I shouldn’t complain because I didn’t have to prep enough schnitzels to feed a thousand people on Friday till midnight nor did I have to stand all day serving hungry people. Hungry people are the scariest. My day started with waking up every hour on the hour, it happens when I’m nervous about waking up on time, until 5:45am. I did my usual morning routine, which included spacing out for 30mins before actually getting out of bed. I met up with Oleg in front of his apt, we’re neighbors, and we hopped into his car along with his wife and his mom. It was s short drive to the truck depot. I have heard a lot about this mysterious truck depot but never seen it before. NYC Cravings and Wafels & Dinges park their trucks there also. As Oleg was filling up the 2 generators, his wife told me this is the non-glamorous side of food trucking. It’ll definitely suck when winter comes. After prepping the truck we were off to their kitchen in Red Hook for the supplies.

It was around 7:15am when we got to Red Hook. Oleg told me they share the kitchen space with the DUB Pies people. Pablo, Schnitzel & Things kitchen helper, was already in the kitchen doing the last minute work. Pablo is fun. A man of few words but totally bad ass. We, yes I helped, loaded the truck with trays and trays and trays of chicken, pork and eggplant, oil, utensils, cutting board…etc. By 8am we were hitting the BQE on our way to Flushing Meadows. Note: watch out for the sliding cutting board. It was scary to go under overpasses, none of us weren’t sure if the truck was low enough. We made couple wrong turns but by 8:20am we made it. Not quite made it since we were stuck in a tiny parking lot and Oleg and Jared had to figure out how in the world do we get to the other side. Eventually we found our way, thanks for putting signs up Vendy! We saw NYC Cravings as lost as we were and Cupcake Stop had to come over to ask us for directions. At 8:30am we were parked and the first to arrive. Okay and the event did’t start till 2pm. There was a lot of standing and walking around. By 9:30am most of the trucks had arrived and parked in their spot. The Country Boys were couple hours late and the Jamaican Dutchy Boys pulled in at around 1:30pm.


What do you do for 4 hours of free time? The Vendy volunteers were busy setting things up with their awesome Vendy aprons. Oleg and I tried to score couple free ones but that failed. Top Chef Masters, Anita Lo, showed up at her Rickshaw Dumplings truck as well. NYC Cravings kids, I say kids because they’re all 22-23 year olds, hung out with the Schnitzel crew. At one point they even got into the Schnitzel truck and teased them for having a small window. I was finally able to pay back Doug Quint from the Big Gay Ice Cream truck his $4. I still needed change though because I only had a $5 bill which cracked him up. There was a lot of smiles and chatting among the truckers which was good! At one point Oleg emerged from the Cupcake Stop truck with a box of cupcakes and made a quick stop at Wafels & Dinges for a wafel. Oleg wanted ice cream from Doug and Doug wanted schnitzel from Oleg. It was just fun to watch all of them shared food with each other.

Around 1:15pm all of the food vendors got busy preparing their food. That was also when people from Rickshaw Dumplings passed out samples to all of the food vendors. That was super nice of them. Before 2pm it was food for press and volunteers. All 3 dessert trucks were the first to start serving their food.

Though the Big Gay Ice Cream truck was only giving them out to kids, the NYC Cravings crew and I tried to get some ice cream but we weren’t young enough. Back at the Schnitzel table, they brought a bouquet of sunflowers to decorate the table and nice looking ceramic bowls to hold the sides. They received a lot of compliments about their table setting and how beautiful the sides looked. A crowd started to form in front of us, patiently waiting to get their schnitzel on. They also did the wave and it was funny to see a lady from the wafel truck first in line for schnitzel and 2 of the Cupcake Stop guys in line as well. Just before 2pm, Stan, from the Vendy Benefit Commitee, stopped at each truck to tell them its not just about their food but also their personalities.

Then 2pm came and the flood of hungry people came rushing in. Throughout the whole event there was a constant line at the Schnitzel truck but amazingly they kept it going pretty damn well. The frying of schnitzel didn’t stop. There were couple times when they ran out of eggplant but the people only had to wait a minute or 2. I overheard a lot of people praising the schnitzel, even Anita Lo. I helped a bit by replenishing the paper towels. Good job guys!

