May 22, 2013

Kim Rivers

EAT Club Goes Mobile, Bringing A Food Truck With Mobile Ordering And …

Food trucks aren’t exactly new, but most only have one specific type of cuisine — even if that cuisine just happens to be all the latest rage in molecular-gastro Indian-Irish fusion. Not only that, but you’re often stuck waiting in a long line to order and pay, then waiting some more for your food to be ready.

EAT Club, which is launching in private beta today, has a unique spin on the way that users get lunch. The service hopes to get rid of all the hassles around waiting in line, paying, and waiting for your food, all with a convenient food truck that serves a variety of foods, and a mobile app to handle ordering and payment.

Over the last few years, EAT Club has served lunchers on the Peninsula with a variety of different food choices, but now it has made its was up to San Francisco, where it will serve startup kids and other hungry office workers. And it’s coming here with a food truck specially designed to provide eaters with a variety of awesome food choices.

EAT Club’s food truck will have a variety of dishes from multiple restaurants available all in the same truck, giving customers a selection of cuisines to choose from. Charter restaurants participating include Bar Tartine, Nopalito, City Smoke House BBQ, and Onigilly, among others. Altogether, EAT Club has more than 30 restaurants signed up so far, and will have options from at least three available on any given day.

How did EAT Club get those restaurants on board? Partly through the food truck itself, which is designed to provide the best experience for customers. A gutted-out old school bus, the EAT Club truck has been renovated with mobile ovens for hot foods and refrigerating units for cold foods. The end result is that all dishes are loaded into the truck right from the kitchen, so that when a customer picks up his food, it’s kept at the desired temperature.

So the food is great, but what about the service? EAT Club handles that with a mobile app that allows you to choose among a bunch of different food options. It provides you with details about why the dishes were picked — EAT Club has a food curator, natch — and more information about the restaurant.

Once you’ve found something you like, you just click to order and the app automatically charges your credit card. After that, you’re free to head down to the truck at your convenience and just pick up your food. No waiting, no fuss.

To start, EAT Club will have its food truck parked around the Financial District and SOMA neighborhoods in San Francisco, hoping to appeal to office workers downtown who don’t have lunch provided to them every day. The app is available now in private beta, as the company tries to measure demand and make sure that it’s got the right amount of food ready for new users.

EAT CLUB

EAT Club is a food technology company that’s democratizing good food. Office workers can order lunch from great local restaurants via mobile or web and get it delivered by 12:30pm. Meals start at $8.95, and there are no minimum orders or additional tips or fees. EAT Club is based in Palo Alto and currently serves most of Silicon Valley.

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2 Patna food vendors to showcase ‘litti-chokha’ in Singapore

PATNA: Two young street food vendors of the city, Ashok Sah and Vijay Chaudhary, are off to Singapore where they will showcase Bihar delicacy ‘litti-chokha’ at the World Street Food Congress (WSFC) from May 31 to June 9.

The two food vendors are in the ten-member Indian team which will participate in the event along with teams from 32 countries, including Thailand, Mexico, Philippines and the USA, are also participating.

Ashok hails from Sadrullahpur Pakhrauni under the Bisfi police station area in Madhubani district. He has been running three ‘litti-chokha’ stalls in the state capital, including one near the Biscomaun Bhavan, for the last five years. Though Vijay hails from Khuski village of Khusrupur in Patna district, he lives in Lodipur locality in the city. Vijay would be assisting Ashok at the WSFC.

“I am excited… I will be carrying with me some of the ingredients which are essential for making ‘litti-chokha’. I have put up ‘litti-chokha’ stall at Delhi Haat several times,” Ashok told TOI over phone from Madhubani on Tuesday. He said he would also be serving garlic-soaked mutton and rice to the visiting guests at the WSFC.

The maiden WSFC is being organized by the Makansutra, a Singapore-based street food promotion company, and the Singapore Tourism Board.

The other street food vendors who would be a part of the National Association of Street Vendors of India (NASVI) delegation led by Sangeeta Singh include Narayanswami of Dharwar, Bhaskar Urs of Mysore and Gulab Singh of Delhi.

“Narayanswami and Bhaskar will dish out chicken with rice. Gulab Singh will make his presence felt with his special ‘bhelpuri’. All these food vendors will be travelling to a foreign shore for the first time,” Sangeeta Singh told TOI over phone from Delhi.

