawa is now a leader in Canada in the food truck revolution … I couldn’t be happier as a food truck aficionado,” he says.

Photo L-R, Red Roaster Food Truck owners Glen Galbraith, Steve Dupras.

Adds the mayor: “These 18 new food vendors bring their own unique tastes and cuisines to the streets of Ottawa — from Asian to frozen yogurt.”

In a few cases, trucks were not ready to press into service: Some are still being built, while others are waiting for final government permits, which obliged a few operators to set up makeshift stands. “Our truck will be out in June,” says Wasi Choudhry, who calls his operation Olive Green, offering south Asian cuisine, which translates into a range of Indian and Pakistani snacks, entrées and desserts from samosas to butter chicken and lassis.

“We’re new in the food truck business, but we operate a restaurant called Olive Green inside Midway Family Fun Park on Kaladar Avenue. We have a passion for food and when we saw the city was looking for diversity we definitely applied and got it. Our food is very tasty — we’re using home recipes that people appreciate,” Choudhry says.

Above right, owner Ulises Ortega prepares churros, a Mexican deep-fried sweet pastry at Mr. Churritos.

Red Roaster Food Truck owners Glen Galbraith and Steve Dupras did their own work, outfitting a 21-foot former Frito-Lay delivery truck now complete with stainless sinks, counters, fryers and an expensive Rational oven that can perfectly roast a flock of eviscerated chickens simply by pushing a button. Unfortunately, they’re still awaiting final health and safety permits, and so could not serve food at the grand unveiling last week. The partners figure they’ve invested $110,000 — considerably less coin that leasing and fitting a traditional bricks-and-mortar restaurant.

“I had this vision of doing a truck more than a year ago,” Galbraith says, “so I bought the truck in Indiana. We spent a harsh winter getting it up here and retrofitting it.

“Originally we were going to do rotisserie chicken and call it Turns, but because propane is so expensive and you can only carry a limited amount of gas we figured the rotisserie would consume too much fuel. So we went with the German combination oven, which is six times more efficient. The Rational can cook 18 chickens in 36 minutes and it does absolutely everything.” He”ll be serving chicken, shaved beef, meatball tortillas, roast potatoes, slaw and fried noodle balls.

“Being mobile for me is a big attraction,” Dupras adds. “And we were able to do the outfitting work ourselves.”

Layne Belcher and partner Matthew Hinds expect their truck, Urban Cowboy, will be ready later this month serving Texas street food. On Wednesday, they set up tables and dished up smoked brisket with barbecue sauce on a potato bun with onion and pickle, made famous when Belcher’s dad, the late CFL star football great Val Belcher with the Ottawa Rough Riders (1979-83), used to serve food at Lansdowne Park. The tradition lives forever on.

“Both of us really love food,” Hinds says. “We’ve been in the food industry for years and we thought this is a great forum to show what we’re about. It’s all about food and trucks without the bricks and mortar. Me and Layne just started talking about it, which led to a business plan, and then – behold! – we got a spot in the City of Ottawa.”

Clockwise from top: from ROYI Fruta cart, a tray of home-made guacamole, bean medley, red-skin potatoes, beef empanada; serving Harvey & Vern’s Olde Fashioned Soda at Ottawa Streat Gourmet; Olive Green owners Wasi Choudhry and his wife, Nighat.

Sheila Whyte, a member of the city’s truck and cart selection committee and owner of Thyme & Again Creative Catering, is confident the interest in street eats has legs with the public. “We’re catching up with the rest of the world,” she says.

“There are food trucks in every great city and we’re now part of it.”

(Only time will tell for sure. After all, I’m old enough to recall opening day in April 1993 when the city’s $17-million Lynx Stadium was packed to the rafters with 10,000 adoring fans out to welcome professional Triple-A baseball. True, the Ottawa Lynx sold out 43 games in its first season, but by 2006 the farm team had the lowest average attendance in the league, and it was gone after 2007. Today, well, the stadium stands as an underused monument to wishful thinking …

(With street food, at least, taxpayers aren’t on the hook in any big financial way. Perhaps Ottawa has done something right after all.)

