DINER: Mike Carter & Alessandro Vianello Opening “Street Meet” Food Truck This Week

Chefs Alessandro Vianello (ex-Prestons) and Mike Carter (ex-Sip Lounge and The Refinery) are about to unleash Vancouver’s newest food truck, Street Meet. If all goes according to plan, it will launch tomorrow (Thursday) and bounce between Kits and Main.

The full service kitchen will focus on fine Mediterranean cuisine that has been inspired by Alessandro and Mike’s travels to France, Spain, Italy and Greece. Using the highest quality, local and sustainable ingredients, Street Meet’s menu will include such things as; Crispy Risotto Balls with Slow Braised Pork and Green Olives, and Grilled Wild BC Salmon, with Tomato and Caper Relish and Lentil and Goat Cheese Risotto. Other menu items will include savoury pies such as, Wild Mushroom Pie with Miso and Rosemary Gravy, or Beef and Ale Pie with Roasted Leeks and Pearl Onions. The truck will have many seasonal features as well that will include things like Lamb Shanks, Duck Confit, and Coq Au Vin. The entire menu can be viewed on the website, streetmeettruck.ca.

Because the Street Meet truck is equipped with a kitchen that is larger than most brick and mortar restaurants, it will be able to provide mobile full service catering including, weddings, special occasions, camping trips in the forest. Street Meet will also be launching a outdoor summer dinner and a movie series, coming soon to a park near you. Street Meet will be primarily in the Kitsilano and Main Street areas from Monday to Friday for lunch (spot TBD) and roaming the streets of Vancouver for dinner and on weekends. Street Meet will be a familiar face at most of the festivals and events around the city as well.

Besides using local ingredients, the Street Meet team is committed to helping support other local business and artists. Street Beats is the teams local music initiative, where local bands and musicians will have their work featured and played on the truck as well as Street Meet’s website. The bands will also have the opportunity to be involved in various events such as festivals that are tied to the truck. Alessandro and Mike are also involved in the Growing Chefs, Chefs for Children’s Urban Agriculture. Their goal is to support and encourage the development and growth of urban agriculture, they also create a forum for chefs, educators, growers and families to work together to further awareness of food sustainability. Alessandro and Mike will also be donating 2% of the trucks profits to the Growing Chefs as well as volunteering their time to help create awareness.

DINER: Dine Out Vancouver’s New “Street Food City” Celebration Launching Tomorrow

Dine Out Vancouver, which is already three days in, has diversified to include street food carts this year:

Tourism Vancouver’s 2012 Dine Out Vancouver Festival is well underway but one of this year’s most anticipated events is still to come. Presented by Street Food Vancouver Society and the Downtown Vancouver Business Improvement Association, Street Food City rolls out many of Vancouver’s most popular food carts on January 24, 25 and 26 (Tuesday through Thursday) for a pop-up pod of lunchtime dining.

One of this year’s signature festival events, Street Food City marks the first time that Dine Out Vancouver has included a street food category in its roster of prix fixe restaurant menus, hotel offers and one-of-a-kind events. Nine of the city’s top food carts will congregate at the Vancouver Art Gallery’s north plaza between 11 a.m. and 3 p.m., allowing diners to sample a range of freshly prepared, internationally influenced goodies in one convenient location while receiving special discounts and freebies. The best part? After making their selections, diners can cozy up in an outdoor food court complete with heaters, tents, tables and chairs.

“Street Food Vancouver is thrilled to show off the best of our local food trucks during this year’s Dine Out Vancouver,” said Lindsay Ferguson, vice president of Street Food Vancouver Society. “With nine of our member carts taking part in Street Food City, there’s a meal – or three – for everyone. Even better, we’ve created a comfortable venue so diners can enjoy their food come rain, snow or shine.”

“Vancouver’s street foods were once limited to hot dogs and roasted chestnuts – but for the last few years, our food cart vendors have been dishing out some of the city’s most creative, fresh and delicious cuisine,” said Lucas Pavan, festival coordinator. “Street Food City showcases not only the diversity of our local food culture, but also the evolution of Dine Out from a restaurant-focused promotion to an all-encompassing dining festival.”

Food carts participating in Street Food City include:

• The Juice Truck. Refreshing smoothies and cold-pressed juices.
• Soho Road Naan Kebab. Tandoori chicken wraps and freshly baked naan.
• Coma Food Truck. Korean tacos, orange and rosemary truffles.
• Mom’s Grilled Cheese Truck. Deliciously gooey and piping hot.
• It’s All About Grill. Meats, veggies and free pita bread.
• Tacofino Cantina. Fresh fish tacos and burritos.
• La Brasserie Street. Beer-brined chicken sandwiches and butter tarts.
• Re-Up BBQ. Juicy pulled-pork sandwiches.
• Off the Wagon. Tacos made with local ingredients and a Mexican flair.

Stoked. The weather folks are calling for rain, but we’ll see you under the umbrellas nevertheless.

