New York Street Food

The recently closed Currywurst Bros in NYC

The Boston Globe had an article about the recent popularity of currywurst in Los Angeles. (Yeah, I’m wondering why the Boston Globe is writing about restaurants in L.A. too.)  There are now 2 places to get currywurst in L.A., one in the Fairfax district and one in Silverlake.

We know currywurst is the national street food of Germany, but how well does it translate to US palates?

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When I was in L.A. last week, I got friendly with the guy in front of me on line at the Border Grill truck.  We enjoyed talking about food and food trucks, and he asked for recommendations for when he was coming to New York in a few months.  It turned out he was in L.A on business too.

If you recall, he got the ceviche cone that looked really interesting, and I asked him to let me know how it was.  When he sent me a short writeup of the ceviche cone (which he loved!), his writing was colorful and fun.  I asked if he would like to write a guest post for NYSF, and he was into it.

Border Grill ceviche cone

This NYSF Guest Post is from Benjy, a young guy from Detroit who I met in L.A. during lunch last week.  In his own words: “I’ve always had a love for food, and I’m passionate about trying different types of cuisines, experimenting with regional and seasonal ingredients, and trying anything that any local says I “have to have” while I’m in their city.

Whenever I travel to NYC or LA, I’m inevitably told I must hunt down certain food trucks.  I love the food truck movement – I love that it keeps me guessing, and that it is constantly evolving.  Who knew they could prepare so many dishes so well from the back of a truck?  For so long, the only truck I chased was the ice cream truck that circled my neighborhood when I was just a chubby little sugar addict looking for a fix.  It’s nice to see that as my tastes have matured and grown more sophisticated, so have the food trucks.”

Benjy and his colleague went back to the same spot the next day and had lunch at the Canter’s Deli Truck.  Even though I had a reuben at the Canter’s Deli truck on my trip to L.A. in January, Benjy had a different meal, and his writeup is fun to read.  Click through to check out Benjy’s take on a delicious tuna melt from the Canter’s Deli Truck. (more…)

One of the first trucks I read about in L.A. that really grabbed my attention was the Buttermilk Truck.  I remember saying back at the end of 2009 that we need a breakfast truck like this in New York.  Last night I finally had a chance to try them.

The Hawaiian breakfast sliders looked interesting, as did the sausage biscuit sandwiches – but what I really wanted to try was the fried chicken & waffles ($7).  You can check out their full menu here.

Wow, did this look and smell great!

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For my last lunch in L.A., I had a choice between two trucks with punny names – either Middle Eastern food from the Pita Pusher or sliders from the Patty Wagon.

I started the week with sliders from Baby’s Badass Burgers, and decided against a slider from Rosa’s Bella Cucina in favor of a regular sized sandwich.  What is this obsession in L.A. with sliders?  Is that how the people here stay fit?

Even though Patty Wagon looked really good and had a longer line, I needed a break from burgers.  I decided to get a chicken shawarma sandwich from the Pita Pusher – but changed my order at the last minute.

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I’ve really enjoyed the food in L.A. this week – Korean nachos, Yucatan pork tacos, Indian dosas, Japanese ramen. But some days you just want a sandwich.  Today was one of those days, and there were 2 great options to choose from.

The Canter’s Deli truck was parked right next to Rosa’s Bella Cucina – hmmm, Jewish deli or a classic Italian sandwich?  Tough choice, but one made easier by the fact that I had 2 sandwiches from Canter’s Deli on my last trip to L.A. -  a reuben from the truck and a pastrami sandwich that I picked up on the way to the airport for the trip home.  Time to try someone else.

A classic Italian sandwich it was.  They even called it Il Classico on the menu.  You can get a slider size for $4 or a regular sandwich on ciabatta for $9.  Everyone out here seems to have  sliders. What am I, a rabbit?  Enough with the sliders.  I ordered a “Papa”, not a “bambini”.

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