Our time at vancouverstreeteats.ca has come to an end. Amy and myself are moving on to other projects. We are planning to hand over the 'VSE keys' later this week to an interested party who can continue the site as s/he wishes. All 8 months of content are currently off until then. I am glad to have been there at the birth of Vancouver's street food scene, providing maps and information on food carts around town. We enjoyed some great food and made some friends along the way. I'd like to give a shout out to some of Vancouver's finest food cart vendors, and some of the most genuine people I've met since I've moved to this city.

• Andy Fielding of Kaboom Box - His ever smiling, easy going ways brighten up an otherwise bland section of Granville Street. Awesome guy!
• Derek and Michael Ip of PanDa Fresh and Lully's Sandwich Bar - 2 awesome guys who have a passion for food and a great sense of humour about everything they've been though..stand up gents!
• Team Re-Up - Super friendly folks skilled in the ways of the BBQ and DIY. They're just so.... 'Portland'.. (I like Portland)
• Alan from Fast-Trac fusion - A Class act all the way. He vowed to stick it out by Langara college even when business was slow because he believes in his product. So do I. His teriyaki beef and wasabi subs alone are worth the trip to 49th and Cambie.
• Eli of Eli's Serious Sausage - Eli is such a chill guy..I'm really not sure how else to describe him. (if I needed a point man in a zombie-apocalypse scenario, he's my 1st choice) .

These vendors and others like them have the  entrepreneurial spirit and sense of community that I was hoping to see much more of when I started the site last year. Unfortunately, I feel that this may not be the case for the scene as a whole the way things are progressing. My objectivity is no longer there when it comes to Vancouver's food carts. When I wrote the 'about' page, I said "Spread the love". I'm not feeling the love any more and there's more than enough negativity in the world (especially online) as it is. I'm not wired for that. A geznut der in pupik!

   

The vendor deadline is fast approaching and Re-Up is calling to a higher power this Thursday! They have a whole new menu planned for their new cart if the Irish gods are in their favour. Wondering what they've got planned?

Brisket and Chili at the Art Gallery: Thursday, March 17th, 2011 The Re-Up wants to feed you, for free, in advance of your St. Patty's day revelrie. Think of it as an offering to the Great Saint himself, because we need a miracle in the form of a four leaf clover. In other words, we will need all the luck we can muster if we are to win one of the city's twenty new cart licenses, set to be rolled out on March 25th. We have on offer 50 portions each of our black bean and corn chili, and  smoked beef brisket sandwiches (the menu we intend to serve from the new cart if we get a license). So come one, come all, bring your smart phones, and social media it up to make your friend jealous. The party goes down at our location at the Art Gallery (Hornby and Georgia) between two and four pm this Thursday. The first fifty revelers will be fed and everyone else can enjoy the aroma of pecan smoke, and our brand new espresso based bbq sauce.

Sweet

Tatlow Park's  Street Food Vancouver app has been in the App Store for three weeks and the response has been amazing. It has been downloaded by more than 2,000 people and there has been requests from all over the world to bring the app to more cities and more smartphone platforms. So far Vancouver street food fans have rated the app 4.5 out of 5 stars on average on iTunes. The first update to the app has just been approved by Apple and is now available in the App Store. After you update the app you'll have access to occasional daily specials from your favorite food carts. Be sure to check the app often to see who has a daily special. The first one will be on Monday (Valentine's Day). Enjoy!

After seeing New York Street Food's iPhone app last year, I decided that I would make my very own app for Vancouver's food cart scene. I got on the phone told people the exciting news. "But you don't know C+" and "I didn't realize that you are fluent in AppDev" were common responses. AppDev...uh, what? Anyway, Those haters weren't going to take my dream away that easily. Determined and excited, I opened a new window in Chrome, typed 'how to make an iphone app' into Google and got down to business. Buoyed by a false sense of coding prowess (possibly brought on by a half-assed attempt at making my own level in Little Big Planet while killing time at Best Buy), I signed on at Apple as an 'iOS Developer' and started reading. 15 minutes later, I realized that I indeed DO NOT know 'App Dev'. Luckily for myself and the rest of the city, Tatlow Park Software had a similar idea and the coding skills to execute it flawlessly. A couple of weeks ago we got a peek at some screen shots of the new app catering to Vancouver street food lovers. Toby at Tatlow was kind enough to hook me up with the beta version shortly after. Now that it's officially released I can can honestly say that the retail version delivers...big time! In my experience, far too many apps are loaded with speed crippling eye-candy and useless bling. Tatlow takes a 'less is more' approach that I found non-distracting and to the point. The interface is simple, two buttons on the bottom switch between 'map' and 'list' mode. Green pins indicate which vendors are currently open while the red ones show who's closed. You can get directions to the food cart of your choice based on your location via GPS, IP or entered manually. List mode displays vendors and one's distance to them, favourites and star ratings. It's great to see a local entrepreneur being the first to bring a street food app to Vancouver. With at least 15 new food carts coming to our streets this year, this will be the 'go to' resource for munchie's on the road. Hoping to see an Android version sometime soon! Get the app <here> Find them online: streetfoodapp.com ..