DINER: “The Re-Up BBQ” Food Cart Scores Brick & Mortar Spot At The “River Market”

One of our favourite street food carts, Re-Up BBQ, is opening a brick and mortar location at the brand new River Market in New Westminster early in the new year. Co-owner Lindsay Ferguson gives us the exclusive skinny in three parts:

1. Counter-service BBQ restaurant with a much extended menu compared to our food carts. We’ll have our sandwiches, but also ribs, sides, and eventually biscuits and chicken. We’re not going to be a fancy restaurant, but we want to serve the best BBQ in town. The counter will also be home to a soda stand where we will sell homemade fruit sodas and colas at a higher level than we do at the carts.
2. Deli: We have already started selling our house-smoked bacon and seasonal turkeys. These and other “to-go” items will be available at our service counter.
3. Very visible and interactive prep kitchen where people can see every aspect of the BBQ process (even though its slow). We want our customers to see bacon brining, pork coming out of the smoker, us shredding meat and so on. Within a year, we hope to organize BBQ classes and bacon curing classes held in our kitchen. Read more

#VANCOUVER WOULD BE COOLER IF #169: There Were Secret Roaming Noodle Trucks!

Via Laughing Squid:

The Secret Noodle Truck by Mark Krawczuk is a noodle restaurant hidden in an unmarked box truck. The noodle truck was deployed most recently at World Maker Faire New York in September [...] Krawczuk created the truck in 2008 for a New York Burning Man decompression party [...] the truck became the inspiration for the Lost Horizon Night Market which Krawczuk co-founded with Kevin Balktick in 2009 (and has since spread to San Francisco)

Local laws notwithstanding…we require ten of these, please!

MORE WAYS TO IMPROVE VANCOUVER

DINER: Brand New “Mom’s Grilled Cheese” Opens In Front Of The Vancouver Art Gallery

There’s a new food truck in town! Cindy Hamilton’s Mom’s Grilled Cheese did their opening dry run yesterday (I should say wet run), selling their first gourmet grilled cheese sandwiches, tomato soups and drinks from Pop Shoppe. Take a look and sneak a bite at the corner of Howe and West Georgia (across the street from Hawksworth and in front of the Art Gallery).

DINER: Local Street Food Vendor “Japadog” Lands Brick & Mortar Location In New York

There have been rumblings on this for a year, but today from EV Grieve (photo) we learn that Vancouver food cart Japadog has officially crossed the continent and found itself under construction – reminiscent of their Robson St. brick and mortar – in a New York City location on St. Mark’s Place.

The money quote:

Knowing New York’s current passion for (1) standing in line for trendy food, (2) all things Japanese, (3) adorable, artisanal sidewalk food vendors, and (4) cheap, white-trash food turned into semi-haute cuisine (burgers, cupcakes, bacon, pizza, et al.), I predict that Japadog will be immensely successful here [...] When the now bigger, much more powerful Japadog announces plans for a three-story, outdoor, hot-dog and beer pleasure palace to be erected on a quiet street in “Nolita,” the community will rally against them, successfully blocking construction.

Heh.

DINER: A Cool Photographic Retrospective Of The Beloved Street Food Vendor

Flavorpill has a great set of photos detailing old chuck wagons, food trucks and scarf carts. Check it out.

GOODS: Addictive “Cartel Taco” Takes Its Korean-Style Tacos To Granville & Dunsmuir

Cartel Taco preparing to feed our taco-hungry citizens with its blessed street fare this May at Hamilton & Dunsmuir

The GOODS from Cartel Taco

Vancouver, BC | Granville & Dunsmuir never smelled so good! As of this week, we’re no longer at Dunsmuir & Hamilton and have headed a few blocks west for our weekday lunches. Monday to Friday, 11:30am to 3:00pm, we’ll be moving out pork and beef bulgogi tacos by the hundreds by Pacific Centre, Holt Renfrew and AI Culinary. We’re still fast, healthy, crazy delicious and made with love, so stop in for lunch at the new spot or come find us Saturdays at the West End Farmers Market. Read more

DINER: Harry Kambolis To Open “Nu Greek” Location On Robson Street This October

by Andrew Morrison | Taking a page from the Japadog playbook, restaurateur Harry Kambolis (of Raincity, Nu and “C” Restaurant fame) is taking his relatively wet-behind-the-ears Nu Greek food cart concept and turning it into a proper brick and mortar business (the food cart will remain strong as well). Ironically, as you can see from the shot above, it’s actually located in the 542 Robson address right next to the thriving Japadog spot. Yup, and just when you thought a Greek vs. Japanese smackdowns were getting passé…

I’m told that it won’t be open until the first week of October, and that the focus will mostly be on take-out (think souvlakis, spinach pies, greek salads), which gels well with this stretch of Robson’s food focus. I was sent a few mouth-watering, anticipatory OMG shots of some the chow that will eventually be in the offing, which you can view after the jump… Read more

GOODS: House-Smoked Bacon Made With Love By The Re-Up BBQ Now On The Market

The Re-Up is located at 700 Block Hornby St. by the VAG & south side Robson Square | 604-724-0894 | reupbbq.com

The GOODS from The Re-Up BBQ

Vancouver, BC | When we opened the Re-Up BBQ, we purchased a professional smoker the size of a large, household refrigerator. We thought it both natural and imperative to use the fabulous piece of machinery to smoke bacon. Given that our mission is to create delicious food inspired by American vernacular cooking,  we created a bacon recipe that honours the flavours of Southern BBQ. Bourbon, beer, ancho chili and pecan smoke are the dominant components, and they impart a gentle addition to the natural flavour of the local pork in the finished product.

For the past six months, we have sold our bacon to friends and through farmers’ markets as we refined the recipe and ingredient ratios. Now, the smoky bacon is ready for its debut into society with a little help from Vancouver’s favourite meat supplier, Two Rivers Specialty Meats. You can already find Re-Up bacon lurking in dishes at La Quercia Restaurant in Point Grey and at Jules Bistro in Gastown.

Made with love, from Chester, Jose, Michael, Lindsay and Briana.

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