Left, part owner Irene Cummings serves Latino fare at ROYI Fruta food cart.

Cathleen Kneen, also on the city committee representing Just Food, says the street food evolution reflects a change in demographics. “Food is the way people connect to express what and who we are, so now we have the opportunity to see that diversity in vibrant, dynamic and eclectic street food,” Kneen says.

Philip Powell, city manager of licensing, permits and markets, says he’s blown away by the public response. By the way, without any question Powell deserves the credit for pulling this off.

“The demand and interest is beyond anything we could have imagined,” Powell says. “It’s phenomenal with the public interest, the number of applications and the interest here today.”

“People eat like this all over the world,” says selection committee member Scott Warrick, a chef/instructor at Algonquin College, representing the local chefs federation.

“And for young people having a truck or cart is a more affordable way to get into the business and show their skills.”

In fact, Warrick says, Algonquin College is also considering setting up its very own student-manned food truck.

Hey, why not?

http://blogs.ottawacitizen.com/2013/05/12/the-food-trucks-cometh-oh-my/

Sudbury’s first gourmet food truck, co-owned by Natalie Lefebvre, will roll into the city’s downtown this weekend. (CBC)

Sudbury’s first food truck will set up on a downtown street this weekend.

Mobile trucks selling gourmet eats are a big trend in other cities, but in cities like Hamilton and Montreal, food trucks have become a hot, steaming political issue.

Restaurants accuse them of stealing business while not paying property taxes — prompting some city councils to pass restrictive bylaws or even designate specific food truck zones.

Little of that uproar has come with the Dee-lish food truck in Sudbury, which is covered by several existing city bylaws.

The truck needs a vendor permit, just like a hot dog cart, plus a $35 permit to park on Larch Street. It also must rent a parking spot.

Co-owner Natalie Lefebvre said downtown restaurant owners she’s spoken with are supportive.

“They kind of want the business,” she said.

“They want more stuff happening downtown, because it’s all good for the downtown, right?”

Not according to Janet Lacroix, who owns Michelle’s Cafe on Larch Street.

“They’re definitely getting a better deal than I did,” she said.

“My rent over here is $3,400 a month. Restaurant business downtown is very competitive. Since I’ve been here four years, I’ve seen quite a few cafes go under.”

Sudbury city council in recent years has talked about restricting mobile businesses that sell gold and furniture, but so far food trucks haven’t been on its menu.

In the meantime, Lefebvre said she appreciates that most downtown businesses seem to be very receptive.

“But who knows once we’re out there,” she said. “We may encounter some issues.”

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/sudbury/story/2013/05/10/sby-dee-lish-food-truck-sudbury-downtown-restaurants.html

Foodies paid $10 to sample a variety of street food from vendors Wednesday over the lunch hour. The showcase event sold out in about 15 minutes.

Last fall city staff —along with a culinary panel — licensed the 18 new trucks, something that has not been done for 17 years.

The new trucks and carts will add to the 44 street food vendors already licensed.

The trucks offer everything from Indian chicken kabobs and spicy Korean chicken, to Hong Kong waffles and endive leaves with quinoa salad and crispy leeks.

Soon Prak, of the food truck Chow Down, was excited for the opportunity to offer sugary egg waffles to the lunchtime crowd.

“It’s a new era, a new change,” she said.

Shelly Morry left her sandwich and banana at work on Wednesday, in favour of the spicy Korean chicken at city hall.

“We definitely need this for sure, we need to start eating healthy.” she said.

Mayor Jim Watson apologized to those who didn’t get to the sampling because the tickets sold out so fast.

“So those of you who have come down I apologize that we didn’t have enough food for everyone, but there are food stalls near the rink of dreams at the tulip festival,” he said.

