Culinary Pros Keep on Truckin'

They are everywhere.  They're on your street corner.  They come back to your office at lunchtime.  They're on the news, in the paper, on talk shows, on your favorite food blog, and they even have their own awards ceremony.   They are the gourmet food vending trucks of New York City.

In the past year, it seems as if the streets of NYC have exploded with brightly colored trucks, adorned with a gourmet menu, and a permanent line of impatient and hungry New York customers. Many of us are wondering who these trucks are and why are they so popular?

The food vendors of NYC have come a long way from the lowly "dirty water hotdog" stands.  Culinary professionals have left the kitchen of high-end (and high priced) restaurants and hit the streets.  For some NYC restaurant cooks, it was a response to the harsh economy; others just wanted to get in on the action.  Either way, NYC has given birth to a new breed: the gourmet food vendors.  No longer do they serve high-end foodie diners.  They now feed the average NYC pedestrian.  They merge basic street food rules, of serving cheap and easy-to-eat street food, with a professional mentality to put forth the best food possible.  

The diversity of these trucks was displayed September 26^th at the 5th annual Vendy Awards. The event was initiated five years ago as a fundraiser to support the Street Vendor Project (a nonprofit organization that represents all food and merchandise vendors of NYC).  This year, the tickets to the event sold out online for the first time (at $80 a piece).  It was aired on Good Morning America, NBC news and the BBC, and had an esteemed panel of celebrity judges, including Jacques Torres.

I made a rookie mistake when visiting the food truck dubbed the 2009 Rookie Vendy Award winner.  When I arrived to the scene on Madison Avenue there were mobs of businessmen and women, and on every street corner, standard, monotone, greasy food vendors were stationed.  When I looked to the corner that Schnitzel and Things should be on, I saw a colorful truck much more lively than the others.  The only way to locate the truck is to follow them on Twitter or Facebook, which noted they would be there from 11:30-2:30.  I was greeted by one of the owners, Oleg, who informed me that the truck just closed.  He warned me that I should arrive no later than 11:00am. Their truck provides three varieties of schnitzel: chicken, pork and cod, or a schnitzel burger (their newest addition) with a choice of two side dishes.  The FCI culinary grad, who lived in Austria for one year, takes pride in his product: "We make everything that day and use the freshest ingredients, which I think people really appreciate."  They make everything on the truck immediately before lunch service, which only gives them so much room.  When the food runs out, you are schnitzel out of luck.

Oleg regrettably yet proudly informed me that I would not be able to catch them at their normal spot on Wall Street the next day.  They would be shooting a national commercial with T-Mobile.  "It's crazy," he said, "When I opened the truck I could never have imagined being asked to do a commercial.  I can't believe it."  

Other successful gourmet food vending trucks include chef Mohammed Rahman’s (previously of the Russian Tea Room) Kwik Meal cart, which boasts the best falafels in town. Jerome Chang’s (former pastry sous chef from Le Cirque) Dessert Truck promises gourmet desserts such as Warm Chocolate Bread Pudding and Vanilla Crème Brule.  The Big Gay Ice Cream Truck has the most inventive soft serve ice cream toppings such as curried coconut, wasabi pea dust, Trix cereal, sea salt and extra virgin olive oil.  The Van Leeuween Artisan Ice Cream Truck offers a product made from the freshest, local organic ingredients.  As you can see, these are not the Mr. Softee ice cream trucks we grew up with.

With a fresh new idea, gourmet standards, a (hard to come by) street permit and a truck, you are on your way to joining this trendy group of street food revolutionaries.  They are exploring new avenues in the food industry and they’ve only just begun their journey.