Midtown Lunch

Earlier this month, we showcased a video from Save the Food Trucks, an organization that is working to keep the food trucks alive and operable in the city. Well, for the next few Wednesdays, they’ll be releasing some fun little videos featuring food truck owners answering what they would serve to Mayor Bloomberg for lunch. We have an exclusive peek of the first three videos in the series with a few familiar faces to Midtown: Eddie Song (Korilla BBQ), Kim Ima (Treats Truck), and Vendy nominee Adam Sobel (Cinnamon Snail), whose truck has been seen on the weekends here at the Hell’s Kitchen Flea Market. We already know that Mayor Mike likes his burritos extra spicy. Maybe he’ll take them up on the offer.

Check out the videos after the jump.

Read more »

A few weeks back I was contacted by a new organization called Save NYC Food Trucks, who were putting together a video about the problems facing food trucks in New York. So many of us are aware of these issues, but you’d be surprised how many people (mostly those who don’t read Midtown Lunch) are completely oblivious. The video was released this weekend and features truck owners like Kim Ima (Treats Truck) and Eddie Song (Korilla BBQ) talking about their business and the obstacles in running their trucks. It’s sort of a Public Service Announcement to inform people about the issues. Watch the video after the jump, and while you’re at it, like their Facebook page, be sure to sign the petition, and forward this video on to friends who may not know what’s going on.

Read more »

Only two days until the Vendy Awards, and longtime fans of the event might have noticed there is one thing missing… videos! Every year the Street Vendor Project releases videos of the finalists and we got our hands on them. After the jump hear Fatima Khan talking about the origin of the Tini Paki Boys Cart, and Arturo Macedo talking about how he turned a normal doughnut cart into a breakfast eggstravaganza!

Read more »

If you haven’t heard by now, our very own Korilla BBQ truck will be competing in the second season of Food Network’s Great Food Truck Race. The show premieres on August 14th, and they’ve released a sneak peek of the new season- complete with Korilla getting publicly spanked by Tyler Florence for speeding. Check out the video after the jump…

Read more »

Last October, Zach, Chris H., and I spent a lovely afternoon stuffing our faces from food trucks at “Carts in the Parc”, one of the highlights of the 2010 New York City Wine & Food Festival. Luckily for Zach, it also meant meeting his idol, Andrew Zimmern, who not only hosted the event but filmed two episodes for his ‘curbside cuisine’ show “Appetite for Life”. (The same show that had him visiting Schnitzel & Things and Jamaican Dutchy last month.) Well, the show’s clips have finally hit the interwebs, and have Zimmern checking out faves like Eddie’s Pizza Truck and the Big Gay Ice Cream Truck (complete with a blurring out of the words ’salty’ and ‘pimp’.)

Check out the videos after the jump (bonus points if you can spot a certain former Downtown Lunch’er)

Read more »

Remember when Andrew Zimmern visited the Schnitzel & Things Truck back in September for his MSN web series Appetite for Life?  Well it turns out he also visited the Jamaican Dutchy!  The video was just posted, and it shows him having a great time making Schnitzel with Oleg, and Jerk Chicken with O’Neil (which he calls the best jerk chicken he’s ever had.)  Check out the video after the jump…

Read more »

Speaking of eating bugs… Andrew Zimmern was in Midtown yesterday doing a mini tour of his favorite Midtown food trucks for MSN’s Appetite For Life.  First he hit up the Schnitzel and Things truck, where he manned the fryers and chatted with customers, before heading over to Kelvin Slush for an afternoon cool down.  Our man Chris H. grabbed this photo of him ordering a ginger, mint and basil slush, and the S&T Truck posted some video on their twitter account.

Our favorite is the one in which our hero shames a girl eating a “healthy” lunch into trying some of his schnitzel. Check out all the videos after the jump…

Read more »

With all the turf war controversy surrounding Mister Softee trucks, we’ve always imagined Softee President Jim Conway as some kind of soft serve puppet master, holed up in his Jersey lair ruling the summer streets of NYC with a iron fist.  Nope.  Saw him on Fox Business channel last week, and he looks like… well… the owner of a large (and extremely professional) ice cream company.  Miss Softee makes an appearance in the background, and Conway goes into some interesting business facts about Mister Softee- including the fact that the hours are long, and many of their franchises are owned by immigrants from South America, Eastern Europe and West Africa.

Check out the video after the jump…

Read more »

Speaking of Street Meat Palooza 3… last night’s episode of No Reservations was a follow up to his ultra popular food porn show from last year. He had cameos from famous chefs, and showed off a lot of expensive food… but the best part of the show for us was seeing our hero down a gyro pita alone on the street from the Halal Cart on the SW corner of 53rd and 6th (the one that pretends to be the famous cart that parks in the same spot at night.) The segment was titled “I Like It Dirty”, and Bourdain waxes poetic about street meat like only he can, likening waiting on the long line to waiting outside a methodone clinic “only more rewarding ultimately.” There’s no doubt that the lamb on pita tasted good, but we can’t help but wonder if he knows the whole story behind the cart he chose!

Check out the video after the jump…

Read more »