The first of the new food will start rolling out on May 15 on Ottawa streets.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottawa/story/2013/05/08/ottawa-food-truck-preview-debut.html

Food truck Streat welcome hungry Ottawans with its gourmet treats to the sold out Street Food Showcase Wednesday.

 New food trucks and carts have proved a wild success in Ottawa on the first day offering up their eats as 525 bracelets to get samples at the Street Food Showcase sold out and large lines snaked around the lawn of city hall.

“I was kind of like ‘oh my god!’” said Hana Jung, of the line that formed in front of her authentic Korean food cart Roan Kitchen. “I heard that serving starts at 12, but the lineup was already huge at 11:30. It was amazing.”

At $10 a pop, the bracelets brought in $5,250 for the Shepherds of Good Hope. Stall owner Matt Hines of the Urban Cowboy, worked at a breakneck pace throwing ingredients together, for his Belcher Burgers, made of marinated pulled pork, red onions and a pickle, as a hungry line waited.

“I’m very proud to say Ottawa is now a leader in terms of the food truck revolution,” said the event’s special guest Food Network’s Eat St. host James Cunningham. “In Canada, unfortunately, most of our cities have suffered from the fact that food trucks are a seasonal business and I think that a lot of municipalities have not understood how the economic impact food trucks can have on the local economy.”

Cunningham noted that many of the vendors served from makeshift kiosks since the demand for food trucks and carts is to high that manufacturers are working through backorders.

“Ours was supposed to be done for May 1,” said Miriam Burke, who hopes to open her mobile seafood stall Ad Mare with her husband Mario at the end of the month. “We have our fingers crossed.”

http://metronews.ca/news/ottawa/664302/food-truck-scene-puts-ottawa-on-the-map-in-a-very-big-way-says-eat-st-host/

Entrepreneurial chef Matt Basile just opened his first stand-alone restaurant, Lisa Maria, on Queen West last month

Matt Basile is a man on a mission. With his quick grin and boundless energy, the face behind theFidel Gastro’s brand is synonymous with the city’s street food scene.

After wooing foodies with his so-called “extremo” sandwiches at his first pop-up restaurant, Basile quickly made a name for himself. Thanks to his high-impact catering style, a hard-to-miss food truck and a brand new TV show, it’s difficult to escape Basile’s reach. His most recent project — the just-opened Lisa Marie restaurant — is yet another spoke in the man’s rapidly spinning wheel.

Toronto-born Basile’s love for food began early. Growing up, he spent scads of time with his food-cherishing Italian grandparents. Basile learned the ropes from his grandfather, who would make his own tomato sauce and bake bread from scratch. Good food, Basile soon grasped, required a lot of effort.

“I had a different sense of appreciation for food at a young age,” he notes.

Basile’s appreciation translated into a job at Bruno’s Fine Foods. Despite his growing love for food, the gig was merely a way to save up for university. “At no point did I see it as a career choice,” Basile says.

While pursuing a university degree at McMaster, the student worked in the kitchen at the school’s bar. He often found himself teaching friends how to cook, rescuing chicken breasts from an unseemly demise. By this point, Basile had determined that his career would be in advertising.

With his BA tucked under his belt — and a copywriting diploma to boot — Basile eagerly set foot in the advertising world. But the recession hit, and the budding adman was laid off. Adamant about making a return to his chosen field, Basile maintained his contacts and hoped the situation wouldn’t remain dire for long.

A temporary gig at the brand new McEwan at the Shops at Don Mills kept Basile busy and got the wheels turning. “I was trying to figure out ways to make that job work on a larger scale,” Basile says. “I would think, ‘How can I apply my marketing and advertising to this role?’ ”

When a job in marketing presented itself, Basile was back in business. This time, however, he questioned his return. “I’d always wanted to start my own company,” he notes. “I love food so much, I figured I should try and make it work.”

