father, her mother and her two sisters.
Her father would play soccer in the fields
there, and the family would watch.
“It was a family event,” she says.
“We’d watch the games, have lunch.”
Back then, she says, there were only little
hand-pushed carts, and the only type
of food they offered was Guatemalan—
steaks, mostly.
The city cracked down on those, and
required permits and visits from the
health department for the ones who
returned. And that, for Marie and Alan,
signaled the beginning of a big change.
These days, the family comes from their
home on Staten Island every couple of
Vendy Awards. “But over the past few
years, a broader number of people have
been moving into street food. We’re
starting to see this more refined cooking
and people are starting to see the same
food you get in restaurants, and with
the same people cooking it—but it’s
fresher and it’s cooked right in front of
you.”
Among the first of these standout
carts was Hallo Berlin, says Zach Brooks,
the founder of Midtown Lunch, a blog
about where to eat in Midtown Manhat-
tan. Hallo Berlin sells German sausages
and schnitzel, and it won one of the first
Vendy Awards. Today, you can find its
people feel comfortable eating food on
the street.”
There has always been that barrier
everywhere, not just in New York. People
worry that food from the street might
make them sick. “Don’t drink the water!”
they’ll say. “Don’t eat on the street!”
“People were scared that it’s dirty
or not as safe,” says Brooks. “And as
more blogs started to write about it,
[they] made people feel comfortable
they weren’t going to be sick eating
this food.”
People began to patronize the old-
school trucks more, just as more high-
end trucks hit the New York streets, too.
Red Hook, Brooklyn, boasts a thriving food truck scene.
weeks. He can play soccer in the leagues
that meet at the park, and the family
watches, and has lunch. But of course
today, they choose from among foods
from all those different nationalities.
“The neighborhood has changed,”
she says. “It’s up and coming—and it’s a
completely different group.”
And that seems to be the way for food
vendors citywide. The street food revo-
lution is changing not only the food, but
also the faces of those who are selling it.
Will Social Network for Food
“People have always been hot dog vendors, or they’ve sold Halal chicken and
rice, or pretzels,” says Kantrowitz of the
big, juicy knockwurst and fried cutlets
on crusty bread in four locations, including one cart and three restaurants. ( Two
in Manhattan; one in Conklin, N. Y.)
Other fancy trucks followed. Chef
Adam Perry Lang, who had cooked at
Le Cirque, Chanterelle and Restaurant Daniel, opened a cart called Daisy
May’s BBQ. It sold pulled pork and
chili, and got a lot of press—from old
media and new.
“As street food started to become
more popular, the biggest thing that
started to help was the food blogs,” says
Brooks. “Big newspapers and magazines
would occasionally cover them, but I
think the food blogs started to make
Among the first of the new breed were
the Treats Truck, which sells cookies,
brownies and other sweets, and Wafels
& Dinges, which sells waffles and dinges
(dinges is slang for toppings).
