New York Street Food

(credit: NYSF)

We got some good news recently on our Mobile Munchies twitter feed. Food Freaks Grilled Cheese was going to be back in Central Park, and this time, they were even closer to our office.

In May, the Food Freaks cart was at 60th St & 5th Ave by the Central Park Zoo entrance on Mondays & Tuesdays. Now they are at the Central Park entrance at 59th St & 6th Ave, which is walking distance from my office.

I asked what the deal was with this cockamamie schedule of theirs, and they told me the Parks Dept was granting month-to-month licenses for some locations. So listen up. The Food Freaks Grilled Cheese Cart is going to be at the 59th St & 6th Ave entrance to Central Park on Mondays & Tuesdays for the month of July. You can’t miss the yellow cart with the big “F” right by the statue of José Marti.

Wanting to try something new, I ordered the Fort Greene sandwich, which cost $7.25. When the cart is not at Central Park, their regular spot is by Fort Greene Park in Brooklyn, so I expect this should be one of their better sandwiches.

With this heat, I also ordered Watermelon Freak Juice for $3.25.

(credit: NYSF)

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(credit: NYSF)

Today is the last day to get Food Freaks Grilled Cheese at their temporary Central Park location.  Don’t worry if you can’t make it.  They will be back at their regular spot by Ft. Greene Park in Brooklyn tomorrow.

This time we splurged and got the Short Rib Grilled Cheese for $8.75.  Short rib isn’t cheap, and this sandwich was the most expensive one on the menu, but the other sandwiches are less, ranging from $5.75-$7.50.  You can see the menu here.

(credit: NYSF)

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(credit: NYSF)

We received a nice surprise on Sunday when Food Freaks Grilled Cheese tweeted they were going to be in Central Park on Monday & Tuesday for lunch.  Food Freaks were one of our favorite new vendors at the Taste of the Parks event last June, but we haven’t gotten out to their regular spot by Ft. Greene Park in Brooklyn.

Even though it was raining cats & dogs, we caught a lull in the storm and headed over to 5th Ave & 60th St, right by the entrance to Central Park.  The Food Freaks, Stephen Cusato and John Coppola, were grilling up a storm inside their cart.

After asking for their recommendation, we agreed and ordered the Arthur Avenue sandwich for $7.25.  For those of you not familiar with Arthur Avenue, it’s a section of the Bronx known as the “real Little Italy”.

(credit: NYSF)

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Food Freaks sandwich (credit: New York Street Food)

Yesterday the NY Times had a feature called Rethinking Grilled Cheese.  To us it was more like celebrating grilled cheese, because we’ve been following and talking about three of these guys for quite some time.

Last June at the Taste of the Parks, we raved about the braised short rib, gruyere, blackberry jam, pickled red onions and watercress on grilled sourdough (pictured above) from Food Freaks.  At the time, we said it was our favorite dish of the day, and there were several past Vendy Award Finalists at the event.

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short rib, gruyere, blackberry jam, pickled onions & watercress

Step into my lair young grasshopper, and you will discover the secrets of a Grilled Cheese Master.

Shocking as it may sound, there may not always be a grilled cheese vendor around when the yearning hits.  In these cases, you might have to make a grilled cheese sandwich at home.

But it’s not as simple as it sounds.  There are things you should know that could help make your good grilled cheese sandwich into a great one. (Mayo?)

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