STREET FOOD CITY

Back during the days when Travis Bickle still drove along the dark, damp New York City streets, the Big Apple was better known for its crime rate than its culinary culture. Though vendors’ carts squatted on sidewalks throughout the town, their yellow umbrellas a ubiquitous calling card for a quick street meal, the best they could offer was a hot dog, pretzel or occasional knish. And before the current pizza Napoletana craze, there was pizza-by-the-slice, with Ray’s Original and Famous Ray’s and Famous Original Ray’s battling it out for supremacy.

“Don’t forget Chinese take-out,” says Sam Simon, of Sam Simon and Company, the private dining service. “The loss of those white cardboard cartons is the only downside of being environmentally sensitive. 20 years ago I was 8, and I remember loving pizza and Chinese food. They were staples in my diet.”

The New York of 2010 is not only a world away from its former self in terms of city living and city make-up, but over the past 20 years it has undergone a food evolution which has revolutionized the quality and way (and price) of what we eat. Street food, alone, has metamorphosed from being a creature of dubious origin to a more sophisticated product aimed at satisfying inquisitive palates.

Bistro Truck

“Being Moroccan, food has always played a very important part in my life,” says Yassir Z. Raouli, the owner of The Bistro Truck, one of New York’s street food successes. “Since moving here 10 years ago, I’ve noticed a more eclectic and international food scene with restaurants and street food. I believe New Yorkers like the options available to them and are open to trying ‘new’ things when it comes to food, so it’s opened up the way for a variety of menus.”

The Bistro Truck, regularly parked in the Flatiron District between 17th and 16th streets and Fifth Avenue, serves up Marrakech Lamb or a Vegetable Tajine for its regulars. But a few blocks east, on Union Square, one can find the Wafels and Dinges Truck churning out piping hot Belgian specialties with equal fanfare. The same goes for the Hallo Berlin cart and the Treat Truck and the Big Gay Ice Cream Truck and the Cupcake Stop. Four-wheel kitchens have brought the New York dining experience down from the clouds and onto the streets.

“I would say NYC food culture is very democratic. Anyone can get involved and have a say. It is not an exclusive, exclusionary world.” Says Simon, 29, a graduating student of the Institute of Culinary Education who transformed his passion for cooking into a private dining service. “In an ideal world, NY restaurants would adopt seasonal menus based on local and sustainable food sources. I certainly wouldn’t want to go back to 1990, however I do feel like NY chefs have had enough of comfort food and are ready for the next big thing.”

But, where will the next 20 years take NY food culture?

Wafels & Dinges

Yassir Raouli is confident about the future of street food in the city. “Most likely the future will continue with today’s trend of good quality food with an emphasis on different flavors and cuisines.”

Yet, he offers one glaring caveat that hearkens back to the days of transient trans-fat slop: “We must do away with all the unsanitary Halal carts!”

* For a full list of Street Food outlets, visit www.newyorkstreetfood.com
* For more information on The Bistro Truck, visit bistrotruck.com

Andrew Z. Giacalone

Visualizza STREET FOOD CITY in una mappa di dimensioni maggiori