LA Street Food Fest 2: July 24
It's coming up soon - the second installment of the LA Street Food Fest. For round number 2, the Fest has moved from LA Center Studios to the Rose Bowl. This time, the good eats won't be marred by long lines and sold-out noms - there are only a few thousand presale tickets available, you can only purchase them online, and one price gets you all you can eat, rather than your having to wait - and then pay - at the trucks and carts once you get in. The event's also in the evening (from 5:30 to 9 PM), so there's less chance of frying in the hot sun, as queuers and eaters did at the last LA Street Food Fest in February. While you eat, you can watch a concert, vote in the Vendys-style cook-off, and hang out in the beer garden. Ooh, and the entry price includes free parking, a boon at any festival-type event.
Food truck-wise, all your favorites will be there: here's the complete list. Top three trucks I'm most excited about hitting: The Manila Machine, to try their lumpia (Filipino egg rolls); the Fox Pizza Bus, to get some wood-fired pie from a double-decker; and The Mighty Boba Truck, because I'm always up for some milk tea. Top three trucks I already love and will be hitting at the Fest: the Gastrobus, for their awesome daily specials like the plum juice they had recently; Louks, whose pitas I just cannot praise highly enough; and Coolhaus, because even though their free-ice-cream-sandwich days appear to be over for now, I will gladly pay full price for their balsamic fig and mascarpone ice cream.
Visit the LA Street Food Fest website for more information.
The Vendy Awards this Saturday 5/15
Photo by Oliver Seldman
This Saturday, May 15, the Vendy Awards will be held in MacArthur Park. Six finalists will battle for the title of Best Street Food Vendor in LA. The finalists are: India Jones Chow Truck, Hot Dog Kings, Bigmista's BBQ, Nina's Foods, Grilled Cheese Truck, and Tacos el Galuzo.
Tickets are $50, which at first might seem a bit steep, but once you pay, you eat and drink for free. You're also helping raise money to protect vendors' rights - and your ticket's tax deductible. LA Street Food Fest is also offering a $5 discount if you buy your tickets today (5/11) or tomorrow (5/12): buy these discounted tickets using the code "tacotruck" online here for $45. This discount code is only valid from Tuesday 5/11 to Wednesday 5/12 at midnight PST.
Find out more about the Vendys at the official site.
Cart for a Cause
Photo by Oliver Seldman
Cart for a Cause has been hitting the streets of LA every Tuesday lunchtime since March 23. Each week, a different celebrity chef mans the truck and prepares a gourmet meal for $10 a plate. 100% of the net proceeds go to St. Vincent Meals on Wheels, a program which feeds the homebound elderly. It's a one-for-three deal: every lunch sold at Cart for a Cause equals three square meals for one senior citizen.
Photo by Oliver Seldman
We visited Cart for a Cause on April 6 at the Pacific Design Center, when chef Dong Choi of West Hollywood's Comme Ça restaurant was manning the stove. He offered two menu options: Le French Dip and Quiche Lorraine. For $10, you got an entree, a drink (Pom Wonderful is one of CFAC's sponsors, and was offering a range of teas and coffee drinks; Fiji Water is another sponsor), a bag of Everybody's Nuts California pistachios, and a cookie.
Photo by Oliver Seldman
The French dip sandwich was a delicious shiny-topped roll filled with melt-in-your-mouth rare roast beef. It came with gravy for dipping. The Quiche Lorraine had big, chunky cubes of ham suspended in the egg custard: it looked beautiful, but the ham had a touch too much fat on it for me. The quiche's crust was divine - I could have eaten it all day.
I have to say, I was kind of disappointed with the cookies, and coming from me, that's a harsh criticism. I will eat and enjoy almost anything with sugar in it. Hostess Ding Dongs or Pierre Hermé macarons, they're all going in my mouth. I got an oatmeal raisin and a chocolate-chocolate-chip cookie at CFAC, and they were both a bit too crumbly and dry.
CFAC will be out and about until the fall. Chefs often volunteer with the truck more than once: Comme Ça has served lunch twice so far. Past chefs have included Eric Greenspan of the Foundry; Vinny Dotolo and Jon Shook from Animal; and Alex Becker from Nobu West Hollywood. Check CFAC's Twitter feed and Facebook page every Tuesday to see who's on board and where the truck's going to park.
Photo by Oliver Seldman
Dainty Cakes and Crepe’n Around at Pet Adoption Event Sat 4/10
This Saturday, April 10, from 11AM to 3:30PM, Much Love Animal Rescue will be holding a pet adoption event at Route 66 Riders in Marina del Rey. Two food trucks will be there: Dainty Cakes and Crepe'n Around. There'll also be a pet photographer and an ask-the-vet table with Dr. Heard from VCA Petville animal hospital in Venice. Come get a crepe and a cupcake, and give Boss Hogg, Melon, Currant, Ketchup or many more adorable dogs a forever home.
Find more information here.
New Truck Watch: 3/27
Photo by Oliver Seldman
Just Rolled Out
Nana Queen's Puddin' and Wings, out and about for only the 12th time today, does a mean butterscotch banana pudding. I know; I ate it on Friday.
Canter's Deli hit the streets with its new food truck on March 19.
Chef Brian's Comfort Truck (whose wares I am sampling as I write this post!) marks its eighth day on the road today.
