Midtown Lunch

Yesterday the Vendy Awards, being held on Sept. 7 at Industrial City by the Street Vendor Project at the Urban Justice Center, announced the finalists for the Rookie, Dessert, Market and New Jersey categories. Most of those are not vendors we ever see in Downtown Lunch territory, but some of the carts and trucks in the Rookie finalists stood out.  Read more »

It’s the day a lot of street vendors – both new school trucks and carts serving food from all over the world – have been waiting for, when the finalists for the 2012 Vendy Awards‘ Vendy Cup are announced. There is quite a mix this year and a couple from the Downtown Lunch coverage area will be up for the big award being handed out on Governor’s Island on September 15. Those would be vegan food and sweets truck Cinnamon Snail and the Xin Jiang Prosperity Kebabs cart that’s a mainstay in Chinatown. Check out the full list of potential winners and one award that’s already been handed out, straight ahead.

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If you’re a fan of the street food in NYC, then you won’t want to miss this year’s 8th annual Vendy Awards happening September 15 on Governor’s Island. Early bird tickets for the all-you-can-eat and drink event, which are $80,  just went on sale and you’ll probably want to snag one of these before they sell out and the price increases to $95. The event benefits the Street Vendor Project which provides advocacy and legal services to all of those people serving you lamb over rice or tacos from a cart or truck. While you’re on the site buying your ticket, you might as well nominate your favorite vendor. Last year we had some downtown favorites represented like A-Pou’s Taste and Sam’s Falafel and it would be nice to make that a trend. This year, there’s a new Market Vendor category joining People’s Taste, Dessert, Rookie Vendor and the all-around Vendy Cup. You might want to get your eating strategy mapped out and those fat pants purchase now.

Normally we don’t post about things happening on weekends (unless it’s something awesome like the Vendy Awards), but there’s a pilot event this Sunday at the New Amsterdam Market at the South St. Seaport that sounds pretty cool. It’s called International Meats Local and involves Vendy winners including Solber Pupusas, A-Pou’s Taste and Veronica’s Kitchen cooking some of their regular dishes with sustainable, locally-sourced ingredients. There are early bird and general admission tickets available here for $30 or $20 respectively, and they include tastes of the food.

Just in case  you didn’t make it to the 2011 Vendy Awards that took place Saturday on Governor’s Island, there’s a lot to recap from the afternoon of standing in line, regretting eating that second ice cream cone from the Miss Softee truck, and then staggering back to the ferry. Three vendors from downtown were finalists in two different categories and I’m happy to say two of them took home an award, including Souvlaki GR. As you can see above, they were pretty happy about winning the People’s Taste Award. A recap of the winners in other categories, and some photos of the many, many plates of food that made it into my hands straight ahead.

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The week of the 2011 Vendy Awards coming up on Saturday on Governor’s Island continues today with another treat. Have you ever wondered what kind of work goes into your falafel from Sam’s or those stix from the Souvlaki GR truck? Now’s your chance to watch the vendors talk about their food and also give a little background into their operations. Get your appetite going for lunch and check out the videos from the two downtown finalists (and all the rest) after the jump.

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The finalists for the Vendy Cup at this Saturday’s 2011 Vendy Awards were announced this morning, and it turns out that two of the seven nominated are downtown lunches. Souvlaki GR, which has become a mainstay at Old Slip, and Sam’s Falafel, home of a gigantic and dirt cheap vegetarian platter, are both nominated for the award that will be handed out on Governor’s Island. Stop by for lunch today and congratulate them, and maybe get a little food while you’re there.