A food fight is breaking out in downtown San Francisco, with a group of restaurants squaring off against an incursion of food trucks that they say pose unfair competition. The rift broke out a month ago after a food-truck vendor called JapaCurry began parking in front of restaurants in a South of Market neighborhood, selling to-go meals during the busy lunch hour. "They just showed up right in front of us, and didn't even ask," said Jasmine Tran, a clerk at Tart to Tart, a bakery café on Mission Street. "It hurt our business, definitely." A dozen other nearby restaurants in the Mission and Second Street area signed a Jan. 21 complaint to San Francisco police asking to keep the vendor from parking so close to them. The complaint prompted the police to revoke JapaCurry owner Jay Hamada's permit for that street. Mr. Hamada disputes that he posed a business threat because his menu of mostly Japanese curry dishes isn't offered at any of the area's restaurants. "I feel sorry, but I don't think I'm taking their customers," said the 40-year-old Mr. Hamada, who started his mobile curry business in November with a $100,000 investment. Meanwhile, restaurateurs have expressed concern about a possible onslaught of food trucks under a new city ordinance designed to promote their growth. Some 65 to 70 currently ply the streets, according to a city official. "The food trucks are a threat to us," said Diane Tran, owner of Muffins, Muffins, a pastry and sandwich shop on Second Street and one of the restaurants that signed the police complaint against JapaCurry. "They park in front of us, take our customers and leave the truck running so we get the smell of gas and smoke in our shop. We wish they weren't around here, because we don't do well when they are." Read the rest <here>

It says something about Ottawa's street-food scene that such homey staples as chili and soup could be considered exotic. But misguided regulations have starved this city of interesting and healthy convenience food. When Jacqueline Jolliffe opened her soup truck on the Rideau Canal this winter, skaters were thrilled. So thrilled that she had trouble keeping enough soup on hand to feed the hundreds who lined up for beef or vegetarian chili, Thai squash soup or chicken-and-rice soup. "I think one in three people has said to me, 'It's so nice to have healthy food on the canal,' " Jolliffe says. Once the ice melts, Jolliffe would like to set up shop on an Ottawa street, or at least have the option. But she can't. The city isn't issuing any new permits and they're not transferable, so when a vendor retires, that spot disappears. Over the last decade or so, the number of street vendors has shrunk from about 100 to 32. Not only does that reduce the quantity of street food, it also tends to limit it to the stuff that's been around in this town forever -namely dogs and fries. That also means that Ottawa is missing out completely on the international trend in favour of interesting street food. This rule makes our city stodgier and duller. There's nothing wrong with fried dough, fried potatoes and hotdogs, at least once in a while. But the impression left with visitors, that Ottawa's food culture consists only of those things, is simply wrong. This city is full of foodies, amateur and professional cooks with imagination. It's just plain weird that the same city that spawned Zen Kitchen and Capital Cupcake Camp can't offer anything more interesting to harried pedestrians than street meat. This lack of street-food culture in the capital also contributes, in its small way, to the hokey branding we Canadians just can't seem to get past. We are a nation of Beavertails, hotdogs and poutine, our little huts and carts declare. But we're a nation of injera and gyros, too. We just hide that part of our identity, for reasons I'll never understand. Jolliffe is able to set up her soup truck on private property, so long as it's appropriately zoned and she pays for her licence. She's got a spot lined up at the University of Ottawa for a while and plans to hit some festivals this summer. But given her success, the city should be courting people like her, people who can give tourists quick meals to remember. And indeed, city staff are thinking about opening up the city's streets to more interesting food. Linda Anderson, chief of bylaw services, says staff will go before councillors in June with an idea for a pilot project aimed at bringing in a few new vendors in 2012. Read the rest <here>

Where is the proof that food trucks are causing financial distress to brick and mortar establishments?

Where is the proof that food trucks are causing financial distress to brick and mortar establishments? Read the rest <here> Richard Myrick is the Editor-in-Chief of Mobile Cuisine Magazine. An architect by degree, Richard began his career in real estate development and architectural planning. In September of 2010 he created Mobile Cuisine Magazine to fill an information void he found when he began researching how to start a mobile hotdog cart in Chicago.