It was a different story for the Country Boys and later for the Big Gay Ice Cream truck. The Big Gay Ice Cream probably won for having the longest ass line. Howard was smart enough to try the sweets first than savory but he did go back for a 2nd time for the Thanksgiving sundae.

For the rest of the day we pretty much stood in line, walked around, ate, stood in line, ate and drank. What was also cool was finally meeting Robyn Lee, who I’ve kind of known for a while thru a mutual friend but never in person, Erin Zimmer, and Ed Levine from Serious Eats and Dan Delaney from Vendr TV. I was kind of nervous, they’re celebrities in the food blogging world! Hello I shared ice cream with Ed! What!

Overall it was a pretty damn fun day. Met many great people and ate some damn good food. And congrads to my boys at Schnitzel & Things for winning Rookie Of The Year.

Now I end this entry with some food photos. Of course.

Check out the rest of my photos with this flashy slideshow. Ooooooo

After Donny and I completed our Food Truck Odyssey, he suggested that we attend the Vendy Awards, the annual event celebrating street vendors and the food they serve. I said I didn’t want to go; it was too expensive to attend, and I could get food from the trucks/carts any time I wanted. Then, about a week before the Vendys, Donny told me he’d be going as the photographer for Schnitzel & Things, nominee in the new Rookie-of-the-Year category. He asked me again if I wanted to go, and this time I relented. I’m glad that I did.

The Vendys were held in front of the Queens Museum of Art, in the shadow of the old World’s Fair globe. There were over 1000 attendees this year, and 11 finalists with food for all of us. I had a lot of fun, and we met a lot of our fellow bloggers, including Dan Delaney form Vendr.tv and Ed Levine, Erin Zimmer, and Robyn Lee from the Serious Eats crew. We also spotted Anita Lo, Pichet Ong, Zach Brooks, and Jacques Torres. There was even a performance by the Rude Mechanical Orchestra, a sort of alternative marching band.

We got to participate in the voting, and the audience chose Wafels & Dinges as best dessert truck, Schnitzel & Things as Rookie-of-the-Year, and the Biryani Cart as the People’s Choice. The judges chose Red Hook’s own Martinez Country Boys cart as the overall winner, which was a nice surprise — a lot of attention has been given to the new, flashy trucks opening this year, so it was great to see some veterans getting their due. I didn’t eat at every truck (some of them didn’t have vegetarian options), but below you can find my impressions of the food I did eat.

Schnitzel & Things

The sides were all fresh tasting, the eggplant good and crispy. It was a hard decision to make, but I think this was my favorite savory truck of the day. The pesto mayonnaise was a nice touch.

King of Falafel

Really good falafel, and to my delight they even put pickled vegetables into the sandwich. Not many places do this. Plus, they brought belly dancers!

Big Gay Ice Cream Truck

This had no line at the beginning of the awards, and then it turned into the longest line. I’m partly to blame — I went twice. I make no secret about it, the Big Gay Ice Cream Truck is my favorite of the trucks. The ingredients are part of it, but mostly it’s because Doug and Bryan have so much fun with it. I had the wasabi pea topping on my first visit, which was nice and sharp but not overpowering. On my second stop I got the Gobbler, aka the Thanksgiving sundae. Topped with graham cracker crumbles, pumpkin butter, whipped cream, and dried cranberries, it was amazing. The cranberries were what made this something special; it tasted like when everything on your Thanksgiving plate gets mixed together a little bit.

Cupcake Stop

They were quite stingy with the cupcakes at first, not wanting to run out, but later they had people wandering the grounds giving them away. I had the key lime flavor, which had a surprise filling of key lime goop in the center. Really sweet, but quite good.

Biryani Cart

The vegetarian biryani was excellent, the rice was soft and fragrant and really well seasoned. I made a mistake and ate a whole chile pepper, and it made my eyes water. The white sauce and the vinegary hot sauce matched really well with the rice.

NYC Cravings

I’d heard a lot about this Chinese food truck, but never eaten there. The only vegetarian item they had was a vegan dumpling, which was disappointing. The dumpling skin was too thick and the filling was not my cup of tea. I heard good things about the pork gravy and the other meat products

Jamaican Dutchy

No vegetarian entree options, but I got a piece of bread pudding. It was ok, very dense and very chewy.

