Vendy Awards Crown Best of NYC Street Food



Winning street food looks like this: Best Market Vendor winner Lumpia Shack

Saturday, under a bright blue, blustery sky, I was, um, stranded on Governors Island with nearly 2,000 other eager foodies with nothing else to do but eat our way through 24 of the best street food vendors in NYC. The two dozen contenders, selected from the area's 10,000 mobile chefs, is a rarefied group. And for the past eight years, the NYC Vendy Awards have honored our city's rich, diverse street food culture with a day-long celebration.

Winner of the top prize, the Vendy Cup, went to Piaztlan Authentic Mexican, whose rich, complex flour tacos and homemade salsas begged for more.

The People's Taste Award went to The Cinnamon Snail, a significant nod to the truck's inventive vegan food and desserts (chamomile donuts with lavender glaze are sinfully good). Lumpia Shack took home the Best Market Vendor prize for its delicate Filipino spring rolls. Melt Bakery won Best Dessert for its creamy ice cream sandwiches, and Phil's Steaks was recognized as Rookie of the Year for its authentic Philly cheesesteaks.

Baby Got Back Ribs galore



Award-winning vegan delicacies from The Cinnamon Snail
 

And Cinnamon Snail's vegan desserts

Savory roti making at Parantha Alley

Piaztlan Authentic Mexican's Vendy Cup winning tacos 

Juicy Chinese Mirch momo

Pestle and Mortar's lobster ceviche

Vendy Awards Creates Sustainable Meat Event

Sustainable jerk chicken, greens and rice from Veronica's Kitchen

Here's an NYC edible experiment worth cheering about.

What happens when you pair local street carts with sustainable local farms, and one outstanding food market? The Vendy Awards + New Amsterdam Market's "International Meats Local."  The concept was launched at this past Sunday's outdoor market.

Former Vendy winner Solber Pupusas drew a crowd

Vendy Awards managing director Helena Tubis hatched tha plan with New Amsterdam Market director Robert LaValva. Tubis sees it as a "really important project [to be] studying the economics of local sourcing for street vendors; seeing how it could make sense for them to use a better quality of meat; and how this would impact the pricing of their food."

Tickets ($20-$35) were exchanged for hefty tastings of five international dishes: meaty pot stickers, spicy jerk chicken, chorizo breakfast burritos, gooey pupusas and fresh tamales.

Taiwanese chicken and beef potstickers from A-Pou's Taste

Former Vendy Award winners - A-Pou's Taste, Veronica's Kitchen and Solber Pupusas - joined  nominees Eggstravaganza, and Guadalupe's Tamales as the vendors paired with sustainable purveyors Bobo Poultry, Marlow & Daughters, Dickson's Farmstand, Saxelby Cheesemongers, Shushan Farm, S&SO Produce Farms, and Rogowski Farm.

And now the Vendys have plans in the works to help vendors source sustainably in general. Can you hear me cheering?