New York Street Food

Vancouver's Japadog

Each applicant will be scored on a range of criteria (taste being one of them), and those with the highest point scores will then be permitted to choose their own location in the order of their ranking, instead of being randomly assigned.

“Our goal is to provide more diverse, healthier food options on the street,” said deputy city manager Sadhu Johnston. “It’s not just about providing healthy foods, it’s about diversity, improved food access and affordability.”

The city’s move toward better street food choices began last year when it approved 17 pilot food stands that offered anything but hot dogs. With the vast majority of the city’s previously existing 60 licenses devoted to the dog, the city wanted diversity.  The new initiative gave life to street burritos, dim sum, elk burgers, satay, even southern barbecue. But every one of those had to meet minimum standards as set by community nutritionists at the Vancouver Coastal Health Authority.

That’s what it says on the Poke’M food cart in Vancouver, which was recently featured on the Vancouver Street Eats website.

From VSE:  “Combining the old with the new street hawkers Poke’m way- serving the simple oriental snack of BBQ meatballs with toppings that will stir your curiosity. YUM!”

We recently told you about Vancouver holding a lottery to expand the city’s street food options.  One great street food option in Vancouver that already exists is The Roaming Dragon food truck.

Curious Domestic calls it a “tapas bar on wheels”, and posted a detailed review.  They spotted the truck visiting Kits Point near Arbutus and Whyte (the truck also makes appearances at Vancouver Farmers Markets), and selected 3 dishes for $15 to take advantage of the “Dragonista” twitter promo for a free Lychee Lemonade.

The dishes chosen were short rib tacos, rice balls, duck confit salad, and some pork belly sliders were added.  Read the full, delicious review after the jump.

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Vancouver already had some decent street food options, such as Japa Dog and Tandoori Tikka Dog.  Now they are going whole hog into the street food world.  Too bad they didn’t do this before the Winter Olympics earlier this year, as the pavilion offerings seemed to be pretty underwhelming.

Tandoori Tikka Dog

Last month we told you about a street food pilot program, with applications due by the end of June.  The license winners were just announced late last week.  From the looks of these street vendors, the people of Vancouver are the real winners with dim sum, burritos, bbq, satay and schnitzel (!) among the street food vending license winners.

Click through for a complete list (and the locations) of the new street food vendors in Vancouver. [The Province]

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Japadog

Vancouver is calling on vendors who want to sell nutritional and diverse food on city streets to submit applications before the end of this month.  Those who want to sell hot dogs, packaged ice cream, popcorn, pretzels, soft drinks, chips and candy bars are not encouraged to apply.

“Vancouver is a world-class city, and it’s time we had a street food scene that reflects the diversity of the people who live here,” Mayor Gregor Robertson says in a release. “Having a wide variety of culturally diverse and health food options on our streets adds to the vibrant and enjoyable nature of our city.”

Applicants should indicate their menu offerings and up to three preferred locations.  A lottery draw on July 9 will match qualified vendors to as many as 17 new vending locations. They will be expected to start operations by July 31, the release says.  [Vancouver Sun]

It’s always nice when a politician finally “sees the light”.  Guess they want to find some competition for Japa Dog and Tandoori Tikka Dog.