Rickshaw Dumplings

Donny said he preferred the Cravings dumplings to these, but I liked the Rickshaw ones better. Not that they were the best dumplings I’ve ever eaten, but they had much better flavor. The cold noodles along side weren’t so good.

All in all, it was a really fun day. Not worth the $80 admission, despite the free beer, but fun nonetheless. As always, meeting new people and talking to all of the vendors was the best part of the day; the fact that there was good food was just icing on the cake.

TA DA! Here’s the glorious list I have came up with. I divided the trucks into savory food and sweets. I included links to their official website (if they have one), their Twitter account and/or Yelp. I did my best to list out their schedules and spots but I recommend checking their sites or Twitter for the up-to-date locations. Sometimes they can’t find parking or its raining or its raining but still decide to go out. At the bottom I have included a time chart….yes a time chart. Makes it easier to see when they are open and close hence easier to plan our trip on Saturday. I also made a map marking the location of each truck. *Note, the time chart and map are for Saturdays only.
I feel like I’m cheating because on Saturday, The Treats Truck, Le Gamin, Green Pirate Juice Truck, Wafels and Dinges, Rickshaw Dumplings and Van Leeuwen Ice Cream are all parked near Grand Army Plaza!! Not much of an adventure.

Food
Cravings Truck Twitter
Serves Chinese style chicken thigh over rice and dumplings.
Check twitter (Schedule says they’re off on Saturdays but last Saturday they were at Carmine and Bleecker)
Usually around lunch hours

El Diablo Taco Truck
Union Pool (484 Union Ave) in Williamsburg
Monday thru Thursday 7pm – 3:30am
Friday 5pm – 3:30am
Saturday & Sunday 1pm – 3:30am

El Rey Del Taco Truck Yelp
8pm – on
3301 30th Ave in Astoria

Endless Summer Yelp
Tacos
N. 6th and Bedfod

Le Gamin Truck Twitter
Sandwiches and quiche
Weekdays – 25th St between 10th and 11th Ave
Saturdays – Grand Army Plaza Farmer’s Market
Sundays – location varies depending on events in the city
Tweeted at 9:30am on Saturday at Grand Army Plaza

Rickshaw Dumplings Twitter
Weekdays 11 – 3
Weeknights check Twitter
Monday – Washington St & Front St in Dumbo
Tuesday – 52nd St & Lexington in Midtown
Wednesday – Check Twitter
Thursday – Coenties Alley in Financial District
Friday – 45th St & 6th Ave in Midtown
Weekends 11 – 7
Saturday – 7th Ave in Park Slope (Maybe around Carroll St)
Sunday – W. 75th St & Broadway

Super Taco Truck Yelp
Noon to 2am W. 96th St and Broadway

Tacos El Angelo
Tacos
Christopher and 7th
Couldn’t find much info about this truck at all.

Vinny Vincenz Pizza
No set place nor time but have been spotted in South Street Seaport and Union Square

Sweets
The Big Gay Ice Cream Truck Twitter

Cupcake Stop Twitter
Weekday 10am – 5pm
5th Ave between 13th and 14th St (Check Twitter for the exact location)
Weeknight 6pm – 10pm
23rd St between 7th and 8th Ave (Check Twitter for the exact location)
Recent tweets said they’re at 23rd St as early as 8:30am so check their Twitter

The Dessert Truck Twitter
Monday thru Friday 12pm – 3pm
E. 55th St just off the NE corner at Lexington
Monday thru Sunday 6pm – Midnight
St Mark’s Place and 3rd Ave

Green Pirate Juice Truck
Saturdays 8:30am – 5pm Grand Army Plaza Farmer’s Market

Street Sweets Twitter
Check Twitter (Last Saturday they were at Central Park West in the 70′s)

Treats Truck Twitter
Sauturday 11am – 1pm on Union St near Grand Army Plaza Farmer’s Market

Van Leeuwen Ice Cream Twitter
Check Twitter
They have 3 trucks one in the Meatpacking District, one in SoHo and one in Brooklyn mostly in Park Slope.

