Piatzlan food truck, took home the Vendy Cup last year

BROOKLYN – The 9th Annual Street Vendor Feasting and Judging Contest will move from Governor’s Island to Sunset Park this year.

The event will be held on Saturday, Sept. 7 at Industry City. A Red Hook-based business took home the Vendy Cup last year; the authentic Mexican food truck Piatzlan was dubbed the best food truck in the city for 2012.

The Vendy Awards are organized by The Street Vendor Project, a group that works for food vendor rights.

http://hudsonvalley.news12.com/news/tri-state/vendy-awards-to-be-held-in-brooklyn-sept-7-1.5274087?firstfree=yes

The third annual Vendy Awards – a competition among local food trucks and a fundraiser for the Food Trust – is set for June 8 from 2 to 6 p.m. at Penn Treaty Park.

But the public gets to set the field. Nominate your favorite food truck now by clicking here. (Deadline is Friday, May 10.)

You can still buy a $45 early-bird ticket, which gets you unlimited food and Brooklyn Brewery beer.

The Vendy Awards are organized by The Street Vendor Project at the Urban Justice Center in New York City.

Last year, The Smoke Truck won bragging rights and the Vendy Cup while Vernalicious was the People’s Choice Winner and The Lil’ Pop Shop took home Best Dessert.

http://www.philly.com/philly/food/Nominate-a-food-truck-for-2013-Vendy-Awards.html

Photo credit: T. Jerven

The Vancouver street food scene gets better each season and the world is taking notice. Vancouver’s food trucks were recently ranked third in Travel + Escape’s list of “Top 5 North American Cities for Trailer Food.” As one might expect, Portland, which has just about everyone beat with their fleet of 700 food trucks, ranked first. Austin, Texas came in second–again, not a shocker. I make bi-annual pilgrimages down there for good music and cheap, creative eats.

Interestingly, NYC and Toronto, which you might expect to be more competitive than Vancouver, came in fourth and fifth, respectively.

T+E author Shelley Seale mentioned Vancouver’s “nutritious and diverse” offerings. These descriptors are two of the requirements listed on the City of Vancouver’s street food vending page. While they may seem a bit tame, they set Vancouver apart. Fresh, inventive fusion cuisine is more important than grease in Vancouver street fare.

Vancouver currently has 103 licensed food trucks. Another 15 food trucks are in the works for spring 2013. The city plans to put the newcomers in pods like Portland’s outside the downtown core. The locations are TBD.

Photo credit: T. Jerven

Kudos to the Vancouver street food scene for the accolade. It’s a relatively young scene (2010 launch) and it seems like our entrepreneurs’ creativity and talent, along with the thought put into expansion by food truck lovers like city councillor Heather Deal, are paying off. If I had one request for Vancouver street food besides food truck pods, I’d like to see more punning in food truck titles. We can have more fun there, can’t we?

The T+E write-up follows closely on the heels of another coup for Vancouver street food: many Vancouver food carts were recently included in the bestselling Eat St.food truck cookbook.

http://www.insidevancouver.ca/2013/04/29/vancouver-ranked-third-best-street-food-city-in-north-america/

Peter Van Allen
The Third Annual Vendy Awards, to be held June 8, will pick the best food truck in Philadelphia. Pictured here are some food trucks near the Drexel campus.

The awards for Philadelphia’s food trucks will make a return this summer.

The Third Annual Philadelphia Vendy Awards will take place June 8 at Penn Treaty Park on North Delaware Avenue in Fishtown.

There are a few celebrity judges — in the past, Mayor Michael Nutter, cheesesteak king Tony Luke and Barbuzzo Chef Marcie Turney. But ordinary ticket buyers are also judges —plus, judges get all-you-can-eat privileges at the trucks. Early-bird tickets are $45.

“Philadelphia continues to be one of our stronger, competitive cities,” said Helena Tubis, managing director of the event. “From the faithful, daily food truck advocates to the growing pool of culinary talent, we’re excited to see who makes the nominations and to sample the tasty, creative items served up by the City of Brotherly Love.”

Philadelphia’s Vendy Awards event is organized by the Street Vendor Project, a 1,300-member organization affiliated with the Urban Justice Center in New York.