The street food vendors selected by the NASVI for the Singapore event have been the top street food entrepreneurs of 2012 street food festival organized in Delhi by the NASVI. “As for the complexities of ferrying raw materials, the organizers in Singapore have made it hassle free. NASVI provided the list of ingredients and utensils and the organizers organized everything,” Singh said.

According to NASVI’s national coordinator Arbind Singh, many countries protect and promote street foods as street food enterprise contributes immensely to local economy and tourism. The concept of traditional street food has acquired new dimensions in developed countries, with food streets and food centres emerging as new tourist attractions, he said.

‘ Vendy Awards ‘ are wheeling into Sunset Park

It’s the Oscars of street food, and it’s moving to Sunset Park.

The Vendy Awards — the street-cart competition in which short-order cuisine kings are pitted against each other in a cook-off royale — will set up shop in Industry City in September.

Last year’s event drew 2,000 foodies to Governor’s Island, and organizers said they decided to bring the foodfest to Brooklyn in hopes of whetting even more healthy appetites.

“We want to find a place that had a culture of street food and also bring [eaters] to a place they never would have been before,” said Vendy managing director Helena Tubis.

“There’s a rich culture of street food in Sunset Park and the ethnic community that lives there. It’s part of our excitement.”

Early bird tickets for the all-you-can-eat food festival that’s returning to Brooklyn for the first time since 2008 will cost $85.

Regular tickets are going for $95.

Early entry tickets — which get you in the door and also let you cut the lines — are going for $145.

The food cart cook-off has become so popular that cities like Los Angeles, Philadelphia, New Orleans, Boston and Chicago are all sporting their own version of the tasting war.

The event serves as a benefit for the Street Vendor Project at the Urban Justice Center, which provides advocacy and legal services to more than 1,500 vendor members, according to its website.

Officials are accepting nominations for participants in the food fight. Visit http://streetvendor.org/vendys/nominations.

Meanwhile, past street cart operators said the invitation is an honor.

“We get a lot of people coming to Red Hook looking for us. It’s a good feeling,” said Perla Perez, part-owner of the family-run Piatzlan Authentic Mexican food truck — last year’s Vendy Cup winner out of Red Hook.

Perez — a Park Slope native who serves pork, beef and goat tacos — said bringing the food truck award show to the neighborhood makes perfect sense.

“You have Mexican, Peruvian, Colombian, Dominican food — it’s so diverse in Sunset Park,” said Perez.

Adam Sobel who runs the Cinnamon Snail food truck, has been slinging organic vegan food and pastries at the Vendy Awards for the last three years and hopes to get a spot and win the cup this year.

“It would just be really great recognition for vegan food in general,” Sobel said. “It’s an event that draws real street food enthusiasts and that’s predominantly people who like eating meat.

“If we win this, it would mean that vegan street food is just as wonderful and exciting as traditional street food.”

To buy tickets visit http://nycvendys2013.eventbrite.com/#

mmorales@nydailynews.com

Twitter.com/NYDNMarkMorales

Food vendors in Seoul, South Korea bring taste to the table – WNN

Marie Webb – WNN WorldFOOD

A street food vendor in Seoul, South Korea sells each day in the same location. Image: Marie Webb

(WNN) Seoul, KOREA, EASTERN ASIA: Everyone in Seoul knows that the historic area of Jongno is home to hundred of street food stands. Of course there is street food throughout Korea, but Jongno has the most variety from standard Korean soju tents, to doughnuts and waffles.

So what is street food? Basically street food is anything sold from a little stand on the sidewalk. Most of them are big and have wheels so that they can be moved.

They vary in size, some are large enough to have people sit down inside of a plastic-like awning, and others simply provide shelter for the cook. These stalls are pretty much mini kitchens on wheels.

Everyday on my walk to work in Jongno, I see street carts being pushed out to their designated spots on the sidewalk. Some stands are open all day, and others open later in the evening to serve the soju crowd. The best time to go street food tasting is on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday nights. On these nights every street food stand will be cooking the night away in Jongno.

Most of these stands are affordable such as 500 Korean won for doughnuts. But others such as tempura prawns can run you 5,000 won for 3 pieces. The best thing to do when hunting out street food is to start slow and work your way in a circle around the street. This way you get the chance to see everyone’s prices and can choose wisely before getting too full!

