DINING OUT: Street eats are the star

BY ANNA SPIVAK & HELEN KLEIN

Brooklyn certainly showed its chops in the most recent installment of the Vendys, the annual competition that pits the creative culinary skills of the city’s food vendors against each other.

With six categories, Brooklyn vendors captured four top spots with one Brooklyn entry, Snowday, snagging two awards – both the Vendy Cup which is awarded by a panel of culinary experts and the People’s Choice award, which is awarded based on ballots cast by the hundreds of people who spent the afternoon of Saturday, September 12 on Governor’s Island, gorging themselves on some of the best stuff to come out of food trucks and market stands across the city.

Snowday – 95 percent of whose ingredients are sourced from local farms — is unique not only in winning two awards, but also in its social mission, started by Drive Change, an organization which gives training and jobs to young people who have done time.

Besides Snowday, Coney Shack Tacos – which serves up a zesty Southeast Asian take on traditional seaside fare at Coney and elsewhere – scored the title of Rookie of the Year, and the borough’s own Home Frite – whose truffle oil and parmesan enhanced French fries elevate the humble potato to an art form – won as Best Market Vendor.

We dove in willingly to the task of sampling some of the best street eats to hit the pavement – figuratively if not literally. Besides those truffle fries, among our favorites were Snowday’s Maple Grilled Cheese, which was sweet and savory simultaneously, as well as its Deep Fried Riblets, whose sweet exterior contrasted perfectly with a garlicky, herb-enriched chimichurri topping.

We also fell for Coney Shack’s offerings – the Vietnamese Beef Short Rib Taco offered a yin and yang of bold flavors, with the bright tart taste of its cilantro-inflected shredded veggie topping providing a delightful counterpoint to the sweet meat. The deep-fried Five Spice Calamari were also amazing – these crunchy morsels combined Asian flavors with a traditionally Italian foodstuff, though Coney Shack’s calamari were about the smallest and tenderest we have ever sampled.

“What we do here is like a Southeast Asian, Mexican fusion so it’s a totally new concept,” noted Coney Shack originator Lawrence Mach.  “In Manhattan right now they have a lot of Korean taco joints. My parents came from Southeast Asia, so I said, ‘you know what, let me just incorporate some of those flavors right into tacos and hotdogs and quesadillas’ and it worked out very well.”

Of course, the fare purveyed by the Vendy winners was just the beginning. Among the other Brooklyn entrants that intrigued us were the steamed rice noodles prepared at a small truck that is normally stationed at 61^st Street and Eighth Avenue in Sunset Park. Guandong Cheong Fun’s noodles are unctuous, with layers of flavor for which the noodles – a traditional breakfast dish — provide a neutral base. We tried ours with soy sauce, hot sauce, sweet sauce and peanut sauce and were enchanted by this classic comfort food which was served studded with bits of chicken and corn.

Also addictive were Hard Times Sundaes’ cheeseburgers – normally available at chef-owner Andrew Zurica’s Mill Basin-based food truck. Tender and rich, these burgers are topped by caramelized onions and bacon for a sweet-salty take on the classic that has won many fans.

“In the city, everything’s at the top of the game, so to be considered the top of anything in the city is always good,” noted Zurica, who said, “I didn’t know I was being nominated until they called me. They said, ‘you’ve been nominated’ I said, ‘for what,’ they said, ‘the Vendys’ I said, ‘what is that’ and they told me, so I’m here.”

No meal is complete without dessert – fortunately, Brooklyn’s Booquoo Beignets was there to sweeten the pot. These gorgeously deep fried balls of dough served with a selection of dipping sauces (we chose praline) come by the pedigree naturally. Booquoo’s owner hails from New Orleans, so he knows a thing or two about preparing a dessert that is virtually synonymous with the Crescent City.

A total of 25 vendors in five categories participated in the 11-year-young Vendys, which are run by the Street Vendor Project. In total, 11 of the vendors have a Brooklyn connection.