SNAP CHICAGO-STYLE HOT DOGS COMING TO NYC

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Snap, a new mobile food business launched by husband and wife team Zeph and Liz Courtney, is appearing at pop-up events this summer while they work out permit issues with their truck.  The team is serving flame-grilled burgers, Chicago-style hot dogs, authentic Belgian-style fries and avocado fries made with quality, locally sourced ingredients.

Click through to find out where to enjoy Snap this month, as well as more information on the Snap team and their philosophy.

Chicago dog
This month Snap will be at the Hester Street Fair on July 9 from 10am-6pm; at the Metropolitan Waterfront Alliance’s City of Water Day event at Governor’s Island July 16 from 10am-4pm; and at Littlefield in Gowanus Brooklyn for “Irregulars: A Summer Indie Party” on July 23 starting at 4pm.

For the uninitiated, Chicago Dogs feature an all-beef hot dog in a natural casing served on a poppyseed bun topped with yellow mustard, sweet-pickle relish, chopped onions, tomato wedges, a dill pickle spear, sport peppers and dash of celery salt.

Here’s a brief history from DiningChicago.com: “By most accounts, the “banquet on a bun” had its origins in the Great Depression, when greengrocer Jake Drexler decided his 18-year-old son, local sports hero Abe “Fluky” Drexler, needed an occupation. That was in 1929, when jobs were hard to find, so Drexler converted the family’s Maxwell Street vegetable cart into a hot-dog stand, and began offering the “Depression Sandwich,” which sold for a nickel.”

Look for Snap at the above events, follow them on twitter here, their website is here, and hopefully we will see them out on the street soon in a brand new truck.

Flame-grilled burgers and dogs from a truck fueled by fries.

Snap’s goal is to provide high-quality, sustainable food at a great price for diners on the go.

The Snap truck is coming soon to NYC. Find the Snap grill at pop-up tent locations this summer. Hire Snap for your next outdoor event – click Catering below.
…. and full website coming soon too.

Follow us on Twitter: @snaptruck

Join our email list.

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Snap Food Truck

Where to Find Snap: July 2011

Saturday July 9: Hester Street Fair.  RSVP on Facebook.

Saturday July 16: City of Water Day at Governors Island.  Reserve free boat tickets here.

Saturday July 23: “Irregulars”: A Summer Indie Party at Littlefield.  Buy $10 advance tickets here.

8:46 am  •  2 July 2011

Snap is LiveWe debuted Snap’s flame grill at The Bell House on June 11 for the Flavorpill NYC Culture Hunt.  It’s official, we’re in business.


Liz and Zeph


Chicago Dog


Thumbs up for cheeseburgers.

See more pics on our Facebook page.

6:21 pm  •  12 June 2011

Snap Test KitchenAs Snap gears up for summer grilling, we’ve been testing out our menu items.  Here’s a sneak peak:

Chicago style hot dogs (which went well with a Gruner Veltliner)

Panko crusted avocado fries with chipotle aioli

-Liz

1:43 pm  •  20 May 2011  •  2 notes

Business Planning Q&A with the DIY Business Association

The DIY Business Association interviewed us about our dos and don’ts regarding crafting a business plan.  Click here to read what we had to say.

Snap Food Truckers share tips for getting your plan down tight. “Add a slush fund,” “prepare an elevator pitch,” and “don’t freak out” rank high on the list.

By Amy Schroeder

– Liz

7:26 pm  •  11 April 2011  •  1 note

Just finished our urban beekeeping classes at the Brooklyn Brainery. What’s the most important thing we learned? - EVERYONE NEEDS BEES! Some fun bee-facts: 1. Aggressive, obnoxious yellowjackets aren’t actually bees. They’re wasps.  2. Bee pollination is necessary for over 30% of all the food we eat and nearly 70% of all fruits and vegetables.  3. Bees take nectar (95% water) and reduce it to honey (17% water). Honey is concentrated bee food and has to be rehydrated before they can eat it.  4. A healthy colony of 45,000 bees can produce 150 pounds of surplus honey for their winter stores. (Or to be eaten by you, me, bears, monkeys, alligators, etc…) 5. All worker bees are female and make up 90% of a colony’s population. Male bees are called drones and have no stingers.  6. If you have a roof or backyard with a little shade and that isn’t too far from fresh water and some trees, you too can keep bees.  If you want to find out more check out  the NYC Beekeeping Group or the NYC Beekeepers Association and watch out for a new movie - Queen of the Sun: What are the Bees Telling Us? -ZephJust finished our urban beekeeping classes at the Brooklyn Brainery. What’s the most important thing we learned? – EVERYONE NEEDS BEES!

