Street Food Block Party... the video

The photos were just the beginning, here's a video recap of the biggest food party in Toronto this year! It was the best of both worlds, Toronto Underground Market and Food Trucks Eats, together in one place. 

And a reminder that the next Toronto Underground Market, (TUM) is happening June 9th, but tickets go on sale THIS Friday, (May 18th). They will sell out, so get yours early. 

Street Food Block Party

Street. Food. Block. Party.

Hell yeah Toronto! Photo highlights from one of the biggest food parties of the year.  3000 people at the Brickworks eating food, drinking craft beer and local wines and having a great time.

A huge thank you to Hassel Aviles and Suresh Doss, (and all the volunteers) for their tireless efforts in promoting street food, food trucks and budding entrepreneurs in Toronto. You guys are amazing, (and inspiring) this nights proves that.

Video recap coming soon!

Food Truck Infographic

Everything's better in infographic form, right?

More Food Trucks!

I'm becoming a food truck chaser. It's like a storm chaser, but tastier.

In what was the second event put on by UeaT, 11 food trucks took over two of the University of Toronto campuses. Where was this when I was at U of T??? Check out the video above for highlights of the trucks at the St. George campus.

If you want to see more food trucks in Toronto, you can help! Tweet your councillor, tweet the mayor, email them both and don't give me any excuses about not knowing how to find their info, it's all right here  at the Toronto Street Food Project.

If you're looking to see where the trucks will be next, you can follow them on Twitter or find out about events at Ontario Food Trucks. You could also probably just ask me, odds are, I'll be there...

Food Trucks Roll Into Liberty Village

After spending the morning in a dark classroom without windows, I was more than ready to get outside for some lunch. By the time I got to the food trucks in Liberty Village, just past 12:30pm, the sun was out and so were the crowds. Lines were already formed at the three trucks that came out to play: El Gastronomo Vagabundo, Caplansky’s and Blue Donkey Streatery.

I spotted Suresh, (he of Food Truck Eats and Spotlight Toronto who is leading the fight for food trucks in Toronto) and he told me to get in line fast if I wanted to get some food. I hurried over to El Gastronomo Vagabundo just in time to see them cross the Biltong Pork Belly Tacos off the chalkboard menu. Damnit, that was my first choice!

So I went with Plan B and set my sights on the Senor Ghandi Ceviche- smoked albacore tuna and scallop ceviche with salsa verde, madras curry paste, cherry tomatoes and corn chips. And then I waited.

As I stood in line, I struck up a conversation with the guy behind me. You never know who you’re going to meet at a Food Truck event but at least you know they’ve got good taste in food. Turns out, Martin’s an illustrator and has done designs for Threadless, one of my favourite companies! He also just happens to have completed a food truck t-shirt design, check it out, it’s awesome! 

This Is Why We Can't Have Nice Things Toronto

Torontonians are hungry for food trucks.  Literally.  In one of the most multicultural cities in the world, full of talented food producers, it should not be this hard to find good street food.  Hot dogs and French fries don’t count.

Yet, Toronto insists on stubbornly refusing to update by-laws which make it difficult to create change.  The current by-laws restrict food trucks from operating on public property in the downtown core, an area bordered by Bathurst Street to the west, Eglinton Avenue to the north and the Don River to the east. 

Food Trucks @ The Distillery District

But wait?  What about the fry trucks that park in front of Nathan Philips Square? Those have been there since before the dawn of time and have special permits with the City.  That is the only place they can operate.  There has since been a moratorium on new street vending permits for public property in the downtown core.  New food trucks don’t stand a chance, at least not in Toronto.

It’s a different story in Alberta, where Calgarians petitioned the City to eliminate outdated and misguided laws.  The mayor of Calgary was even on board with the movement and actively encouraged it.  As a result, the city loosened up on some of their old restrictions and Calgary’s food scene is now thriving.  In comparison, Toronto’s by-laws are antiquated and embarrassing.  But what is perhaps most embarrassing is an unwillingness to make changes.

 Some innovative Torontonians, however, are thinking up creative ways to get around the city by-laws, like partnering with property owners who have private space available.  This past summer, the city’s first Food Truck Eats event was held at the Distillery District.  Five food trucks, all selling high quality, gourmet food for $5 or less per serving, were present.  Organizer Suresh Doss, (@spotlightcity) predicted a turnout of 500 people.  Over 3000 foodies showed up and stood in line to get a taste of innovative food truck offerings such as wood fired pizza, Vietnamese sandwiches and Indian ice cream.  The vendors sold out in three hours. 

With the popularity of TV shows like Eat St., Torontonians have caught a glimpse of  the wide variety of food trucks that exist elsewhere in North America and they want more of it closer to home.  In a survey conducted by The Street Food Vendors Association, respondents complained that Toronto didn’t have enough variety of street food, needed more food trucks and needed to allow the food trucks to be mobile. 

For a mayor who clearly likes to eat, it’s surprising that Rob Ford and the Toronto City Council haven’t stepped in to help remove the barriers for new food trucks. That small change would make one of the world’s greatest cities, even better.  Or at least on par with Calgary.

A wonderful info graphic from Toronto Food Trucks, explaining why it's so hard...

Created by Toronto Food Trucks