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

WASHINGTON, DC – MAY 09: Maria Habib, center, and Sally Maier enjoy their food at Farragut Square as food trucks are seen behind them on Thursday May 09, 2013 in Washington, DC. There is fear among food truck operators that proposed regulations could force them out of busines. Maria and Sally got their food from a brick a mortar business. (Photo by Matt McClain/ The Washington Post) (Matt McClain – THE WASHINGTON POST)

Washington’s food-truck lobby is playing a dangerous game of chicken with city regulators. Last week, when the D.C. Council’s Committee on Business, Consumer and Regulatory Affairs listened to public comment about proposed regulations on the mobile vending industry, one thing was clear: playing hardball with the city might not be the best tactic.

Officials are considering regulating the hundreds of food trucks that roam the city. Concerned that the rules will curb what has largely been an unregulated industry, the Food Truck Association of  Metropolitan Washington argued against everything from rules that would limit the number of vehicles at specific locations to a lottery-based system. Some supporters have even argued that the trucks shouldn’t be regulated at all.

“I think the reality is that we need to keep our customers, and what we want is our mobility,” said Justin Vitarello, co-owner of the Fojol Bros. food trucks.

But there is one flaw in that strategy: The trucks have proliferated because the lack of regulation has made it easier to do business in the District.

To think they won’t have some regulation seems unrealistic, especially since the alternative could be that the city could slap them with a more dire fate: If these regulations don’t pass, the city’s Department of Transportation has threatened to start enforcing the old ‘ice cream truck’ laws, which are far more restrictive than what’s currently proposed. In effect, the food truck association is arguing against rules that could keep the industry alive.

The city wants to corral what has become a burgeoning, likable industry, as a way to please everyone involved in the debate over the best use of public space. And officials argue that they’ve bargained in good faith. The day of the hearing, chaired by Council member Vincent Orange (At-Large), the two city agencies released a plan that would make 180 locations available for mobile vendors in the District.

The truck lobby didn’t budge from its position.

“They decided to take their ball and [go] home,” Pedro Ribeiro, spokesman for Mayor Vincent C. Gray (D), said of the negotiations. “That’s not the way you regulate. We had always said that we’re going to put something out there.”

But the food trucks’ tactic is a calculated move. They want to fight this battle in the court of public opinion — a gamble that the association thought it had to take.

“I said at the hearing, ‘Why’d y’all walk away? Why aren’t you still trying to hammer this out?’ I think they got to a point where they felt like, you know what, they’re not going to come around to what we think is the best here. We need to get the government, you know, the council, involved,” Council member David Grosso (D-At Large), who sits on the committee, said.

For his part as chair of the subcommittee in charge of this, Orange has an incredible task of trying to mend fences. And the committee still has a last option that could satisfy all.

“I also met with the attorney general, and he’s going to look at the law to see if the council can in fact delete some provisions. If we can do that, I can really push for a compromise,” Orange said. “That would be the best situation right now.”

The trucks have argued that they’re a community-building group operating in the best interest of the city, even if many of them are based outside of it. If that’s the case, they should embrace the chance to reach out to more communities than just the downtown lunch crowd. And with a June 22 deadline to vote on the matter, we could see a drastically different summer of food if things don’t break a certain way.

But don’t fret, Orange said. “I would venture to say that the food trucks are here to stay. I don’t see them going anywhere.”

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/therootdc/post/food-trucks-test-their-pull-in-the-district/2013/05/16/a5c5be9a-be7a-11e2-89c9-3be8095fe767_blog.html

Check out Truckeroo at the Fairgrounds at Nats Park on Friday. Photograph by Flickr user danspix.

Thursday, May 16

GO-GO: It’s only been a year since Chuck Brown died (feels like longer, doesn’t it?). Celebrate the go-go legend’s life and career at the Howard Theatre, where a tribute band will play all his hits. Tickets ($30) are available online. 10 PM.