Directions to “street food heaven” in Jongno- Simply exit number 1 of Jongno 3 sam-ga and turn right at the Skin Food just past the Mc Donald’s (on your right hand side). This street will take you past numerous street food vendors and straight into Insadong.

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Food and culture blogger Marie Webb graduated from Loyola Marymount University. Currently she teaches English in Seoul, South Korea, a region and a people she has grown to love.

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2013 WNN – Women News Network
No part of this article release may be reproduced without prior permissions from WNN. We want to encourage you to send in and share your culinary traditions and recipes with us. Make sure and send us a story about your recipe. We also accept submissions from around the globe on stories that cover farming and agriculture, as well as food production and safety as well as food security.

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Kargi Gogo

Perhaps in keeping with their precarious geography,
located at the Asian-European border between Turkey and Russia,
Georgians are known both for their quick hospitality and equal speed at
giving you the knife. At Kargi Gogo, a new downtown cart serving
Georgian street food, the knife comes with a fork.

Kargi
Gogo (Georgian for “good girl”) is pure comfort fare. Case in point:
Georgia’s national dish, khachapuri ($6), is basically a grilled cheese
sandwich—a partly pickled blend of Georgian cow-milk cheeses curdy
enough to be goat, melted into toasted flatbread. It is as if the native
pungency of a farm has been distilled into bread and cream, and it is
wonderful.

The cart’s khinkali
($6) is soup, meatball and dumpling at once. The broth-filled teardrops
of dough must be bitten into and slurped from upside down before one can
safely finish the meal of bitter herbal beef and pork. (Note: Do not
wear white while eating or it will get spotted with broth.)

Meanwhile,
the garlicky badrijani ($6) is a vegan version of bacon-walnut hors
d’oeuvres. Rolled strips of eggplant fill in the savory notes, while
seeds of decadent pomegranate add a tart wallop.

The
cart’s owners are not Georgians but rather a pair of friendly Midwestern
former Peace Corps volunteers who learned to cook while partaking in
any of a number of supras, which are lengthy Georgian feasts. A “supra”
containing a bit of each item on the menu is available for $8, and it’s
the best option. Eaten individually, each item seems like a
large-portioned appetizer; served together they are, if not a feast,
certainly a lovely peace offering.

EAT: Kargi Gogo, 950 SW Washington St., 489-8432, kargigogo.com. 11:30 am-5:30 pm Monday-Friday, noon-4 pm Saturday. $.

What’s For Lunch? Egyptian Street Food At Koshari

Koshari is a Middle Eastern street food, hugely popular in Egypt and considered by some the food that powered Egypt’s revolution, when it was scoffed by the masses in Tahrir Square. Yet despite Britain’s love affair with Middle Eastern dishes such as falafel and shakshuka, it’s almost unknown in this country.

Such anonymity is likely to change, if this new cafe is anything to go by. Founded by the writer Anissa Helou, whom we interviewed earlier this year, Koshari Street on St Martin’s Lane, Covent Garden dishes out bowl after the bowl of the stuff (Atkins dieters look away now): hefty scoops of rice, lentils, vermicelli and macaroni, topped with caramelised onions, hot sauce, chickpeas and doqqa, a mixture of spices including coriander seed and peanuts. It looks and tastes great: the crunch of the onions contrasts with the softness of the chewier base, with the sauce, available in three levels of piquancy, lending it additional bite. Portions are generous; a medium-sized bowl (pictured) cost £4.50, while a larger version is £6.50, and they also serve soup and side dishes including tabbouleh.

Criticisms? There aren’t many; on our one visit service was a little slow, although that’s to be expected from a new restaurant, and it was more than made up for by the offer of a complimentary soft drink. The cafe itself, split between the preparation area on one side and a row of stools for customers on the other, is a little cramped and doesn’t reward a lengthy, sit-down meal, but for a grab-and-go lunch option it’s a great addition to the area.

Koshari Street is at 56 St Martin’s Lane, WC2N 4EA. Read our interview with the restaurant’s founder.

More lunch reviews

Disclaimer: We review anonymously and pay for all our meals/drinks.

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Bluffton adds upscale mobile food cart business to incubator

As a boy, Tony Herndon loved visits from his cousin, Joe Love, a lobsterman who entertained him with stories about fishing for the crustaceans in the cold waters of Maine and the special fishing community that relied on and respected the animal for its livelihood.

