Midtown Lunch

This Saturday morning, Good Morning America will announce results of their “Best Food Cart Challenge” and (*spoiler alert*) the Street Sweets Truck is one of the four nominees (and the only one from New York City.)  Lord knows how they picked the nominees, and it’s a waste of time to even debate whether or not this competition will really end up finding “The Best Food Cart in America”, but I think we can all agree that we want the home team to win right? (And who could be against the Street Sweets’ macarellas?)

So, if you’re in Midtown on Saturday morning (and lord knows I wouldn’t wish that on anybody), you can cheer on the truck in person at the GMA studios from 6:30am to 9am.  They’re going to have a whole outdoor set up with picnic tables and all four nominees on 44th Street and Broadway.  Want to support Street Sweets without having to be in Times Square on a Saturday morning?  You’ll be able to start voting online for your favorite cart as soon as the show is over, and the winner will get to come back on Sunday morning.  Good luck Street Sweets!

I’d like to pretend that I’ve mastered the art of taking advantage of free food deals.  You know… get in, grab free stuff, get out unscathed.  But sometimes they do work on me.  On Friday, I stopped by Kyotofu to grab their free bag of mini muffins, and ended up buying a pumpkin/chocolate soft serve.  And a week before that I stopped by the Street Sweets Truck for a free mini pumpkin whoopie pie, and ended up with a full sized pumpkin whoopie pie and their latest creation… the macarella.  What can I say, I couldn’t resist.

What the hell is a macarella?

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Just got some surprising news from the Street Sweets Truck, who seem to have been doing well at their spots on 50th and 6th, and in front of MoMa.  This morning they will be returning to their first Midtown spot on 55th Street btw. 5+6th Ave… the one they were kicked out of by Pret and Bistro Milano back in June (with a little help from the cops and fire dept.)  Their email didn’t really give an explanation as to why they think now is a good time to put themselves in harm way, but they seem pretty optimistic, even if it ends up just being for a “limited engagement.”  The truck plans on getting to the spot early this morning, but won’t open until 10:30am (so as not to step on the toes of the coffee vendor who parks on that same block.)  I guess we’ll see what happens…

A quick update from the owner>>

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A couple of exciting tidbits from the world of Midtown street vending this morning.  First up, I just got word that Kwik Meal’s Muhammed Rahman will open his new pasta cart today.  It will be parked next to the OG Kwik Meal cart on 45th and 6th and will have three options: Angel hair w/ chicken, shrimp, or vegetables in red sauce.  Can’t wait to hear from the early adopters about this one.  Feel free to send photos to zach@midtownlunch.com.  Also going down today… Schnitzel & Things and the Street Sweets truck are parking together today on 52nd btw. 6+7th. Schnitzel burger, followed by fresh oven baked chocolate chip cookies?  Sounds like a plan… (although, as always, you may want to check the ML Twitter Tracker for confirmation before heading out.)

Related:
Famous Street Meat Vendor Branching Out With Italian Food Cart
Schnitzel Burger is Everything That is Fun About Food
The Street Sweets Truck Top 5

I like the sweet stuff just as much as the next guy, but desserts are not exactly my area of expertise. I tried the chocolate chip cookie from the Street Sweets Truck, and thought it was fine, but for a comprehensive look at their offerings I decided to turn to Kathy YL Chan, our resident coffee, sweets, and Hawaiian food expert here on Midtown Lunch (she’s also the blogger behind A Passion for Food.) She “sacrificed” herself by trying a good number of the Street Sweets Truck offerings, and filed this Top 5.

First the Treats Truck, then Dessert Truck, Wafels & Dinges, and now the Street Sweets Truck (followed by the Big Gay Ice Cream Truck). It would be easily to shake one’s head at the severe overflow of baked good and dessert oriented trucks in the city, but as far as I’m concerned (from a consumer perspective) the more, the merrier.

Unlike the other aforementioned trucks, Street Sweets Truck sets itself apart by being tied to a stone and mortar bakery in Brooklyn, One Girl Cookies. One Girl Cookies bakes a good number (but not all) of the products sold at the SS truck, including a selection of One Girl Cookies and some goods exclusively made for for SST.

I sampled my way around a good portion of their products, and while nothing is “the best of its kind”, as a whole SST is a notch above Treats Truck, the most comparable of moving dessert vehicles in town. Below, the top five to note for your next SST visit.

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Despite my original warnings, and the “hot dog cart incident” two weeks ago, it looks like the Street Sweets Truck has worked out the issues with their spot on 53rd btw. 5+6th.  After some negotiating (and a little help from the cops) they have been “cleared” to park in that spot every Monday, Wednesday and Friday from now on.  As for the other two days a week, they’ve had a problem free day today parking between the 100% Halal & Healthy Cart and the Papa Perrone Truck, on 55th btw. Mad+Park.  The owner says that barring any other problems, they hope to make that their permanent spot on Tuesdays and Thursdays.  Papa Perrone welcomed them with open arms, telling me that “if they bring people to this block, it just means more business for me.”  If only all street vendors saw it that way… right?

But what about the actual sweets!? (They’ve pretty much taken a backseat in all the Street Sweets coverage thus far.)  I figured today was as good a day as any for a little Street Sweets vs. Treats Truck chocolate chip cookie battle to the death!

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This morning Lunch’er Lee sends this update on the whole Hot Dog Carts vs. Street Sweets truck showdown on Friday:

I took another picture of the Street Sweets Truck at the end of the day when I left work (about 6pm). Looks like they sorted out whatever they needed to. What I find interesting, is that the space where all the hot dog vendors were parked at 9am, became the space where all the art vendors set up during the day. I think Street Sweets may be on to a truly symbiotic relationship by creating an impromptu coffee/art space, which, we can all agree, makes more sense than a hot dog/art space!

I love it.  Although a coffee/art situation could theoretically compete with the cafe inside MOMA, leading them to “pull a Bistro Milano” and call the cops. Clearly the truck worked something out with the hot dog vendors: Street Sweets is back on 53rd btw. 5+6th today.

Related:
Hot Dog Vendors Gang Up on the Street Sweets Truck
Will the Street Sweets Truck Ever Learn?
The Man Wins: Street Sweets Forced to Find Another Spot