City council unanimously voted today in favour of Vancouver's street food expansion. 15 new vendors will grace our streets this spring. Unlike last year's lottery system, this year's winners will be chosen by a 'foodie' panel combined with Vancouver Costal Health guidelines. Although reactions to this decision are mixed, it's much too early to say whether this will be an improvement over last year's lottery system. This year's additions mark the start of a proposed increase to 60 food cart vendors over the next 4 years. However this pans out, more street options can only be a good thing. For more coverage: The Province Globe and Mail Georgia Straight Vancouver Courier

Health-conscious standards proposed for new vendors in Vancouver

Battered fish and chips may be Vancouver's favourite comfort food, but you won't find those deep-fried golden slabs with tartar sauce at any of the city's street food vendor stands. At least not without fruits or vegetables on the side. That's because Vancouver is about to become the first city in Canada -- and quite possibly North America -- to apply minimum standards for what it considers wholesome, nutritious food that can be bought on the street. A staff report proposing the expansion of street food vendor licences to an eventual 140 from the existing 80 also recommends that all new vendors offer items that aren't going to cake a person's arteries or cause a heart attack on the street. "Our goal is to provide more diverse, healthier food options on the street," said deputy city manager Sadhu Johnston. "It's not just about providing healthy foods, it's about diversity, improved food access and affordability." Along with forbidding things like stand-alone chip stands and not approving any more hotdog vendors, when the city opens the door to new street food licences next month, it won't look favourably on proposals to sell items that are high in sodium, fat or sugar. But if vendors want to throw on some healthy extras like vegetables, fruits -- even sauerkraut -- that balance out that cholesterol-laden gourmet beef patty or other high-fat food, they may just get past the city's food police. Vision Vancouver Coun. Andrea Reimer sees nothing wrong with the city acting as Big Mother. Read the rest <here>

Happy new year everyone! It looks like Vancouver will be joining the ranks of Los Angeles and New York City this spring with the launch of it's own food cart app. Tatlow Park Software, the local independent developer behind 'Kitsilano Daily Kitchen' will be releasing the 'Street Food Vancouver' app early this year. If the screen shots are any indication, this is going to be a must have for local street food enthusiasts! The app features maps, contact information and a rating system at the ready whenever you may be hit with the food cart munchies. Paperny Films, the creators of the upcoming Food Network program 'Eat Street', have received a $300,000 grant from the Bell Broadcast and New Media Fund. (at over 2000 times our start up cost, I bet it'll be pretty slick.) They are teaming up with Invoke Media, the brains behind HootSuite to create a website and mobile application that lets users find street food vendors in their city. With Vancouver's street food program set to expand in the spring, these new tools will a great asset to those looking for a great bite on the street!

 

There has been plenty of speculation surrounding the fate of Chinese Skewer King in the past month. A food cart looking very similar to Skewer King's was up for sale on craigslist and he hadn't been spotted at his Burrard and Hastings location for several weeks. I was reluctant to take down CSK's profile until I had confirmed information. That came this past weekend in an email from the king himself, John. He informed me they would be closed for the season, re-opening on March 1st this spring. CSK was a welcome addition to downtown's business district and a weekly staple of many office workers in the Bentall's and surrounding towers. I can't wait to see Chinese Skewer King back on the streets this spring!

photo credit: SadJr

Just thought I'd share some articles with you... Ian Bailey of The Globe and Mail wrote an interesting piece about next year's program. The city may be trying different ways to implement cart 'pods' (groups of 4 or more food carts in one location) on private land as well as unused city-owned lots downtown. I'd love to see a hybrid of street-side vending along with Portland style 'pods' in the city for next year! Read the whole story here. Maclean's magazine features an excellent article on America's food cart fever reaching our borders. It mentions the frantic pace that the scene has evolved from it's L.A. origins. Vancouver is mentioned along side Edmonton as Canadian cities to watch in the emerging scene. Read the rest here. PanDa Fresh Bakery is down and out this weekend due to some needed repairs to their magic yellow school bus. Hope to see you guys back in Yaletown soon! I received a tip the other day that the Burrito cart will be open as early as Tuesday at Howe and Cordova! mmm burritos..

Photo by John Lee.

It's turning out to be quite the week for food carts in Vancouver and beyond.

Eat Street on the Food Network

Paperny Films was in town this week shooting footage for their upcoming series 'Eat Street'. The show's focus is on food carts and street food culture and will be airing in the spring on Food Network Canada. JapaDog, Roaming Dragon and PanDa Fresh Bakery were filmed for the show. Andrew Morrison of Scout Magazine and myself were the on-air 'food experts'. I couldn't remember what direction of stripes took off the weight on camera so I went with plaid. They have visited New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Portland and Seattle and will be stopping by the Sunshine Coast on Tuesday.

Looks Like We've Lost One!

Unfortunately, I have some sad news to share with you all. It seems that Chez la Carrotte Sauvage at Main and Terminal are no longer with us or just have really wacky hours. I've been by 3 times to no avail and Amy just stopped by a few minutes ago to find their space vacant! That spot is less than ideal and I could understand if they either moved to another or threw in the towel. I will be speaking with the city in the spring about vendor locations and this will be brought up. I'm saddened to have to move them off the main page to the unconfirmed vendor section. Any information on this would be greatly appreciated! I never even had a chance to try them :(

Media props

Our site got a shot in the arm this past week as well. I was interviewed for an article in the Vancouver Observer and will talking with News1130 Radio about food cart culture in Vancouver on Sept. 30. City Food Magazine wrote a super kind piece on us here. Perry of newyorkstreetfood.com has also linked to us on a story about Poke'm, thanks Perry! I'm also grateful of mentions on chowtimes, insidevancouver and about.com. Thanks again!

New York's Vendy Awards

It's already that time of year again, hockey season and the Vendy's! Know as the Oscars of NYC street food, this year's awards will be held on Governors Island, just south of Manhattan, east of Brooklyn. Bios and short videos of the finalists, here. The people at newyorkstreetfood.com will be covering this event and I will update you as soon as possible. With an additional 60 carts being proposed to open next year, maybe Vancouver will have a similar event. It would be a great way to raise awareness about our scene. Please feel free to contact me with any ideas to make this a reality. Get yourself hungry, take to the streets and support Vancouver's food cart scene!