“He was a humble and great man,” Herndon said of his cousin. “He’d tell me about his father and grandfather taking him out on the boat when he was growing up, about how they would carve a ‘V’ in the fertile females to let the other lobsterman know she was a producer, about generations of families that worked the waters.”

To honor Love, who died in 1972, Herndon recently named his new food cart business in his honor: Joe Loves Lobster Rolls.

“I wanted to pay homage to him and immortalize him,” Herndon said, a New Jersey native who now lives in Savannah. He’s moving to Bluffton, where he and his teenage daughters are becoming regulars at area festivals and farmers markets, serving up their lobster rolls, the knuckles and claws of Maine lobsters served on a toasted and buttered bun.

It’s the town’s only mobile-cart food business, according to Bluffton leaders. Three other businesses applied for business licenses to sell hot dogs via carts or trailers in 2010, 2011 and 2012. But none are still in business.

The business is also the 11th business to join the town’s Don Ryan Center for Innovation, a small-business incubator that helps startup and small businesses get to the next level.

Herndon is working with the incubator to develop an app to track inventory, alter distribution and book events for restaurants with multiple locations.

“This business has the momentum to really take off,” said Marc Orlando, Bluffton’s deputy town manager and the incubator’s new, acting director. Its first director, Jordan Berliner, recently resigned to pursue other business opportunities.

“In addition to bringing the best Northeastern seafood to the coastal South, Herndon has tech ideas, which are ripe for our region’s food, tourism and hospitality industries,” Orlando added.

This week, a local advertising agency will conduct a focus group for Herndon’s new business.

“We’re working to determine what other markets to go into,” Herndon said whose long-term goal is to have both brick-and-mortar restaurants and several food carts. He also hopes to set up a end-of-life hospice center also named for his cousin.

“Our market right now is Yankees who haven’t had a lobster roll in awhile,” he teased.

And even though he’s making and selling the rolls five days per week, Herndon personally loves the rolls too.

“I had some for breakfast this morning,” he said Tuesday. “It’s such a fantastic food — sustainable and healthy. It makes me feel good about what I’m putting in my body and what I’m serving others.”

Follow reporter Gina Smith at twitter.com/GinaNSmith.

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Food Truck Stops: May 21

Happy Tuesday, food truck followers! Keep truckin’ through this week towards a holiday weekend with specials such as Swedish meatballs from Ball or Nothing, Argentine steak or tofu and charred veggie tacos aboard Cirque Cuisine, and turkey-bacon sandwiches with guacamole at Corned Beef King.

Chinatown (Seventh and G sts., NW), where you’ll find Cheesequake, and Sundevich Truck.

Farragut Square (17th and I sts., NW), where you’ll find Kabob Palace, Hula Girl, DC Greek Food, Sang on Wheels, Far East Taco Grill, Wassub, Korengy, Mighty Dog Acai, and Crepe Love; DC Slices, Kimchi BBQ Taco, Pho Wheels, NY Deli Truck, Simple on Wheels, and Chatpat Truck (nearby at 20th and L).

Franklin Square (13th and K sts., NW), where you’ll find Cajunators, Captain Cookie, Carnivore BBQ, Kushi-moto, Cathy’s Bistro, DC Ballers, Pho Nation, Red Hook Lobster, DC Empanadas, Fasika, Rito Loco, and Tokyo in the City.

L’Enfant (Sixth St. and Maryland Ave., SW), where you’ll find Cap Mac, BBQ Bus, Ball or Nothing, Far East Taco Grill, Rolling Ficelle, Curbside Cupcakes, DC Ballers, Mayur Kabob House, Mojo Truck, Tapas Truck, Sol Mexican Grill, Bite2Go, Carnivore BBQ, Ball or Nothing, and Salsa Room Empanadas.

Metro Center (12th and G sts., NW), where you’ll find Dangerously Delicious Pies, Caribbean Cafe, Peruvian Brothers, Wassub, Yellow Vendor, and Rolling Ficelle.

Montgomery County, where you’ll find Corned Beef King (Bethesda), Thatsalata, Go Fish (Gaithersburg), and Swat Mobile Gourmet (Rockville).

Navy Yard (First and M sts., SE), where you’ll find Curbside Cupcakes, Tasty Kabob, and Azn Eats.