Hatching an idea for a sandwich company, Basile worked steadfastly on the business plan and the menu. The original concept was to open a bricks and mortar spot called Fidel Gastro’s, serving sandwiches that broke all the rules, mixing and matching flavour profiles and cuisines for maximum impact.

Butter chicken met lemon dill aïoli; peanut butter pulled pork fell for bacon jam and pig skin crackling. Basile knew his idea had legs, but on a visit to the bank, the grim financial reality hit.

While doing an impromptu stint in the kitchen at a friend’s party, inspiration struck.

Basile shelved the idea that he needed a kitchen of his own: a pop-up restaurant was just the ticket.

October 2011 saw the first pop-up dinner. November marked Fidel Gastro’s inaugural Toronto Underground Market appearance. Thanks to Basile’s strong advertising and marketing background — paired with his savvy social media skills — word got around quickly.

Basile found himself putting in ungodly hours, sometimes working from 9 a.m. straight through to 5 a.m. “It was insane how we really saw the momentum increase.”

The shape-shifting entity required a structural change. The next logical step — both operationally and financially — was to launch a food truck component.

“I’ve always wanted to establish that I’m not just a food truck. Fidel Gastro’s is an umbrella company that embodies all things street food culture.”

Noting that onlookers may observe the truck to be a well-oiled machine, Basile outlines the various issues with running a truck. “Not all the events get the numbers, and there’s only so much you can charge a customer,  ’cause it’s still street food.”

During Canada’s unforgiving winter, it’s hard to justify the costs of turning the truck on, so Basile focused on the pop-up aspect again.

As the business grew exponentially, an opportunity for a TV show presented itself. Rebel Without a Kitchen, currently airing on the Travel and Escape network, is a fast-paced show that follows the Gastro crew around to different events. With so much exposure culminating in financial success, Basile was finally in the position to do what he’d originally intended to do: open a proper restaurant.

Just weeks old, Lisa Marie remains loyal to the brand’s street food roots. Loosely based on cicchetti, or Venetian street food, the menu includes picks that range from the simple (sugo and bread) to the extravagant (a deep-fried buffalo mozzarella and bone marrow sandwich).

Chef Kris Topping — formerly of Mark McEwan’s Fabbrica — is helming the kitchen. “It’s definitely a different menu,” Basile says. “And the food is fantastic!”

Always on the hunt for new and innovative opportunities, Basile remains a rebel — only now, he has a kitchen.

http://www.postcity.com/Eat-Shop-Do/Eat/May-2013/Street-food-phenom-finds-a-home/

Pieter deJonge of the Meatball Shoppe encourages Hamilton to come out and try the meatball poutine at #SewHungry. (Lisa Polewski/CBC)

Thousands of people are heading to Hamilton’s Ottawa Street to eat at one of dozens of food trucks and curbside restaurant spots.

Last September, the gathering drew an estimated 15,000 people. Some lined up for an hour to eat from one of 22 mobile eateries.

The event won the city of Hamilton’s Economic Development department a national marketing award.

“The marketing has only been through social media,” said Michael Marini marketing coordinator of Hamilton’s Economic Development Division, Planning & Economic Development Department.. “It’s marketing the city but not spending any money doing it. It’s a testament to [the vibrancy] of social media in Hamilton.”

Friday’s event will feature 40 trucks and curbside restaurants offering eveything from crepes to grilled cheese to traditional First Nation’s cuisine. There will be free shuttle bus service from City Hall to the event starting at 11a.m.

A Hamilton man’s quest to educate on First Nations culture with food

CBC Hamilton will cover Sew Hungry live all day. Most stores stay open until 8 p.m. Check back here for the sights and sounds from Hamilton’s spring food truck street party.

http://www.cbc.ca/hamilton/news/story/2013/05/03/hamilton-sew-hungry-2013.html

Currently, food trucks are not allowed on public roads or parks or in the Queen Picton Heritage District, and no changes to that are being contemplated. However, the Town is unable to control food trucks that are on federal jurisdiction, such as property owned by Parks Canada.