Wafels and Dinges Truck Twitter
Monday & Tuesday
8am – 4pm call or check their Twitter
4pm – 10pm at Trader Joe’s on 14th St
Wednesday
8am – 4pm 52nd St between 6th and 7th Ave
4pm – 10pm North-East corner of Broadway and Houston
Thursday
8am – 4pm 45th St and 6th Ave
4pm – 10pm North-East corner of Broadway and Houston
Friday
8am – 2pm Park Ave and 27th St
5pm – 10pm North-East corner of Broadway and Houston
Saturday & Sunday
9am – 5pm 7th Ave and Carroll St in Park Slope
5pm – 10pm usually at Trader Joe’s when they don’t have a private party, check their Twitter

View Food and Sweet Trucks in a larger map

In May of 2008 Cyclone Nargis hit Myanmar, killing over 100,000 people and causing massive destruction; it was the worst natural disaster in the history of the country. Here in the United States some Burmese immigrants created a charitable foundation, the Moegyo Humanitarian Foundation, to raise money for the victims, and in June of that year they organized a food bazaar as a fundraiser. The need for money is still great, so they had the second annual food bazaar on June 13th of this year. So while most New Yorkers were out at the Big Apple BBQ Block Party last Saturday, I made my way up to a school in Queens for Burmese food and a great cause.

The event was free, but in order to eat you needed to purchase tickets at a dollar each and redeemt hem for food. I arrived about half of an hour after the event started and already the school’s cafeteria was filling up. I got $10 in tickets and headed to the tables.

It was a warm day and the first thing I had was a refreshing bowl of yangon faluda. What is that? I’ll tell you what I can: start with a bowl with a few cubes of egg custard, then pour in a cold, slightly sweet pink fruity soup chock full of jelly cubes and pearls, plus a fruit that may have been lychee, top with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. Surprising and delicious. Then it was on to more hearty fare.

Apparently the Burmese often make their tofu with a yellow pea variety, hence the bright yellow color. The texture was also different than soy-based tofu, these had more of a granulated texture. Topped with vinegar sauce, fried shallots, shredded lime leaves, and (at my request) a pinch of spicy dried chiles. This was a bit strange at first, but the more I ate the more I loved it.

Good but not great were the vegetarian spring rolls. A warm filling of cabbage, carrots, and tofu surrounded by a fresh (not fried) wrapper. They were served with some lettuce and fresh scallions, so I ate them Vietnamese-style wrapped in lettuce, dipped in the sweet dipping sauce.

I was pretty full by this point, but then I noticed a sign that read “Grass Jelly Juice” and I knew I couldn’t leave without trying it. I asked the people serving it up what, exactly, grass jelly was. “Ummmm…” was the first answer. “I think it’s made with some kind of grass…” “It tastes kinda like licorice. It’s jelly.” And so on. I decided to just try for myself. I thought it tasted kind of like flat Coke, in a good way. There were tiny cubes of some kind of jelly floating through it, reminding me a bit of bubble tea. The jelly didn’t have much taste at all beyond a hint of citrus.

As I was savoring the drink I was approached by one of the event’s volunteer organizers, Htu Aung, and this turned out to be the highlight of my day. He was interested to know how I found out about the event (I saw it advertised on Eating in Translation, an excellent food blog). It turns out that they didn’t do much advertising for the event this year, because they weren’t sure until the last minute that they were actually going to hold the event — the threat of swine flu almost cancelled it. The were expecting fewer people than the 300 that showed up last year, but they were thinking about making this a yearly thing and wanted ideas about how to get more press (I’m doing my best right here!). All of the workers at the event were volunteered, and all of the food was donated. The food was, by Htu’s estimation, 95% authentic Burmese — that final 5% being held back because the grass jelly juice can be found in Thailand and China, not just Myanmar. They were having the event at PS 150 in Sunnyside because it was a big Burmese neighborhood, and most of the Burmese immigrants have family back in Myanmar. We ended up chatting for about 10 minutes, and he couldn’t have been friendlier.

On the site they are now saying they collected about $8700 for the foundation, which is wonderful (even if you didn’t attend, you can donate money if you’d like). I hope that the success of this year’s food bazaar means that they definitely make this an annual tradition. Maybe I’ll see you there next year.