The Vendy Awards have an eight-year history in New York City, and the Street Vendor Project has similar events in Los Angeles and New Orleans as well.

In Philadelphia, the Vendys are a fundraiser for the Food Trust, a local nonprofit.

Last year’s Vendy winner was Mark Coates and his Smoke Truck.

http://www.bizjournals.com/philadelphia/news/2013/04/23/best-food-truck-in-philly-find-out.html

2012 judges Marcie Turney and Tony Luke, Jr. consider the entries

The Vendy Awards are back! For the third year, the best of Philadelphia’s food truck scene will converge for a daylong festival of eating and judging that culminates in the naming of the 2013 Vendy Cup winner. This year’s event takes place from 2-6 PM on Saturday, June 8, alongside the Delaware River at Penn Treaty Park.

Early bird tickets are now available (here). If you act quickly, $45 will score you four hours of unlimited access to the best mobile kitchens in town, plus beer, plus a chance to vote for the People’s Choice favorite. The whole event is a fundraiser for The Food Trust, so come on out.

http://blog.zagat.com/2013/04/2013-philly-vendys-early-bird-tickets.html

Photos by Lauren Saria
Welcome Diner

You submitted nominations for awards given to the Valley’s emerging creatives and the results are in. Introducing our Big Brain 2013 Finalists.

Leading up to the Big Brain Award awards announcement and celebration on April 27,Chow Bella and Jackalope Ranch will introduce the finalists.

Up today: Welcome Diner

Lauren Saria
The Welcome Diner

Ask most any food truck owner and they’ll tell you moving to a brick-and-mortar location is the ultimate dream. They’ll tell you though that it takes money. And time — lots of time.

Unless you’re Michael Babcock and Jenn Robinson.

The pair hit the streets as Old Dixie’s Southern Kitchen food truck just last fall and, by January 31, had found themselves a permanent home. It may have been a step up — and a fast one — but they had done the seemingly impossible and settled into what’s got to be one of the few restaurant spaces in town with a kitchen smaller than the one on their truck.

In exchange for the lack of space, however, they took the chance to be the next faces in what’s becoming the rich culinary history of the Welcome Diner.

Michael Babcock and Jenn Robinson

The tiny red and white Valentine diner came to Phoenix by way of Wichita, Kansas, in 1980. Since opening in 2004, the kitchen’s served as a stage for chefs including Payton Curry, MF Tasty’s Eric Gitenstein, and even Matt’s Big Breakfast.

Though they say they love the historic structure, Babcock and Robinson say it’s not always easy operating in a 68-year-old building.

“The diner is old [and] beat-up,” Babcock says matter of factly. “She requires a lot of attention.”

Babcock and Robinson graduated from Arizona State University in 2012 with degrees in environmental science, and they met while she was working at the Phoenix Public Market.

“She was the cute girl behind the counter and I had to know her name,” says Babcock, who worked for 10 years at local restaurants including Gallo Blanco and The Duce. He also traveled in search of inspiration, eventually settling on New Orleans cuisine.

When Robinson got a job as a hydrologist for the U.S. Geological Survey in northern California, they left Arizona and stumbled into an experience that would change their ideas about food forever.

Wayne Coats
Welcome Diner’s buffalo chicken sandwich

To save money — because finding affordable housing on a sous chef’s and hydrologist’s pay isn’t easy in Santa Cruz, California — they ended up living at Food Not Lawns, a farming and housing cooperative that also serves as a venue for music, workshops, and art shows.

It was while living there with a dozen other people that they learned firsthand about farming, gardening, animal husbandry, and more. Babcock got a job working in the slaughtering section of an organic farm where he learned to appreciate clean eating. They lived for a time with their “hands in the dirt, every day,” as Robinson says.

That was great, but they wanted to be business owners, and life brought them back to the Valley, where Robinson says the dry desert landscape means one can really appreciate what it takes to make things grow. (She still keeps her green thumb in the soil with the two plots of land she’s had donated to turn into gardens for the diner.)

Old Dixie’s Southern Kitchen food truck was an instant hit, and just months after hitting
the road, Welcome Diner beckoned. Babcock and Robinson serve a limited menu (on a limited schedule – go to facebook.com/olddixies for details) out of the space.

