Midtown Lunch

Lisa Colagrassi, the ABC7 reporter who quoted the 4% vs. 25% street cart statistic yesterday was nice enough to respond to our question this morning: “Sorry that it took so long to get back to you, Zach. Kevin Pomplun [the Chef from the Picnik Smoked Truck] actually used those numbers in relation to his restaurant experience… b/c there is no rent, employees etc. Is it an official number… probably not, but an example of the advantages of vending over establishing a restaurant.” Well, there is rent- it’s just cheaper than a brick and mortar (you have to pay to park your cart somewhere, and pay for somewhere to smoke all the meats.) Also, the Picnic Smoked Truck didn’t have to fight for their spot. They were given a special permit by the Downtown Alliance to park there… and even Kevin admits it’s “no less of a challenge” than running a restaurant.

Related:
Opening a Street Truck is Just as Risky as Opening a Restaurant (Despite What the Local News Says)

Surprise!  Another local news affiliate has discovered the amazing street vendor phenomenom. Of course the Cupcake Stop Truck is front and center (aren’t they always), but it also touches on the Picnick Smoked Truck, which was written about in our Downtown Lunch column.  Once again, the report completely misleads people into thinking these new trucks are big money makers.  But the part that really bothered me the most was this quote:

“With a brick and mortar restaurant the profit margin is about 4%.  With a truck, it’s 25%.”

Really? That doesn’t sound right…

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Those of us who love eating street food, but hate taking lunch back to our desks, have a common problem.  Where should we eat?  There are a number of indoor pavilions and outdoor seating areas scattered across Midtown, but sometimes I just wish there was a place right next to the carts to just saddle up and tuck in.  Well thanks to Pratt Grad Student Ali Pulver, now there is.  For her thesis she is developing a couple of tools to make it easier for us to eat on the street.  And after testing out the “Lunch Ledge” and the “Hydrantable” last week, I’ve got to say these could represent the greatest advancements in street food technology since the invention of chicken and lamb over rice!

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A few reports have come in today about police activity in front of the Vendy Award winning Biriyani Cart (on 46th and 6th.) According to Lunch’er Chris it might have had something to do with the crowds of people waiting on line for biriyani in front of Cafe Europa (the generic Midtown deli on the same corner):

“So I was down at Europa (on 6th and 46) grabbing my standard boring salad and on my way out I notice the manager talking to a couple cops. I heard him complaining about the crowds for the Briyani Cart blocking the sidewalk, which is kind of odd considering it doesn’t really effect the entrance at all. Anyways, you might want to ask the Briyani guys if the cops have been bothering them today at all.”

Just confirmed with Meru, the owner of the Biriyani Cart, that the cops did in fact show up earlier today- and have just now returned for a second time to issue tickets.

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Thanks to Lunch’er Robert for sending along this cartoon from Non-Sequitur.

Related:
Own A Print of the Elwood Smith Vendor Wars Cartoon from the New York Times

The overhyped by the press, but underwhelming from a food standpoint, La Cense Burger Truck announced on Twitter yesterday that they’d be hibernating until Spring. Winter is traditionally a slower time for street food sales, but for most vendors it’s still worth coming to work (as long as you don’t sell ice cream.) So why is La Cense closing up shop? Who knows for sure, but I say good riddance. I know it’s mean, but I feel compelled to be against any street vendor that simply seems to be using their truck for marketing purposes. After the initial lines, the demand for La Cense seemed to die off pretty quickly. But they can afford to stay on the street whether they make money or not because they’re owned by a large mail-order company, who in my estimation is just using the truck to promote their line of gourmet beef. And, sadly, it’s worked. Despite the mixed reviews by the public, they’ve been included in tons of street vendor trend pieces.

So why does this bother me so much?

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It feels like the fervor over street vendors has reached a peak this year, but it didn’t happen overnight.  It started more as a slow trickle years ago. Two German brothers selling sausages on 54th Street. A former chef from the Russian Tea Room doing an upscale version of lamb over rice. A couple of SoCal exports selling carne asada in Soho. Street food has slowly been getting a lot better in NYC. And as the newer carts have gotten better, people have started to become more interested in what was being sold on the street. It’s reflected in the media coverage, and the increasing popularity of the Vendy Awards- the annual event put on the Street Vendor Project to reward the hard working food vendors of New York City. Even vendors who had been there for years, like those at the Red Hook Ball Fields were being “discovered” for the first time.

But it wasn’t until 2 years ago that the real explosion started. Kim Ima’s Treats Truck was the first I can remember, followed pretty quickly by the Wafels and Dinges Truck and the Dessert Truck. When these lavishly painted trucks, with cute logos, and internet savvy chefs hit the scene it seemed like something clicked. The coverage of these new trucks was out of control, not just from the food blogs (guilty as charged) but from the traditional media as well. The stories wrote themselves, and the trucks didn’t even have to pay PR companies to make it happen.

Combine that with the proliferation of twitter, the well publicized success of trucks in other cities (like Kogi BBQ in LA), and the recession, and it’s no surprise that every chef and restauranteur in the country has at least thought about opening a food truck. And, as you know, plenty of them have succeeded. So much so that two weeks ago Blackbook Mag coined a new term for this invasion of upscale food trucks: vendrification.

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