COWBOY UP: You’re not gonna find a rodeo anywhere around DC, so we have to be creative about finding events to wear our cowboy gear. Clarendon’s Wilson Tavern hosts aDaisy Dukes and Cowboy Boots party tonight, so pull out your short shorts, plaid shirts, and lassos and gallop on over there. PBR tallboys are on special, and the best-dressed cowgirl and cowboy will win a pair of sunglasses. Free. 8 PM.

ZOO: Like a mini Best of Washington, but with animals, ZooFari features food from 100 of DC’s best restaurants and chefs, including Mike Isabella, Citronelle, and Todd Gray. There’ll be a silent auction, animal demonstrations, and all-you-can-drink wine. Tickets ($200) are available online. 6:30 PM.

Friday, May 17

FOOD TRUCKS: Skip Farragut Friday and get to the Fairgrounds by Nationals Park if you can swing it—Truckeroo is back. As always, there’ll be a couple dozen of your favorite food trucks, beer and margs at the bar, cornhole, and live music. Free. 11 to 11.

COMEDY: You like laughing, right? Good: In advance of the big thing in September, theDC Shorts film festival is screening the best comedic shorts that have ever been submitted at the US Navy Memorial Heritage Center. To sweeten the deal, some of DC’s best standup comics will perform quick sets between films. Tickets ($15) are availableonline. 9 and 11:30 PM (also Saturday).

FILM: Fairfax’s Strawberry Park is sick of outdoor film nights that screen movies from decades ago. At least I think they are, because the movies they’ve scored are all recent hits. If you missed the kind of heartbreaking but very funny Perks of Being a Wallflower, now’s your chance to see it, if only to see Emma Watson prove you can forget about her being Hermione. Free. 7 PM.

LUAU: Chief Ike is throwing a “burlesque luau and tropical shindig”—let me know if you can figure out what a mambo room is while you’re at it. Real-life hula dancers will be in the house, and there’ll be special island cocktails available. $10. 9 PM.

Saturday, May 18

DANCE: Lady Gaga, Madonna, and 98 Degrees/N’Sync/Backstreet Boys play nice in a way that only deejay lil’e can make them at her trademark 9:30 Club dance night of unabashed pop ridiculousness. Expect to get covered in glitter and confetti and to leave having burned a couple hundred calories, easily. Tickets ($15) are available online. 8 PM.

OPERA: Time to trick your opera-hating but baseball-loving (but not enough to know the Nats aren’t home this weekend) friends—Opera in the Outfield is back for the fifth straight year. The Washington National Opera will play music from Jerome Kern and Oscar Hammerstein II’s Show Boat, there’ll be face painting and candy for the kids, and a screening of a Looney Toons short will explain opera in case you need a refresher. Free. 7 PM.

ARM-WRESTLING: Wanna watch super-strong women arm-wrestle each other? Wanna bet on the winners of each match? Then D/Claw XI is for you. Get to Penn Social and start cheering. Just hope no one’s arm snaps—that would be gross. $5. 7 PM.

STRAWBERRIES: Find a way to make it out to Burtonsville for the Silver Spring Strawberry Festival (we’re on to you, Silver Spring—you guys aren’t even that close to each other). As you might expect, there will be lots of strawberries-related things, various wines to sample, and more. For the kids, there’ll be hayrides, ponies, and an antique car show. Tickets ($18 for two) are available online. 10 to 5.

HORSES: Everyone’s favorite disaster, the Preakness, is today. If you can’t make it up to Baltimore to get sloshed and not watch a horse race, you can stay here in DC and do pretty much the same thing. The Brixton’s party will feature cheap Miller Lite buckets, derby sangria, and big screens so you can catch the race if you want to. Free. 2 PM.

