News from All Over
Posted by Christiane Lauterbach | June 9th, 2010 | Filed under News
In New York City, two City Council members will introduce a new local law giving the Department of Health authority to “suspend any vending permit issued to a truck with two parking tickets in a 12 month period and revoke the permit of a truck that receives three parking tickets in a 12 month period.” Feeding the meter and idling while hogging a parking space should, indeed, be discouraged, but the business resulting from a new generation of gourmet food trucks shouldn’t. http://midtownlunch.com/2010/06/08/city-council-to-introduce-first-anti-food-truck-law/
In Chicago, on the other hand, the City Council just heard testimony from executive chef and food truck advocate Phillip Foss and chef Matt Maroni, author of a model food truck ordinance that has the support of at least four aldermen. In his column, our friend Phil Vettel of the Chicago Tribune begged the city (“Don’t make me go to Hoboken”) to legalize street food. “What we need is an ordinance permitting trucks with onboard cooking equipment, so they can serve hot, made-to-order dishes,” he wrote. “Serving bad, warmed-over food is already OK in Chicago. Let’s amend the rules to permit trucks to serve first-rate food.” http://www.chicagotribune.com/entertainment/dining/ct-play-0603-vettel-food-truck-rant-20100603,0,3811246.column
In Houston, where a local TV station savaged the taco truck industry, blogger J. C. Reid rose to its defense, reporting that there is basically no difference in terms of health rating between a decent taco truck and one of the city’s most beloved upscale restaurants. “What can we conclude from a review of these records?” the author asks. “Most health inspection reports are reflections of exactly what they are: routine inspections where otherwise sanitary kitchens are reminded about actions they need to take to stay clean and compliant with legitimate health codes. Just because violations are found at Tony’s during a routine inspection does not mean it is a ‘filthy’ or unsanitary restaurant. It’s not. But neither is the Taqueria Veracruz taco truck.”
http://www.29-95.com/restaurants/story/khou-does-hatchet-job-taco-trucks
[image by J. C. Reid]
Farm to Bowl Goodness
Posted by Christiane Lauterbach | June 7th, 2010 | Filed under News
Maggie Rentz and Greg Smith haven’t given up on being mobile, but the two young lawyers/street food enthusiasts launched their new business while standing on solid ground under a tent at the Sandy Springs Farmers Market last Saturday.
Westside Creamery uses fresh milk and cream from Johnston Family Farm, a Georgia dairy that has been in continuous operation since 1956, and relies as much as possible on ingredients grown and harvested around Georgia.
Phenomenal seasonal flavors we tasted include a deliciously Southern Mint Sweet Tea (our favorite), a tart and refreshing Lemon Buttermilk Sorbet, a rich and chunky Blueberry Buckle, and a Honey and Apricot made with fresh fruit and local honey.
Westside Creamery gave out free samples, sold many many cones, scoops, and pints, and impressed the heck out of everybody.
Visit their website for more information about purchase locations and seasonal flavors (http://westsidecreamery.com) for their unique product churned in small batches using nothing but virtuous ingredients and old-fashioned know-how.
Vendor Gallery: Myke Rockenstyre
Posted by Christiane Lauterbach | June 4th, 2010 | Filed under Carts
Myke Rockenstyre, who is currently a “sous-chef on call” for the Omni in CNN Center and an experienced caterer, started cooking when he was a seven-year-old growing up in New York around Latino food prepared by his mother who is from Guayaquil, Ecuador.
Well over twenty years working his way up from pizzeria shop to Korean buffets, TGIFs, the Glatt Kosher Yacht, and finally his own catering firm called International Cuisine by Chef Myke Rock, which “did some gigs for Pataki’s reelection,” haven’t blunted Rockenstyre’s passion for the food of his childhood.
He now lives in Atlanta with his wife, who is from Bogota, Colombia, and their sixteen-year-old son, who has been helping him in his endeavors “since he was in diapers” and is All American in his football team, the Collins Hill Eagles. Rockenstyre describes himself as “half Spanish and half jaja (American),” and he would love to own “a good Latin bistro where the best of all Latin favorites are served–one from each country.”
Check out the thick, fabulous arepas de choclo (sweet corn cakes with cheese) and plump empanadas he recently prepared on a griddle at the Urban Picnic in front of the Sweet Auburn Curb Market and catch him at upcoming Atlanta Soccer Fest (atlantasoccerfest.org) on June 12 in Cabbagetown Park.
“I will be serving empanadas y arepas de chocol; also Tacos al Carbon de Pollo y Carne Asada, Tacos de Tofu for my vegetarian friends and nachos de queso blanco.”
The day’s festivities will include broadcasting the Argentina vs Nigeria and USA vs Britain games on 9×12-foot LED Screens.
Temporary Eatery Pops Up in the Bay Area
Posted by Christiane Lauterbach | June 1st, 2010 | Filed under Objects of Desire
According to an article by Carol Ness found on the website of the San Francisco Chronicle, shoppers at the Pop-Up General Store in Oakland had about two hours to stock up on boudin blanc sausages, bronze-cut rigatoni, chicken confit, potato-chard gratin, and heritage pork gyoza prepared by some of the most talented pedigreed young chefs in the area, who were vending restaurant-quality food out of “a red-painted building in an otherwise unremarkable Oakland neighborhood.”
“None of the Pop-Up cooks make much money from the store,” explains one of its founders. “The motivations are more about helping develop the sustainable food system–and about the cooks making their products known.”
Sound familiar?