Babcock’s quick to point out that Old Dixie’s presence at Welcome Diner is not really about putting their own stamp on things.

“I think Jenn and I were really people who understood what the diner was about — it’s history,” he says. “I don’t think we really wanted to change it. We wanted to elevate it.
We wanted to perpetuate it.”

Buy a $10 ticket to enjoy an evening of food, drink and entertainment April 27 at the Monarch Theatre in downtown Phoenix. Meet the finalists and learn who won during our Big Brain celebration, Artopia.

http://blogs.phoenixnewtimes.com/bella/2013/04/welcome_diner_michael_babcock_and_jenn_robinson_big_brain_2013.php

 Some call them the original street food culturalists, and I’d agree. L.A. Taco, co-founded by Hadley Tomicki of Grub Street L.A., held a huge bash in downtown L.A.’s Grand Park to celebrate Taco Madness, an annual online tournament of the best taco slingers in Los Angeles. The organizers were pleased by a larger than expected turnout of taco lovers (one even dressed up as a taco), and a solid day of sales for the vendors—some had to restock due to the high demand; Mexicali Taco Co. had to make three trips! The event was free to the public, and food from as many as 10 loncheros and booths was available for purchase, as well as Indio beer. Those who forgot their ID—like Tomicki—kept cool with classic Mexican soda from Jarritos.

I’m calling 2013 the year of the taco. With taco concepts popping up every week from L.A. to N.Y.C to S.F., and a surging interest in all things taco on a global scale, it’s no wonder that L.A. Taco’s Taco Madness has blossomed into a city-wide frenzy.

After weeks of impassioned social wars for the best taco in town, which was determined by popular vote, the 2013 champion was announced during the festivities. Voting went down to the final minutes. By a razor thin margin, Mexicali Taco Co. picked up its 2nd Taco Madness title for their Mexicali-style carne asada.

At the event, a Best of the Day award was given to Mariscos Jalisco by a panel of judges that included yours truly. Their famed shrimp taco stood out among the crowd and was worth a special nod. The competition included chef-driven taqueros, traditional loncheros, taquerias, old school L.A. institutions, fancy restaurants, and Mexican-American joints. There was even a Japanese-Mexican joint from Pico Boulevard’s kosher corridor.

I see Taco Madness grow as the L.A. crew rides the wave of salsa that continues to flood the U.S. from coast to coast. Each year, crowd and critic faves like Mexicali Taco Co. and Mariscos Jalisco will likely battle it out as the enthusiasm for our ever shifting taco landscape grows to a habanero-fevered pitch.

Congrats to L.A. Taco and the winners, and to all of the satisfied attendees in this, the year of the taco.

L.A. Taco, official site.

L.A. Taco partners include: Erich Redson, Erwin Recinos, Colin Browne, Brandy Flower, Azul 213, Grand Park LA, Andrew Bangs, Ali Khan, Sand One, and El Random Hero

http://www.lamag.com/lafood/digestblog/2013/04/22/the-winners-of-this-years-la-taco-madness-celebrate-in-grand-park

NEW ORLEANS – Wednesday night marked New Orleans’ first Vendy Awards, which crowns one local mobile food vendor king of the streets.

“Taceaux Loceaux is the first spot I hit of course. I love Taceaux Loceaux,” said Claudia Gehrke.

She was one of dozens who lined up at the French Market to get a taste of the New Orleans Vendy Awards.

“So far the brisket taco and the pull pork taco,” said Eric Brown, who is visiting from Kentucky.

From tacos to falafel to a cup of Yakamein, the dishes being served up showcased what’s become a growing food truck trend in New Orleans.

“I love the food vendor trucks. If it weren’t for them after Katrina. I probably would have starved in my neighborhood,” said Gehrke.

Nine local mobile food vendors spent the evening feeding a growing hungry crowd and hoping to win their votes.

The Vendy Awards, which lets foodies vote on their favorite vendor’s recipe, is part of the New York-based Street Vendor Project.

“We’re trying to build a national movement to support vendors, and New Orleans is a perfect fit for that,” said Helena Tubis with Street Vendor Project.

