New York Street Food

I know we’ve been writing about grilled cheese a lot lately, but a) most people love it and b) there are some creative chefs doing interesting new things in the genre.

We first heard about (and tried) Food Freaks Grilled Cheese at the Taste of the Parks showcase last June.  The NYC Parks Dept was showing off some of the new vendors in the parks, and Food Freaks Grilled Cheese were one of our favorite tastes of the parks that day.

Food Freaks was founded by brothers Stephen and Dave Cusato and John Coppola, who are now serving awesome grilled cheese from a yellow kiosk right outside Fort Greene Park in Brooklyn (at DeKalb Ave).  They are open Tues-Sun from 11-5:30, but are open later when the weather is warmer.

Below is one of the tastes I had from Food Freaks Grilled Cheese that day, which was delicious.

braised short ribs, gruyere, blackberry jam & more

A young filmmaker in Fort Greene named Jonathan Mann approached Food Freaks Grilled Cheese not too long ago to make a video.  It came out really well.

Click through to check out the full menu of Food Freaks, and to watch the tasty video. (more…)

NYSF readers know how much we love everything “buffalo” and blue cheese related – but even we might not be ready for this!

I must have missed the episode of 30 Rock where they talk about a buffalo chicken milkshake, but NYSF reader Monica sent us a video she saw on Buzzfeed where the recipe is attempted by a 30 Rock writer and fan.

Sounds delicious, right? Watch as 30 Rock SuperFan Robert Bishop (of Lunch Blog KC) and 30 Rock writer Tracey Wigfield conquer one of the show’s most bizarre edible concoctions.

How do you get through a very cold winter’s night in Japan?  If you’re Eric Meal Time, it’s with a can of potato & cheese soup from a vending machine, plus yakitori and a fire-roasted sweet potato from street vendors.

On the New York Street Food Tour over the summer, I told people about how there used to be potato and sweet potato vendors on the streets of New York too.  Hot potatoes were used by people as “pocket warmers” during the day, then made into meals at night.

My mother-in-law, who is around 80, told us about her father coming home from work with potatoes in his pockets, which they would use for part of that night’s dinner.  Now that’s what I call multi-tasking.

1942 - Vendor selling hot sweet potatoes on East 7th St

We received an email from Eat St. telling us about their first ever Vendor Video Contest. Vendors can win a chance to be filmed for an Eat St segment, with a little help from their friends.

Eat St. is encouraging street food vendors to submit a short video of their cart or truck in the Eat St. Video Contest!  Just tell them a little bit about your cart or truck and your food to enter the contest, then let your fans and customers vote your way to glory.

No video equipment? No problem. Take a quick video clip with your phone.  Videos are all about the content, not the video quality.

To enter the contest…

(more…)

We saw this pretty cool tweet last night from Wafels & Dinges:

waffletruck Wafels & Dinges We now have a channel on de YouTube TV. De Royal Wafel Channel: youtube.com/user/wafelsanddinges

You can now watch Wafels & Dinges on the Today Show, check out their Throwdown With Bobby Flay (we won’t give away the ending), and see them on Best Food Ever (which also includes The Treats Truck).  There are interviews and other videos too.