New York Street Food

Last Friday I was involved with a film shoot at the Big Gay Ice Cream Truck for Eat Street, a show being produced for Food Network Canada.  On Thursday, they were filming at the Biryani Cart, and I stopped by to meet the film crew.

By the time I got there, around 1:15, the filming was mostly over, so it turned out to be a good time to meet the crew: Peter (Director), Lori (Producer) and Shane (Cameraman).  There were a couple of other people hired locally to help out too.

About 5 minutes after I got there, the owner of the Biryani Cart, Meru, came over and offered to provide lunch for everyone.  Peter, Lori and Shane got the chicken biryani, and Pat (a local hire) and I got the chennai (rhymes with henna) kathi rolls.  While Meru’s biryani is very good, my favorite dish is the chennai kathi roll, which is the subject of Today’s Lunch.

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If you missed your chance to be on Eat St yesterday, a show being filmed this week in NYC for Food Network Canada,  you have 2 more chances.

They were filming at the Schnitzel & Things truck yesterday, and last night we heard from Blondie, who will be the “street food expert” being interviewed at the Biryani Cart (above) today around lunch.  Try to make it down to the Biryani Cart today if you can.  It’s on the SW corner of 46th St & 6th Ave.

Your last chance is tomorrow, when they will be filming at the Big Gay Ice Cream Truck on the NW corner of Broadway at 17th St from 1-3pm.  I will be one of the “street food experts” being interviewed, along with Erin Zimmer from Serious Eats.  Come on by and say hello (and possibly be on Food Network Canada).

A couple of months ago, we were contacted by Paperny Films, a Vancouver based company producing a show for Food Network Canada called Eat St.  They were looking for experts and opinions about the best street food in New York City and wanted our thoughts.

New York Street Food (and a bunch of other people) gave them opinions, and this week, they are here filming.  We understand the street food vendors being filmed are Schnitzel & Things, Biryani Cart, Ed’s Lobster Bar Kiosk and the Big Gay Ice Cream Truck.

Paperny will be filming Schnitzel & Things today (Wed) on Park Ave between 26th & 27th St between 11:30 and 2:00.  Everyone who can should head down there to support Oleg and company, and at the same time, eat some wonderful schnitzel (and possibly be on Canadian TV).

On Friday, Paperny will be filming the Big Gay Ice Cream Truck on Broadway & 17th St from 1-3pm, and yours truly will be the “street food expert” being interviewed for the show.  Come on down Friday to Union Square to show your support for Doug & Bryan, and to enjoy some amazing ice cream.  It’s supposed to be in the mid-90’s Friday, so I’m glad I pulled ice cream duty.

When I was at the Biryani Cart last week on the SW corner of 46th St & 6th Ave to try their namesake dish, chicken biryani, someone else got the chicken tikka and it looked really good.  Even though I went there last week, I went back again for Today’s Lunch, the chicken tikka ($6).

As I’ve said before, the aromas from Indian food are as appealing as the taste, and this was no exception.  Upon opening the container, the first thing you notice is the smell, which was great.  There were plenty of pieces of chicken, and they were a mix of boneless dark and white meat.  The nicely-spiced chicken was grilled and topped with a white sauce that added to the taste of the dish.

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Lately I’ve been advocating the theory that when a food vendor puts a specific dish in their name, ordering that dish would usually be an excellent first choice.  This rule applies to restaurants as well as street vendors.  The latest vendor to test of this theory – Biryani Cart.

Biryani Cart has been on the SW corner of 46th St and 6th Ave for many years, and they were the People’s Choice Award winner at both the 2009 and 2008 Vendy Awards.  Today’s Lunch was their chicken biryani ($6).  Vegetable biryani is also available.

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