Sunday, May 19

FOOD AND MUSIC: Soundbites, a benefit for DC Central Kitchen, is happening at the 9:30 Club, featuring food trucks, mixologist competitions, and a half dozen bands and deejays to keep things 9:30 Clubby. Tickets ($40) are available online. 1 PM.

POOL: Capitol Skyline’s Adult Swim pool party is back for another year of debauchery. As always, a deejay blasts club music while you wear a bathing suit and hit one of several bars set up by the pool. Free with RSVP. 11 to 6.

WINE: Columbia’s Symphony Woods (near Merriweather) is hosting a wine festival—for $30, you’ll get unlimited tastes of wine from more than 30 local vineyards. There’ll also be two stages of live music, arts and crafts for sale, and artisanal food for you to chomp on. Tickets ($30) are available online. 11 to 5.

http://www.washingtonian.com/blogs/afterhours/where-when-picks/what-to-do-this-weekend-may-16-to-19.php

The Red Hook Lobster Pound DC food truck welcomes hundreds of customers during lunch at Farragut Square, in Washington D.C., on Friday
Photo courtesy of John Boal

WASHINGTON – Lunchtime on a warm, sunny Friday in downtown Washington.

The sidewalks around Farragut Square — a postage stamp of grass and benches two blocks from the White House — were packed with hundreds of hungry workers mulling the culinary tableau offered by two dozen kitchens on wheels.

Afghan kabobs? Fried Asian dumplings? Peruvian pork tenderloin with grilled sweet potato? Gourmet mac ‘n’ cheese?

Kelly Seymour and Sara Eppes bypassed all of those options and instead headed straight for the long line of people waiting for Maine lobster served up curbside from a truck.

“I’m a lobster fan and this is the best lobster roll I have ever had,” said Seymour, a loyal customer of Red Hook Lobster Pound DC’s food truck, as she pointed emphatically to her $15 roll piled with lobster supplied by a Maine processor.

“It’s just such a treat,” said Eppes, who somewhat sheepishly confessed to tracking the roving truck via Facebook and Twitter to find out what days it will be parked nearby. “Even though it’s expensive, you get your money’s worth.”

Gourmet lunch trucks have become big business in the nation’s capital during the past three years — so big that traditional restaurants are pressuring the city to restrict where and how long they can park.

And if the lines were any indication, dishing out Maine lobster on the streets of D.C. is good business. The Red Hook truck consistently had among the longest lines last Friday and ran out of its Maine-style rolls in less than two hours, although those craving lobster still had the option of getting the hot and buttery Connecticut-style roll instead.

Success wasn’t a guarantee, however.

“We kind of rolled the dice,” said Leland Morris, president of Red Hook Lobster Pound DC. “We didn’t know what the reaction would be to, one, a seafood sandwich sold from a truck and, two, a $15 seafood sandwich from a truck.”

In fact, Morris and his partner, Doug Povich, had to convince city officials that there was nothing in Washington’s health code precluding the sale of seafood from a food truck. But a year after launching the first truck, Red Hook added a second in Washington.

The company actually started in the Red Hook section of Brooklyn, N.Y. — hence the name — when co-owners Ralph Gorham and his wife, Susan Povich, decided there was an untapped market for fresh, live lobsters in the trendy neighborhood.

Gorham began making twice-weekly trips to Maine — where Povich’s family has a home — to buy the crustaceans that would be sold in their small storefront.

But the business took off when Povich — a trained chef who is also the daughter of talk show celebrity Maury Povich — began selling Maine lobster rolls at the couple’s lobster pound and at a big Brooklyn flea market.

Doug Povich, who is Susan Povich’s cousin, eventually convinced the skeptical couple to allow him to try a food truck in Washington. Its success led to a truck in Manhattan and, eventually, the second truck in Washington.

Today, the “Lobster Truck DC,” as the truck is known, has more than 25,000 followers on Twitter and was named the “Best Food Truck” in 2012 by readers of the Washington City Paper. U.S. Sen. Susan Collins of Maine uses the company for her annual lobster-themed fundraiser in Washington, as does Bloomberg for the company’s star-studded party following the White House Correspondents Dinner.