NoMa (First and M sts., NE), where you’ll find Zesty Kabob, and Tasty Kabob.

Northern Virginia, where you’ll find Red Hook Lobster, Bratwurst King (Reston), District Taco, Chef on Wheels (Court House), Top Dog, Lemongrass Truck, Curly’s Q (Tysons), Mama’s Donut Bites, Big Cheese, Green Eggs and Burgers (Rosslyn), Mediterranean Delight, Kafta Mania (Ballston), and Ducky’s Grub (Dulles).

State Department (around 21st St. and Virginia Ave., NW), where you’ll find Crepes Parfait, Basil Thyme, Sweetbites Truck, Goode’s Mobile Kitchen, Tasty Kabob, Ooh Dat Chicken, and Lemongrass Truck.

Union Station (North Capitol St. and Massachusetts Ave., NE), where you’ll find El Fuego, BonMi, JMC Curbside, Phillies Phamous, Capital Chicken Waffles, Sol Mexican Grill, and Cirque Cuisine.

Food truck industry, mobile businesses celebrated at festival in Houston …

Prateep Phanyajaroen, owner of Big Z Thai Corner Food Truck, at Houston Food Truck Fest on May 18 at Stereo Live.

Click through the slideshow to see more images.

From escargot (L’es-Car-Go) to all-natural popsicles (The Goodie Box), chicken and waffles (The Waffle Bus) to Pad Thai (Pho-Jita Fusion), food truck fans had plenty to choose from at the Houston Food Truck Fest over the weekend at Stereo Live.

Lynn Rutherford of Cypress, who scored tickets to the fest for Mother’s Day, lunched at Big Z Thai Cuisine.

“We ate some, did a loop and came back,” Rutherford said. “We ordered the papaya salad, pick-me-up beef and [crazy] taco, and they were all great.”

Click through the slideshow at right to see pictures of food, food trucks and fun at Houston Food Truck Fest.

For those who arrived at the May 18 fest — which included more than 18 mobile businesses — with full stomachs, supporting local businesses was still possible. The Picasso Bus — “Art on Wheels” — offered face-painting and more. The Shoe Box, a mobile shoe and sunglasses boutique, was also at the festival.

“I quit my job almost two years ago, and I knew I wanted to open my own boutique, and I knew I had to do it in a different way,” said Coryne Rich, owner of the Shoe Box, which is just a couple months old.

In addition to lower monthly overhead compared to a traditional brick-and-mortar location, Rich, who was influenced by successful mobile boutiques in Los Angeles, loves the flexibility of being a business on wheels.

“Houston can be very guilty of (considering a certain shopping center) hot and then (the excitement is) over,” Rich said, “and so I like the idea of not being locked in to that … and we can move and go wherever the scene is.”

What’s on the Menu: Food Truck Tuesday May 21

It’s time for Smyrna Food Truck Tuesday again!

The event is held from 5 to 9 p.m. at Taylor-Brawner Park, organized by the City of Smyrna in partnership with Georgia Power and Cobb Travel Tourism.

Here is a lineup of the food trucks serving dinner tonight:

Blaxican brings together Mexican and soul food.
Buen Provecho serves a “taste of Puerto Rico at your fingertips.”
Freckled Blue “feeds an Atlantan in need” with every meal purchased.
Hail Cesar uses “only the freshest ingredients” sourced close to Atlanta.
Happy Belly is Smyrna’s hometown food truck.
Ibiza Bites‘s motto is “Life is food! Taste life!”
King of Pops brings popsicles on wheels!
Mix’d Up is inspired by Rock and Roll.
Pressed for Time serves up paninis.
Soup ‘R Noodles delivers a wide range of foods from its “state of the art kitchen”.
Yum Yum Cupcake claims to be the first mobile dessert truck in Atlanta.
Yumbii boasts it’s Atlanta’s first food truck.

Public parking is available adjacent to the playground and mini ampitheatre, and also at Community Bank of the South, Covenant Christian School and Smyrna Presbyterian Church. Parking is limited, so walking or biking is encouraged.

Smyrna Food Truck Tuesdays are recycling friendly. Look for recycling containers and help keep the park clean.

The food trucks participating will change from week to week. Check back with Smyrna-Vinings Patch to see who will be at next week’s event.

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