Parked! event – part III (and last)

Part I and Part II

Rickshaw Dumpling Truck started as a physical store (now they have two) and the truck was only natural to follow.

Wafels & Dinges is one of the oldest “new wave” trucks on the streets of NYC (if I’m not mistaken I think they started in 2005?) and they’ve been a success since the beginning.

Sigmund Pretzel started with a physical store at 29 Ave. B and soon their cart has become a traveling presence at diverse food events in the city.

Wooly’s Ice is yet another shaved ice dessert cart with a physical store at 79 Elizabeth St.

Grillo’s Pickles sells at Whole Foods across 5 states in Northeast, from N.Y. to Maine. The cart is based in Boston, MA.

Mimi & Coco teriyaki balls are a spin on the classic Japanese takoyaki. Their version comes stuffed with shrimp, potato or sausage and get brushed with teriyaki sauce, hence the name or their product.

And although the lines were long, a good time was had by all.

Parked! event – part II

In case your missed it, see part I here.

The Cupcake Crew is about ten months old and comes from Brooklyn, rolling on the streets of Manhattan. It has a strong following, as proved by the solid line. Maple bacon cupcake, anyone?

The Frying Dutchmen sell fries, both potato and sweet potato, and a myriad of sauces (they take suggestions for new ones). On Sunday they also had chicken tenders and chicken wings and the crowds loved it.

Kimchi Taco is another yet-to-be-one-year-old truck and they will soon open a brick & mortar restaurant in Brooklyn. They sell Korean tacos (Korean BBQ topped with a family recipe kimchi ), vegetarian tacos (tofu-edemame-falafel) and kimchi cheesesteaks, and their line of fans was probably the longest.

Fojol Bros. of Merlindia (or Benethiopia? as the truck is inscribed, a bit confusing that we’re not clear where they’re from) – for real came from D.C. and they entitled themselves “a traveling culinary carnival”. The menu seems to be inspired by Ethiopian food.

Mexicue is another truck founded by Brooklynites in 2010 (soon to have a twin) with a physical store at 345 Seventh Avenue in Midtown West (soon to have a twin on LES). They sell “re-invented” tacos and sliders and it’s pretty obvious that they have a huge fan base.

Parked! food truck event at South Street Seaport

The Parked! event brought together more than 30 food trucks that are on the beat on the streets of NYC daily. A trend that started a few years back, nowadays creates a bit of controversy: they sell fresh, excellent food at reasonable prices – thus creating quite a drop in revenues for the regular hot dog/pretzel/grilled kabobs cart vendors. Restaurants and chain lunch places are complaining, too. It didn’t take long for the police to start ticketing the new trucks on the block (if parking is a bitch in Manhattan generally speaking, is even more so for trucks that have to adhere to very restrictive rules), or even ban them in the last few weeks.

Here I’ll show you some of the street-food trucks that you’ll find around the city; most of them are really well-known and have a cult-following – twitter is a great tool to find out where your favorite truck is parked, and when. In a couple of instances we’ll see vendors that don’t sell from a truck but from a cart or table and I’m guessing that they were invited at the event because their popularity. I’ll keep it short as so not to bore you, but if you’re interested in details please click the links provided for each company.

The lines for most of the trucks were tens of people deep, to what we estimated it would be at least a half an hour wait. I tried to take pictures of the menus and when possible, of the product. Click on the picture for a larger size.

The next Parked! truck fest will take place on Governors Island on Sept. 5th

Schnitzel & Things launched in 2009. Early 2011 they opened a brick & mortar shop at 723 3rd Ave. (between 45th & 46th streets). See the website for menu, daily location and the schedule of the truck. At the Parked! event they were sold out by 5 pm.

The (barely) one year old Kelvin Natural Slush has half an hour lines for the “not your 7-11” slush – flavors like basil (sold out at around 5 pm) and mint, as well as fruit puree slush, made this truck a very popular one from day 1.

The Shaved Ice Shop doesn’t have a truck – they sell at Hester Street fair and other street food markets (see website for locations and dates). Inspired by the Taiwanese street treat, they bring new toppings as granola and charred marshmallows with caramelized corn.

Taim Falafel has been famous for quite a few years as having the best falafel in NYC, since they opened at 222 Waverly Pl. in the Village. Now they also have a truck and tour Manhattan at lunch hour tp the delight of their many, many fans.

The Cinnamon Snail
heads from New Jersey and sells vegan organic treats. Don’t we all want to be beings of pure light and to serve all creatures simultaneously and eternally? 🙂
If you don’t, many others do – and they lined up to empty their shelves.

More to come…

South Street Seaport – Pier 17

A beautiful August Saturday at South Street Seaport where the Parked! event has happened today. More details and many pictures a.s.a.p. For now, just a few pictures of boats, people, Anais Mitchell and a gentle sunset.