Customers have their choice of either a traditional Maine-style lobster roll piled high with meat in a light mayo-lemon sauce (but with a paprika twist) or a Connecticut-style roll that features buttered meat served hot.

Continuing the Maine theme, the truck offers Maine Root fountain sodas from Portland, clam chowder and lobster bisque ingredients from a Maine supplier and whoopie pies that, while made locally to D.C., are from a company with Maine roots. The company also served its lobster on J.J. Nissen rolls until the Biddeford bakery’s recent closure.

“We try to source everything from family-oriented folks up in Maine,” Morris said.

On Friday, Farragut Square looked more like a bustling outdoor food market as crowds lined up in front of the two dozen food trucks and then took their fare into the park to eat on a bench or the grass.

At $15 a roll (or $18 with chips and a drink), a lobster lunch doesn’t come cheap, even when it’s bought on the curb in Washington. But then again, neither do most other things in a city consistently ranked among the Top 10 most expensive places to live in the country.

Few customers were complaining.

A big fan, John Yoo brought along two co-workers from the American Red Cross who had never tried the truck before. Yoo admitted that he occasionally goes to another place to get his lobster rolls in D.C., but he prefers the truck.

“Oh, my God, so good,” co-worker Hiba Anwar said between bites.

“It’s delicious,” added Roxanne Namazi.

While Washington was largely spared Hurricane Sandy’s wrath, the waterfront community of Red Hook, Brooklyn, lay directly in the path of the October superstorm. Saltwater surged into Red Hook Lobster Pound, ruining everything inside.

“We were closed for four months. We had to redo everything in the business,” Mark Franzen, manager of the pound, said by phone last week. But when the pound and other local businesses reopened on March 1, New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg bought the first Maine lobster roll.

http://www.onlinesentinel.com/news/in-dc-maine-lobster-rolls-a-lunch-truck-favorite_2013-05-15.html

Photo by ep_jhu

After seven hours, the big legislative showdown over the District government’s proposed regulations… is finally over. More than 60 witnesses signed up to testify in front of the D.C. Council’s Committee on Business, Regulatory, and Consumer Affairs, but a few hours into the hearing, it was obvious which way the members who showed up are leaning.

Judging from the lines of questioning posed by Vincent Orange (D-At Large), David Grosso (I-At Large), and Jim Graham (D-Ward 1), the proposed regulations—in their fourth draft since being first introduced more than a year ago—might be getting worked over yet again. At principal issue was the creation of designated “mobile vending zones” where food trucks would be allowed to operate after entering monthly lotteries. If those zones are put into law, trucks that do not win the lottery spaces could continue their businesses, but at a distance of at least 500 feet from the approved zones.

The Food Truck Association of Metropolitan Washington, an industry group that brought many of its members to the hearing, has mounted a loud and visible to the designated zones, saying that the number of proposed lottery spots in popular downtown locations like Farragut Square and Chinatown would be too few to accomodate all the city’s food trucks. But in his opening testimony, Nicholas Majett, the head of the Department of Regulatory and Consumer Affairs, said that the 180 parking spots that would be created in the proposed regulations are more than sufficient to fit all the food trucks. (The latest proposed map was first obtained last night by The Washington Post.)

“There is absolutely no plan, desire, hope, or wish by this administration to have food trucks banned from operating in the District of Columbia,” Majett told the crowded Council hearing room. “District consumers enjoy a very robust offering of food trucks and we are very supportive of the hard-working entrepreneurs that run food trucks.”

But it’s that robustness that propelled D.C. to this moment. Though D.C. long had a patchwork of sidewalk vendors selling hot dogs and cheap snacks, more innovative food trucks only took off in 2009, when trucks like Fojol Bros. showed up. Since then, the number of food trucks has exploded—citywide, there are 299 businesses registered as mobile vendors, including more than 100 food trucks—but the regulations under which they operate has remained static.

