There are couple of event reports to dispense with before we commence with the morning. First up, P.S. 1 in Long Island City welcomed the super-hyped up tasting event Le Fooding d'Amour on Friday and Saturday nights, offering those lucky enough to snag $30 tickets (and every press person in New York) tastings from NYC chefs (Chang, Dufresne, Boulud) and their French counterparts (Inaki Aizpitarte, Alberto Herraiz), in addition to gallery art and the DJ stylings of LCD Soundsystem.
Those familiar with the summer Warm Ups at P.S. 1 won't be surprised to hear the lines to get in wrapped around the block, and thus inside, the wait for food was a bit bonkers. By 8 p.m. on night one, David Chang ran out of lettuce for his bo ssam (he reportedly served 1,500 plates in the two hours), and by 9 p.m., much of the food throughout was gone.
Meanwhile, on Sunday afternoon, the 2009 Vendy Awards hit the Queens Museum of Art Plaza in Corona Park, bringing a collection of eleven of the new, the old, and the trendy of the New York street vendor scene to the shadow of the mighty Unisphere. After hours of serving throngs of attendees a seemingly endless supply of street meats and international specialties, the awards were handed out—the big winner being Fernando and Jolanda Martinez’s Country Boys/Martinez Taco Truck, which serves the tacos and huaraches that helped snag them the coveted Vendy Cup for Best Street Vendor. This was a big win for the Martinezes, who have been feeding fans of Mexican food at the Red Hook Ballfields and around other areas of Brooklyn for the greater part of 16 years.
The remaining three awards were determined by the attendees of the festival. In something of a surprise win, the award for Best Dessert went to Wafels & Dinges—and not fest hit The Big Gay Dessert Truck—while the People’s Taste Award went to the Biriyani Cart and The Rookie of the Year Award was handed out to newcomer Schnitzels & Things.
—Reporting by Greg Morabito