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!

The federal government earlier this week designated 2011 as the "Year of the Entrepreneur".  A worthy cause, certainly, but as news stories and comments quickly pointed out, it was not accompanied by any real programs or initiatives. Perhaps there are some things that could be done at the municipal level, though, to encourage entrepreneurs. Certainly, it's a designation that fits well with the business-oriented rhetoric of the new Mayor. In our Spring 2010 issue on "Rules",  for example, Jonathan Spencer wrote about how current zoning and other bylaws make it difficult to create small retail spaces that can serve as a stepping-stone for entrepreneurs who want to start shops or services on a tight budget (the article is not yet available online). It's as if the lower rungs of the retail ladder are missing. An obvious place to start is street food carts. Toronto is full of new arrivals from places with thriving street food cultures -- but it is currently almost impossible for them to replicate those services in Toronto. The situation is almost comical. Street food vending is governed by an outdated bylaw from the old City of Toronto that has not yet been harmonized to make it apply to the whole amalgamated city. On top of that, there is a moratorium, imposed in 2002, on issuing any street food vending licences to new vendors in downtown Toronto (Wards 20, 27, and 28) -- the wards with the greatest density of pedestrians, where street food is most desired and most viable. The moratorium has resulted in the gradual whittling down of the number of vendors in this area. Read the rest <here>

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 ..

LOS ANGELES — Chef Hugh Schick has cooked in some of the finest kitchens in the land. He took classes at the Culinary Institute of America, studied under the Italian food expert Marcella Hazan and served as a private chef for the likes of the writer Christopher Hitchens and the venture capitalist David Cowan. But when Mr. Schick and his business partner, Blake Tally, decided to open Le Truc, a San Francisco “bustaurant,” with a gourmet kitchen and dedicated seating area inside a converted school bus, the two quickly learned that the kitchens in food trucks are very different from their brick-and-mortar equivalents. “It’s basically like buying a trailer home,” Mr. Schick said. “You get a kitchen that’s not designed by a chef, but by an engineer who’s simply trying to figure out where to make things fit.” As Mr. Schick and other chefs seek to take more exotic foods like agedashi tofu and foie gras torchon to the streets and sidewalks of San Francisco, Los Angeles and New York, they are demanding a host of upgrades to the traditional catering trucks, from teppanyaki grills to vertical chicken rotisseries. And those who manufacture catering trucks are rushing to accommodate such special requests, which have rescued their industry from a recession-induced plunge in demand for the more traditional taco and hamburger trucks. “We’re seeing demand for customization based on specific menus or food concepts, which may mean installing a pizza oven or a baking oven for cupcakes,” said Richard Gomez, customer sales engineer and plant controller at AA Cater Truck, the largest food truck manufacturer in the country. “There’s also a lot more emphasis on marketing and graphics. Trucks used to be just white, but now customers want to make their trucks look like celebrities.” Read the rest <here>

It looks like the food cart craze is catching on in Britain. The awards are the brainchild of food journalist and television personality, Richard Johnson.

The best street food is cheap and fresh. Unlike a lot of restaurant food, which is expensive and left standing on a hot-plate until some sniffy waiter deigns to pick it up and bring it to your table. And street food is all about offering the kind of food that the British people actually want to eat. Restaurants still seem to be hung up on some received notion of what constitutes ‘good food’. On the street isn’t the place for that kind of snobbery. There are some real food heroes, out there working the streets of Britain. The best are specialists – they do a few dishes, and they do them very well. Their menu-not-so-fixe can change at a whim according to what looks good at the market that day. Which means that it’s seasonal and local. And they know that, if they ever let their standards slip, the public will just go to the mobiler next door. Only the strongest survive. Which is great news, now that the street is our dining room.

Here are two mouth-watering videos about the awards and the emerging British street food scene.

Find out more at http://britishstreetfood.co.uk/

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>