Officially, food trucks are regulated under the city’s “ice cream rule,” which prohibits mobile vendors from parking unless there is a gaggle of customers ready to line up and make a purchase. It also outlaws trucks from parking on blocks where the sidewalk is narrower than 10 feet.

“We recognize the ice cream rule doesn’t work for food trucks,” Majett said. “That’s why we want to eliminate it.”

Many of the food truck operators who showed up were opposed to both the lottery system and the existing ice cream truck regulations, which are enforced in the form of cascades of parking tickets. Food trucks have received more than $100,000 in parking tickets since the beginning of 2012, Majett said.

But food truck operators have said they welcome regulation applying to their industry, just not the ones being floated right now. Doug Povich, the executive director of the Food Truck Association, repeated his insistence that the designated vending zones in the proposed regulations are too few, particularly around the most popular food truck spots. At the hearing, D.C. officials pointed out that their most recent map includes 19 spots in Farragut Square, 15 around Union Station, and 13 by McPherson Square.

Povich, and many of his members, also insisted repeatedly that the 10-foot sidewalk rule needs to be ditched, despite Majett’s statement that nearly all sidewalks in downtown D.C. are at least that wide.

Still, the food trucks’ opposition was enough to get the councilmembers to state that if they were made to vote right now, the regulations would most likely be rejected, extending yet again a rule-making process that has gone on since March 2012 when the Council authorized DCRA to cook up a new set of regulations. Orange proposed emergency legislation that would allow the Council to edit the proposed regulations instead of just holding an up-or-down vote. Grosso, meanwhile, said that he agrees with “80 or 90 percent” of the proposals, but could not say which way he is leaning.

The councilmembers were apparently unmoved by some of the testimony from the brick-and-mortar restaurant industry. Kathy Hollinger, the head of the Restaurant Association Metropolitan Washington, repeated her group’s insistence that the description of the proposed regulations has been grossly “misleading.”

Even more vociferous were restaurant owners like Dave Loeb, owner of Loeb’s New York Deli across I Street NW from Farragut Square. Loeb said that the rampant growth of food trucks was akin to having 20 new lunch-hour competitors roll up overnight. The argument did not seem to take, as the committee members seemed more inclined to send the proposed regulations back for more edits.

The full Council has until June 22 to vote on the regulations, though Orange didn’t give them good odds. “If we were to vote today on these regulations I can tell you they would not pass,” he said early in the afternoon.

The hearing continued for another four hours.

http://dcist.com/2013/05/dc_council_hinting_food_truck_regul.php

Media Credit: Samuel Klein | Photo Editor
Doug Povich, center, chairman of the Food Truck Association of Metropolitan Washington, attends a D.C. Council hearing Friday on new regulations for food trucks operating in the District.

Student leaders joined more than 50 residents and business people from around the city Friday to speak out against a proposed crackdown on food trucks.

Under the new rules, a lottery would dish out a limited number of parking spots, allowing food trucks to operate in those areas between 10:30 a.m. and 2:30 p.m. Trucks not chosen in the lottery would have to park at least 500 feet away.

That would mean just three trucks could park on the Foggy Bottom Campus at one time, pushing out the dozen or so vendors that often line up on the popular food truck row – H Street between 21st and 22nd streets.

Media Credit: Hatchet File Photo
Food trucks, serving kabobs and cupcakes on H Street, often flock to campus each weekday.

Scott Lauermann, the Student Association’s vice president for financial affairs, said at the public hearing that food trucks liven the campus’ atmosphere.

“A few years ago, we’d see one or two on our campus, and now on H Street we see 12 during the day, with lines on every one,” the sophomore said. “They do provide a lot of cultural diversity and a great source of food for our students, and we’d really like to see them stay.”