As these vendors try to work with the city to create new laws on where and how best to operate, on Wednesday night they had the greenlight to set up shop in the French Quarter to the delight of the crowd.

“I think food trucks are a great thing for the city. I think they provide an affordable option for people to eat,” said New Orleans resident Matthew Newman.

The winner of the’s competition was “Foodiecall Nola,” which won both the judge’s and people’s choice awards.

As for the proposed mobile food vendor law, it’s being reintroduced for a third time to the City Council on March 21. A vote on that pilot program is slated to happen in April.

    Wednesday marks the first Vendy Awards street food competition in New Orleans. The event is the local expansion of an annual program started in New York and now held in cities around the country.

  For each edition, the New York nonprofit the Street Vendor Project seeks nominations from the public on their favorite street food purveyors. The nine representatives selected for this week’s event range from longtime festival favoriteVaucresson Sausage Co. to market vendor Hot Tamale Mama to the food truckEmpanada Intifada.

  The Vendy Awards take place in the French Market (1008 N. Peters St., 504-522-2621; www.frenchmarket.org) from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. Vendors serve their signature items, and a panel of judges will name a winner, and attendees can vote for the People’s Choice award. Tickets range from $36 at the all-inclusive level to $6 for basic admission. Find tickets and details at www.vendysnola.eventbrite.com.

http://www.bestofneworleans.com/gambit/vendy-awards-at-the-french-market/Content?oid=2162302

La Cocinita will be one of the competitors at the New Orleans Vendy Awards. (Photo by Zack Smith)

Who will be crowned king of the street? Since 2005, the Vendy Awards have presented a coveted cup to New York’s top street food vendor. Two years ago, the competition expanded to Los Angeles and Philadelphia. And on Wednesday, March 13, New Orleans gets its own Vendy Awards.

Nine finalists will put their best plates forward. The competitors range from fashionable trucks, like Taceaux Loceaux with its “nolamex” fare and Empanada Intifada, to stalwarts of festivals and second lines, such as Vaucresson’s Sausage Company and Ms. Linda’s Soul Food Catering.

The Vendy Awards benefit Slow Food NOLA and the New Orleans Food Truck Coalition. The competition is run by the Street Vendor Project at the Urban Justice Center.

“New Orleans is one of the cities that has the most vibrant street culture,” said Helena Tubis, managing director of the Vendy Awards. “It also has a lot of diversity on the street.”

Dannielle Judie of NOLA Girl Food Truck & Catering takes an order during the Central City Food Truck Fest in the 2000 block of Oretha Castle Haley Blvd. Several local food trucks provided dinner as a brass band provided music during the gathering hosted by Councimember-at-large Stacy Head and the Good Work Network in a show of support for the local food trucks. Shot on Thursday, October 11, 2012. (Photo by Michael DeMocker, NOLA.com / The Times-Picayune)

Tubis said that, if all goes well, this will be the first annual New Orleans Vendy Awards. Hosting the awards is a way for the organization to learn how they can help local street vendors. In New York, for example, the Street Vendor Project recently worked to decrease the fines on vendors, who in that city on average earn only $18,000 a year.

“We are working on building a national coalition of street vendors,” Tubis said. She noted that many older cities like New Orleans have what she called “antiquated” laws that severely restrict street food. “We like being in places where it’s hard and there is work to be done in supporting the vendors.”

The New Orleans Vendy Awards are part of the Brooklyn Brewery Mash, a 6-day series of dinners, tastings and dance parties sponsored by New York’s Brooklyn Brewery.

The New Orleans Vendy Awards will be held at the French Market (1008 N. Peters St.) from 7–10 p.m. General admission tickets are $24, which include a sample from each vendor and three Brooklyn Beers. Premium tickets, which cost $36, include unlimited beer. General admission and premium ticket holders can vote for a People’s Taste award winner. A $6 “pay as you go” ticket is also available, which only covers admission and one beer or water. With that lower priced ticket, all food must be purchased individually. For more information, visit streetvendor.org/vendys.

http://www.nola.com/dining/index.ssf/2013/03/vendy_awards_to_honor_new_orle.html