Cart for a Cause is a food truck helmed by a different celebrity chef each Tuesday. Each meal combo costs $10, and proceeds benefit St. Vincent Meals On Wheels. It took its maiden voyage on March 23 with Nobu Matsuhisa at the burners. It hasn't yet been announced who's on the truck tomorrow: check CFAC's Twitter and Facebook pages for news as it breaks.
I mistakenly thought The Greasy Wiener was the new Canter's truck, but it turns out the Wiener stands alone. It launched on March 13.
On The Way
There's a second Dim Sum Truck on the way in one to two months, this one featuring exotic dumpling fillings.
Papa's Tapas truck doesn't have a rollout date just yet, but keep an eye on its Twitter feed for more info. I'm hoping there's some bacalao on the menu.
Derb's Gourmet's last tweet was on Jan 1, and it still shows no signs of rolling out. I shot them a tweet to see what's up. I'll let you know what I find out.
Louks was going to have a second truck by now, but its original one crapped out, so now its new second truck has become its first and only truck. It's currently having another one custom-built, and will soon be a two-truck operation.
Photo by Oliver Seldman
This weekend: Food Truck Block Party at Silverlake Art* Craft and Vintage Market
This weekend (February 27th and 28th), the Silverlake Art* Craft and Vintage Market is hosting its first monthly Food Truck Block Party. The market is held at Micheltorena Elementary School on the last Saturday and Sunday of every month from 10 AM to 4 PM. Barring rain, the lineup is as follows. The trucks will be arriving at the listed times and staying until around 4 PM.
Saturday, February 27th:
Slice Truck - 10:30
King Kone - 11:30
Grill 'Em All - 11:30
Willoughby Road - 11:00
Tasty Meat - 11:45
Don Chow Tacos - time TBA
Sunday, February 28th:
Yum Yum Bowls - 9:30
Buttermilk Truck - 10:00 (leaving 1:30 - being replaced by Asian Soul Kitchen)
Phamish - 10:00
Louks To Go - 11:00
LA BBQ Guy - 11:15
Del's - 12:00
Silverlake Art* Craft and Vintage is at 1511 Micheltorena St. (at Sunset Blvd), Los Angeles, CA 90026. For more information, visit silverlakeartcraftvintage.com.
TastyMeat! vs. Councilmember Paul Koretz
A local news article has reignited the debate as to whether food trucks are stealing business from brick-and-mortar restaurants - and now an LA City Councilmember has entered the fray. This article, in the Park La Brea News/Beverly Press, covered the ongoing restaurants-vs.-trucks battle on Miracle Mile. Los Angeles City Councilmember Paul Koretz, 5th District, was interviewed for the piece. He called the trucks "a nuisance," and said they posed "unfair competition" to Mid-Wilshire restaurants in "stationary, permitted locations." He went on to suggest that food trucks should stick to serving construction sites where workers don't have easy access to other food, and "that should be their only place in the city."
Now Maxson Smith, the owner and proprietor of the TastyMeat! truck, is firing back at Koretz in an open letter on the Santa Monica Food Truck Lot site. "Do you feel the notion of free and unrestricted trade [should] apply only to business owners in stationary locations?" he asks Koretz. "I am governed by the same Health Department rules and regulations as any other restaurant in Los Angeles county, and am fully permitted and allowed by state and local law to operate in the manner you feel has “no place” in my city."
Santa Monica Food Truck Lot (on Twitter here) and the SoCal Mobile Food Vendors Association (on Twitter here) have tweeted the link to Smith's letter, and are asking that their Twitter followers retweet it. They also suggest that food truck supporters email Koretz at paul.koretz@lacity.org.
Ludo Lefebvre Fried Chicken Truck at LA Street Food Fest
Chef Ludo Lefebvre, mastermind of traveling LA restaurant event LudoBites, is bringing his own food truck to the LA Street Food Fest on February 13. He'll be making one dish: his fried chicken, in bite-size servings. This is a very interesting incarnation of LudoBites. It has all Ludo's usual ingredients - small plates, small kitchen, pop-up location - plus the hottest accessory for a chef right now: a truck. Unlike most LudoBites events, though, the LudoTruck will be around for one day only.
Via LA Times: New Downtown Food Truck Lot
The Los Angeles Times is reporting that next Thursday, February 11, a new food truck lot will open in downtown LA, at Alameda and Traction Streets. It'll feature three or four trucks a day and plenty of parking for nomming visitors. It's opening on the same day that the next installment of Downtown Art Walk is taking place. Matt Geller, vice-president of SoCal Mobile Food Vendors Association, is running the lot: he was also behind the Santa Monica food lot. According to Geller, the LAPD and local businesses are on board, which gives this lot a good chance of staying open. Hope so.
Mandoline Grill Launch Party on 2/6
I'm already having trouble deciding whether I like Phamish's or Nom Nom's banh mi best: now it looks as if another contender will join the battle of the mobile baguette sandwiches. Mandoline Grill is a brand new truck that specializes in Vietnamese classics like banh mi and bun (vermicelli noodle bowls), and has several vegan menu items, such as cha gio (crispy spring rolls). Mandoline Grill is having a launch party at Verdugo Bar in Glassell Park this Saturday, February 6, from 1 PM to 8 PM. There'll be an open bar, DJs, giveaways and, of course, food.