The SA pushed to allow food trucks to accept GWorlds in December, and Ryan Counihan, chair of the finance committee, said students might be able to use their cards at the trucks this fall.

Counihan said members of the SA met last week with Vincent Orange, chair of the D.C. Council’s regulatory committee, and both Orange and D.C. Mayor Vincent Gray asked them to testify on behalf of GW students.

“I really think [food trucks] should be given a fair shot,” Counihan said, adding that the sales tax food trucks charge their customers puts them on an equal playing field with brick-and-mortar restaurants. The city has argued that food trucks are given an unfair advantage because their overhead costs are not as high as the other businesses.

The D.C. Council has until June 22 to pass or reject the vending regulations, after which members cannot amend the rules without passing emergency legislation.

“If we were to vote today on these regulations, I can tell you that these regulations are not going to pass,” Orange said during the seven-and-a-half-hour-long hearing. “I think what we have been able to do today is push people to the point where these regulations, with some minor tweaks, can move forward and we can get this in place before the end of this calendar year.”

The Council enters its summer recess July 15.

Jackson Carnes, a junior and member of the Foggy Bottom and West End Advisory Neighborhood Commission, said at the hearing that the regulations would stifle entrepreneurship and consumer choice.

“Foggy Bottom has historically had few dining options, and in recent years, food trucks have filled this void,” he said. “These regulations will transform D.C. overnight, from a leader in mobile vending to one of the worst in the country with a one-size-fits-all approach.”

The lottery would especially hurt customers who have enjoyed a burgeoning D.C. subculture, said Kristina Kern, who runs the popcorn truck Stella’s PopKern.

“The really cool thing about being an owner of a food truck is that you’re a part of this really neat culture,” she said. “If there’s this lottery, and all the trucks that win that lottery are kabob trucks, you’re stifling customers’ choices.”

At the hearing, some restaurant owners who run brick-and-mortar shops in Adams Morgan and Farragut Square spoke out in favor of the regulations, saying the food truck craze has hurt their businesses.

Steven Loeb, who owns Loeb’s NY Deli on 17th and I streets, likened the food trucks crowding Farragut Square every morning to “the Wild West” and said it can also be a safety hazard. He added that his deli, which serves K Street customers near campus, has seen declining revenues because of competition from food trucks.

Gray, whose mayoral administration includes the city’s regulatory agency, has faced flak for the proposed regulations. But Director of the Department of Consumer and Regulatory Affairs Nicholas Majett said the mayor supports the food truck industry’s creativity.

“There is absolutely no plan, desire, hope or wish for this administration to have food trucks banned from operating in the District of Columbia,” he said.

The Small Business and Entrepreneurship Council rated the District less business-friendly than all 50 states, compared to Maryland’s No. 17 spot and Virginia’s rank at No. 10. Council member David Grosso called the ranking “an embarrassment to me every time I think about it.”

Famed chef José Andrés, who taught at GW this semester, also entered the D.C. food fight when he told the Washington Post last week that restaurants and food trucks “can coexist successfully,” though the city needed tighter regulations.

If the proposed regulations fail in the Council, food trucks will continue to follow “ice cream truck” rules that require parked vendors to have a line of customers waiting for service at all times.

- Cory Weinberg contributed to this report.

http://www.gwhatchet.com/2013/05/12/at-d-c-council-hearing-students-stand-up-against-food-truck-regulations/

The trucks were in their usual spots in a long line at Farragut Square on Monday, but the food they usually serve wasn’t, a disappointment for many hungry people looking forward to their favorite lunch

In the four years since Fojol Bros. started to feed the masses gathered for President Obama’s first inauguration, the D.C. streets have welcomed close to 200 food trucks.

Stop at one of the major parks or Metro stations in the District — think Franklin Park or L’Enfant Plaza — and chances are a brightly colored kitchen on wheels is waiting curbside to satisfy your culinary cravings.

