New York Street Food

Crowdfunding is coming to the food truck world with a bang.

We recently told you about the Snap Truck raising the last $10,000 they needed to get their truck on the street via Kickstarter.

Now we hear Dessert Truck, the two-time Vendy Award Finalist, is looking to raise money for packaging to get their products into grocery stores.  We had their warm chocolate bread pudding w/vanilla custard sauce at the 2010 Vendy Awards, and it was spectacular!

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Jerome Chang at the 2010 Vendy Awards (Best Dessert Finalist)

Do you want to learn how to start a food truck business in NYC?  How do you get the necessary permits and licenses?  How much does it cost to buy a food truck?  Which foods have the best profit margins?

These and other questions will be answered at The Learning Annex on April 19th by Jerome Chang of The Dessert Truck and Sean Sullivan of Feed Your Hole.  Jerome and Sean have two of the best food trucks in NYC, and Jerome also opened a storefront on the LES last year called DT Works.

Sean Sullivan

Click here for more information on the class, which costs $45.  Some of the course description sounds like an infomercial with lines such as “You could make thousands of dollars your first day!” and “Take control of your life by gaining financial independence and success for your future!”.

Don’t be taken in by the hyperbole. While it all sounds very exciting and glamorous, be forewarned that food trucks are a very difficult, low-margin business.  You are constantly dealing with commissaries, mechanical problems, bad weather, police, and a whole host of other difficulties that make this a very tough endeavor.

In fact, less than an hour ago, The Kimchi Truck tweeted “Not a good day. Being forced to shut down by restaurants & building owners. Times Square Alliance busting our balls about the line. CBRE needs to mind it’s biz!”

If you truly have the stomach for this type of business, both Jerome and Sean have been through the process, and should be able to offer real insights into the food truck business.

Dessert Truck's warm chocolate bread pudding w/vanilla custard sauce

Best Dessert winner Alex Rein, last year's winner Thomas De Geest, host Pat Kiernan and Sean Basinski, Street Vendor Project

The Vendy Award Dessert category was a very difficult category to predict.  Any of the nominees could easily have been justified being chosen as the Best Dessert vendor, with 2 past Vendy finalists chosen again this year.

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After opening a storefront on the Lower East Side last January and keeping their truck garaged except for special events, the Dessert Truck is hitting the pavement again this summer and into the fall.

Jerome sent out this message on facebook and twitter: “The truck will be back on the street thru the end of Oct 2010. We just got a seasonal permit and will give it a go at our old spot tonight beginning at 6pm. 3rd Ave & St. Mark’s Pl. Streamlined menu. Special thanks to Ben, John & Ernie”

Definitely a welcome return for those of us with a sweet-tooth.

Buttermilk Truck

Mainstreet.com recently published a list of their choices for the best food trucks in America.  While there are the usual suspects such as Calexico Carne Asada (not actually a food truck) and Dessert Truck (which is now a storefront) in New York and Kogi Korean BBQ, Skillet and Buttermilk Truck in L.A., there were a few left-field choices too.  Click here to see them, as well as to read a (very) short history of food trucks.

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