Some of the core issues shared were the idea that food trucks are competing unfairly, they do not go through the site plan approval process and parking requirements NOTL restaurants and coffee shops must meet, food trucks do not pay large sums of money for their bricks and mortar, do not maintain services to residents throughout the quieter winter months, they do not employ local people on a year-round basis and do not pay taxes to the town.

Food truck owners and supporters had different opinions.

“If a place is allowed to serve food, how is a mobile restaurant, caterer service or a food truck any different?” said one food truck supporter.

Although lack of health inspections are a general concern, one food truck owner said that food trucks are inspected more in one year than a typical restaurant in five years.

In most regions that have accepted the food truck phenomena they are considered food premises, just like restaurants, and are subject to inspections.

Public Health uses three different categories for food vehicles and most ‘gourmet’ food trucks would be considered mobile preparation premises. Depending on what kind of food is being prepared and with what equipment, there are different standards of inspection. Most regions require a certified food handler supervising the food truck and anyone handling food needs to be certified.

One food truck owner, who claims he’s worked for half of the restaurants in NOTL, said that he’s seen unsanitary conditions in restaurants, and it’s unfair to classify food trucks as “dirty” or “not hygienic”.

Food truck owners also argued that they do pay taxes, their annual business license, and they also pay $500 every time they hire a new employee, even if that employee is only there for a couple of weeks.

“Food trucks make a small amount of profit off of their foods. We’re not making a fortune doing this,” said a food truck owner.

Though most restaurant owners are against seeing food trucks in NOTL, one restaurant owner in Virgil sees things differently.

“Food trucks haven’t had any effect to my business. They draw a different crowd into NOTL. I’m happy to share the space with them. I feel like we can work together with food truck operators, instead of against them,” she said.

Food truck owners say they’re not coming to NOTL to steal business from anyone, they’re paying to be here and they’re helping to draw a new crowd in as well as participating in the events they were asked to do.

A local resident spoke in favour of the food truck option.

“It provides a different cultural social experience. There is a time and place for food trucks, but my friends and I love going out, grabbing something quick and setting up a picnic,” she said.

Food trucks have gained success because of their seasonable produce, rotating menu and lower prices. They also use social media as a strong tool for marketing.

There’s no doubt that there is a desire for food trucks, but the question remained, would they benefit the town or not? NOTL is struggling with the challenge of attracting new tourists or young tourists, while keeping the historic and quaint feel to the town.

“If we stay the same in NOTL, we’re in trouble. We need to find ways to move forward,” said one resident.

Because there are no infrastructure costs, Janice Thomson of the Chamber of Commerce, in a written submission, said it seems food trucks are benefitting from the premium market created by the NOTL business community and food trucks in NOTL can charge more for their products than in other communities.

Some restaurant owners believe that by situating themselves at wineries, the food trucks are benefiting from the wine and culinary market created by existing restaurant operators who have partnered with local wineries for over two decades to help build a market for VQA wines.

Because of their growing popularity mostly at private and special events, town staff has begun to obtain information from across the U.S. and Canada, as well as hearing from residents and stakeholders, before presenting a report to council.

The issue regarding food trucks in Niagara-on-the-Lake doesn’t seem to be any closer to finding common ground after a public information meeting held Monday.

The meeting invited people from the community to have their say, and share their suggestions, whether it be for or against food trucks, if they should be permitted and where.

There was some confusion about the Town’s intent, which was to seek input on how to best deal with food trucks, including zoning issues.

Leah Wallace, senior planner with the Town, led the meeting and informed people that a report will go to councillors in mid to late June.

The Town has already met with stakeholders, including restaurant owners and Chamber of Commerce representatives, regarding food trucks.

http://www.niagaraadvance.ca/2013/05/01/notl-to-decide-how-to-deal-with-food-trucks