For carnivores, the BBQ Bus services up mighty plates of ribs, while ChefDrivenDC has pork shank and steak frites. Dorothy Moon’s Gourmet Burgers is a worthy opponent to Five Guys, while the “zombified” appearance of the Pho Junkies truck serves up heaping bowls of beef broth, noodles, veggies and your choice of chicken or steak.

Vegetarians aren’t ignored by truck foods. Though their menu changes, Fojol Bros. — which is widely credited with kicking off the food truck phenomenon in the District in 2009 — serves eggplant, pumpkin, spinach and cheese, shiro, and Berbere lentils. DC Empanadas has a black-bean version of its popular dish, along with empanadas that have tofu, broccoli, mushrooms and carrots, and a brie, fig and almond option.

Basil Thyme offers a gluten- and egg-free pasta of the day.

Sweet tooths also get their fix with the help of tequila sunrise cupcakes from Curbside Cupcakes, or a slice from the always-rotating menu at Dangerously Delicious Pies.

Food truck fandom has even grown to the point where a monthly “Truckeroo” gathers dozens of food trucks in Southeast for easy one-stop eating. And on a daily basis, interactive maps and active Twitter feeds provide real-time locations for tracking the trucks.

Starting to feel hungry? Here’s our list for a well-fed work week.

Monday: Exhausted from the weekend? Takorean makes it an easy order. Choose your meat: bulgogi steak, tangy chicken, caramelized tofu. Choose your slaw: spicy kimchi or Napa romaine. Hot sauce, lime crema, sesame seeds and fresh cilantro are automatic toppings.

Tuesday: How is it only Tuesday? Console yourself with a heaping plate of gourmet macaroni and cheese from CapMac. This isn’t your mom’s mac ‘n’ cheese. Depending on the day your pasta might be topped with pork or balsamic marinated strawberries.

Wednesday: Happy Hump Day! Eat dessert first at Pleasant Pops, where you’ll get more than just “purple, red, orange” flavors. Strawberry ginger lemonade is popular, or you could try the Thai coconut curry.

Thursday: Try a slice or two of buffalo chicken pizza from DC Slices. Not too greasy, but a good base of cheese, bread and hot sauce to help your stomach get through Happy Hour.

Friday: Pay day! Splurge on the $15 lobster roll from Red Hook Lobster Pound. Humongous chunks of Maine lobster — they don’t skimp on the claw meat — poached in butter or tossed in a light lemon-based mayo.

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2013/may/9/nearly-200-dc-food-trucks-offer-choices-every-day-/

Jose Andres (Sarah L. Voisin/The Washington Post)

Jose Andres spins in a rare orbit in the District’s gastronomic universe: He owns a food truck, Pepe, and his ThinkFoodGroup is a member of the Restaurant Association Metropolitan Washington, which has lobbied for tighter regulations on mobile vendors. ThinkFoodGroup even occupies an at-large position on the RAMW board.

So what does Andres think about the battle over the city’s proposed vending regulations, which has at times placed a giant wedge between restaurants and the food trucks that the brick-and-mortars consider interlopers? I thought I’d ask. Unfortunately, I posed these e-mail questions earlier this week while Andres was in China, and before the District government made a surprise announcement about downtown vending spaces for food trucks.

Tim Carman: What’s your position on food trucks and how the city shouldregulate them?  

Jose Andres: We love food trucks! We have some good regulations on the table, but we need to look at something that works for everyone. We need to give the people of D.C. more choices and encourage the food truck business to boost.

TC: Do you support the latest proposed regulations before the D.C. Council?

JA: We agree on about 80 percent of the regulations. Regulations are needed, but I think there needs to be some adjustment. We are not looking to avoid any regulations, and when it comes to the health and safety of our guests, we are 110 percent committed to protecting each one of them. But what is being proposed here is a model that really restricts the spaces where food trucks can park. Food truck[s] and restaurants can coexist successfully.

