New York Street Food

You never forget your first love – and in the New York Street Food scene, Schnitzel & Things (S&T) will always have a special place in my heart.  It’s not because of how Oleg uses those tongs (although he does wield them nicely).  It’s because S&T was the first street food vendor that seduced me into the street food world.  After S&T, I found Wafels & Dinges, nyccravings and others, and I haven’t been the same since.

Today was the first opportunity I had to visit S&T since they were honored as a 2010 Vendy Award finalist earlier this week – and they had cod!  They also had a line about 20 minutes long, but that’s how it goes when you want lunch from one of the best street food vendors in New York.

Today’s Lunch is a cod schnitzel platter ($10) with cucumber salad and beet/feta salad as side dishes.  You can also get it without side dishes for $8.

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Every year the Vendy Award nominees have videos recorded so we can meet the vendors up close and personal.  This year’s videos were produced by Food Curated and are shown below for your enjoyment.  Just make sure you’ve eaten first!

1. King of Falafel & Shawarma

2. Bistro Truck

3. El Rey del Sabor

4. Patacon Pisao

5. Schnitzel & Things

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.

A few hours ago, the Schnitzel & Things truck was asked to move from 54th St & Lexington Ave by the cops.  The reason, according to this tweet from the S&T truck: “Dear all, we’ve been kicked out by cops because of complaints from citicorp. The reason they gave = “we are a terrorist threat”. Lol WTF????”

Gothamist spoke to Schnitzel & Things’ Gene Voss who said that when the police first told him to move the truck, he showed that he was legally parked and permitted. The police also looked at his and his employees vending permits. The police left but returned saying that since the Citigroup Building is such a high-profile building (and possible terrorist target), the Citigroup could make a complaint citing a terrorist threat and cops were essentially empowered to make him leave. When asked if he’s been forced to move from other spots, Voss said that when he was parked outside the News Corp. building at 6th Avenue and 48th Street, News Corp. apparently complained to cops—but in that instance, the cops said he was allowed to stay. [Gothamist]

It’s a rainy Monday, but that didn’t stop people from schnitzing it up at the new Monday location for the Schnitzel & Things truck, Broadway & 57th St.   Last Monday was their first stop in this new location, and I couldn’t be happier.  I literally did not have to cross the street to get Today’s Lunch.

Last week I had an awesome chicken schnitzel platter, so this week I went for a bratwurst ($5) with a side order of fries ($3).

The brat was fried, then sliced horizontally and put on a ciabatta roll with only mustard (my request).  I’m not sure where they get their brats from, but this one was tasty, if not as fat as what I’m used to.

The mustard was a dijon-type, with a nice bite to it.  Germans and Austrians love their mustard, so you can’t have wimpy mustard on a wurst.  The bread is important, too and the ciabatta roll was up to the task.

The fries were also done right.  In the past, Schnitzel & Things had disc-shaped fries that weren’t so great.  I’m not sure when they switched to the normal-shaped fries, but these were much better – crisp on the outside, soft inside and the right amount of salt (meaning you could taste it, but it wasn’t too salty).

Today’s Lunch was a 9.5 out of 10.  I would have liked the brat to be a little fatter, but that’s a small quibble.  Overall, lunch was excellent.  If the bratwurst is getting some play, maybe they can add another wurst to the menu, perhaps a knockwurst, weisswurst, bauernwurst or even kielbasa.  It may not feel like it today, but summer’s on it’s way, and nothing says summer like wurst and beer.

That reminds me – Hey Oleg, when are you getting your beer license?