Some fun bee-facts:

1. Aggressive, obnoxious yellowjackets aren’t actually bees. They’re wasps.

2. Bee pollination is necessary for over 30% of all the food we eat and nearly 70% of all fruits and vegetables.

3. Bees take nectar (95% water) and reduce it to honey (17% water). Honey is concentrated bee food and has to be rehydrated before they can eat it.

4. A healthy colony of 45,000 bees can produce 150 pounds of surplus honey for their winter stores. (Or to be eaten by you, me, bears, monkeys, alligators, etc…)

5. All worker bees are female and make up 90% of a colony’s population. Male bees are called drones and have no stingers.

6. If you have a roof or backyard with a little shade and that isn’t too far from fresh water and some trees, you too can keep bees.

If you want to find out more check out  the NYC Beekeeping Group or the NYC Beekeepers Association and watch out for a new movie – Queen of the Sun: What are the Bees Telling Us?

-Zeph

6:20 pm  •  21 March 2011  •  4 notes

Pop!  Great idea for homemade soda: Elderberry flowers.  We received a bottle of elderberry flower syrup as a stocking stuffer and weren’t sure what to use it for.  That is until we experimented with mixing it into seltzer from our Soda Stream machine.  A tablespoon or two swirled into a pint of seltzer makes for a refreshing, not-too-sweet soda.

-Liz

3:23 pm  •  20 March 2011

What is a Chicago Style Hot Dog Anyway?

Our marquee menu item, the Chicago Style Hot Dog, is a rare find in NYC.  But in my hometown of Chicago, there are more than 1,800 stands selling dogs of this variety.

For the uninitiated, Chicago Dogs feature an all-beef hot dog in a natural casing served on a poppyseed bun topped with yellow mustard, sweet-pickle relish, chopped onions, tomato wedges, a dill pickle spear, sport peppers and dash of celery salt.  But we just refer to it as “the works.”

Here’s a brief history from DiningChicago.com:

By most accounts, the “banquet on a bun” had its origins in the Great Depression, when greengrocer Jake Drexler decided his 18-year-old son, local sports hero Abe “Fluky” Drexler, needed an occupation. That was in 1929, when jobs were hard to find, so Drexler converted the family’s Maxwell Street vegetable cart into a hot-dog stand, and began offering the “Depression Sandwich,” which sold for a nickel.

– Liz

4:25 pm  •  20 February 2011

Happy Valentines Day. We’re enjoying Mexican chocolate brownies baked with chocolate picked up on our trip to Oaxaca Mexico. -Liz

8:58 am  •  14 February 2011

Hi, We’re Snap

Hi, my name is Liz, and along with my husband Zeph, we are the team behind Snap.  Here’s a very brief history…

I moved to NYC in 2002 after growing up in Chicago.  I fully embraced life in New York City — learned to love Indian food, fresh bagels, sushi, dim sum, bahn mi, pastrami sandwiches the size of my head, crispy pizza, and gooey huraches served from tents and trucks in far corners of Brooklyn.  But there was one edible thing I really missed from back home: the Chicago style hot dog.

More than a hot dog, it’s a whole meal on a bun.  A salad atop a juicy, snappy, all-beef sausage.  Not long after I started working in an office across from the Flatiron building, a cart showed up in Madison Square Park selling my beloved Chicago dogs.  Today that cart has expanded to a successful franchise.

The notion of selling Chicago dogs in NYC has been in the back of my mind ever since.  But it wasn’t until I met Zeph that the idea became a PLAN.  Zeph is a self-taught genius in the kitchen.  He’s got an endless curiosity for cooking and is constantly trying new recipes with me as his eager guinea pig.  When the economy took a turn for the worse in early 2009, the tough times inspired us to explore new career opportunities.  That’s when we realized that we just might have what it takes to turn our love for food and our talent in the kitchen into a business.  Zeph had the smart suggestion to add flame-grilled burgers to the menu, and thus Snap was on its way.

Over the past year and a half we’ve been putting together the pieces to make this business come to life, and we couldn’t be more excited and nervous and thrilled to introduce you to SNAP!