TC: If the regulations were passed as is, would you continue to operate Pepe?

JA: Yes, we love Pepe and bringing sandwiches to the people of D.C.! I really admire the great entrepreneurial spirit of food trucks. They really add to the dynamic food scene of the city. As a chef, I am always in support of that!

TC: Why do you think the Restaurant Association Metropolitan Washington has been pushing hard to regulate trucks?

JA: We don’t think it is a [restaurant association] agenda item. Restaurants and food trucks have many similarities. We think the RAMW and Food Truck Association of Metropolitan Washington could easily come together and work to resolve those grey areas that need more clarity.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/going-out-guide/wp/2013/05/10/jose-andres-we-need-food-truck-regulations-that-work-for-everyone/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/majunznk/8658641861/
Food trucks claim new rules proposed by D.C. would drive them out of the city’s most profitable locations.

Korean barbecue. Cuban sandwiches. Vietnamese pho. Salvadoran pupusas. Lobster rolls. Even cupcakes.

That’s just a sample of the fare that could be had from some of the District’s food trucks. But according to food truck vendors, if a new set of rules and regulations proposed by Mayor Vincent Gray take effect, office workers will go wanting as food trucks are driven out of the city’s most profitable and central locations.

Today the D.C. Council will wade into the teeming regulatory battle, hearing testimony from both food trucks and traditional brick-and-mortar restaurants on the issue. The regulations proposed by Gray would formalize where and when food truck can vend, offering them more certainty as to where they can park and how long they can remain.

For restaurants, the rules are a matter of fairness—currently, food trucks operate with fewer restrictions that their traditional counterparts. But for food truck owners, the rules—which establish specific vending zones and dole out spots by lottery—are too vague and leave too much discretion to government agencies. The food trucks started asocial media campaign in opposition, while the restaurant lobby has pushed back with its own letter to council members.

In response to that criticism, today D.C. officials will unveil a map with 150 locations where the moveable feast can stay put. Popular squares such as Franklin Square and Farragut Square will get over a dozen spots a piece, and so will Union Station. All those locations aren’t written into Gray’s proposed rules, though, leaving food truck owners nervous that they could be cut down after the fact.

Today’s hearing, though, could turn into a food fight as all sides battle for a bigger slice of the food business pie. The council has until June 22 to either vote up or down on the regulations; if they choose to take no action, they will go into effect at that point.

http://wamu.org/news/13/05/10/food_truck_fight_reaches_dc_council

Credit: flickr / majunznk

To fight the argument that proposed food truck regulations in D.C. will doom the food truck industry, two directors of city agencies will speak in a public hearing to pinpoint more than 150 prime locations for vendors to be set up in the Central Business District.

Terry Bellamy, director of the Department of Transportation, and Nicholas A. Majett, head of the Department of Consumer and Regulatory Affairs, are to present their plan at a public hearing Friday where they will identify over 150 potential food truck locations.According to the Washington Post, the duo has pinpointed locations such as 19 parking spots around Farragut Square, 15 around Union Station, and 13 near Franklin Square along with others that satisfy the rules for public safety and space management.

Even though the District’s regulations were proposed in March to reduce sidewalk crowding, blocked Metro and bus stops, and lack of public parking downtown, the food truck association just learned the specific numbers of the regulations this Thursday. The Washington Post reported that the regulations will allow at least three spaces for trucks at each mobile vending zone and still impose the rule requiring 10 feet of “unobstructed” sidewalk next to any parking space not part of a mobile roadway vending zone.

If Bellamy and Majett’s proposal were to be passed, the number of food trucks in certain locations would stay in the same range as it is now. However, the divide still remains while the food truck administration plans to protest the rules altogether and theRestaurant Association of Metropolitan Washington still hopes for the District’s vending rules to be passed.

http://www.thedailymeal.com/there-s-plenty-room-food-trucks-dc-according-city-agencies