At 3 p.m., the lines continued unabated. (Image: Renée Suen)
Saturday marked the inaugural staging of Food Truck Eats, a street food event organized by Suresh Doss, publisher of Spotlight Toronto, which saw four street trucks and 10 vendors gather at the historic Distillery District. Although a conservative turnout of 500 was expected, more than 3,000 showed up for the long-weekend event (which ended up trending on Twitter). Despite the heat and long lineups, the crowd was abuzz—a sure indication of the city’s readiness for more liberal street food rules. We caught up with the various vendors—Cava, Geoff Hopgood, El Gastrónomo Vagabundo and more—to check out their wares and find out what they made of the day’s success. We also spoke to Doss, who gave us the heads-up on the next two events, which will take place at the on Aug. 20 at the Distillery and Oct. 1 at a new location to be announced, and will feature some surprise guests.
August 20 is circled on my calendar.
July 6, 2011 at 9:53 am | by Andrew“the most talked-about dish” at El Gastronomo Vagabundo, (the “Buddha Belly”) is a hopeless knock-off of David Chang’s Momofuku pork buns from New York City…
July 6, 2011 at 9:58 am | by ndKActually our buns are different from Chang’s in a few ways: Chang’s recipe is a play on peking duck (hence his use of hoisin); We use a homemade Thai chili jam, not store bought hoisin and sriracha; and we use homemade five spice on our pork belly.
Hope to see you at Food Truck Eats part 2!
July 6, 2011 at 10:28 am | by Tamara @ EGVI completely agree with ndK…
Tamara, although your comment is a sweet attempt to list why your Buddha Belly is NOT a knock-off, I have to say that you have SO obviously copied David Chang’s idea that it is almost embarassing.
Your dish is great… don’t get me wrong. So tasty and you did a great job.
However, it is a stolen idea and the best move for you is to admit that. No one is going to get upset when you present them with your wonderfully tasty dish, but it is exactly the same idea and that is what the “wrong” being pointed out is. Kind of lame to justify by saying you use a different twist on it. Much better to just admit that you were “inspired” by it.
Good luck, though… just hope David Chang doesn’t come-a-knockin’ to Foof Truck Eats part 2 ;)
July 6, 2011 at 10:50 am | by Buddha Belly = Knock-OffOf course we’re inspired by Chang and many other chefs – I didn’t say we weren’t :) I was just trying to explain how our buns are different. Glad you enjoyed them, despite your embarrassment.
We’re not the only food truck that does steamed pork buns, either. Chairman Bao (in SF) has a whole menu centered around them, and Canada’s own Roaming Dragon does their version as well. David Chang is an accomplished and respected chef, but he isn’t the inventor of steamed buns, nor is he the only chef to make them. If he does come to Food Truck Eats part 2, we would be thrilled to serve him our own variation of a pork steamed bun.
Cheers!
July 6, 2011 at 11:07 am | by Tamara @ EGVWell that’s as absurd as saying the Big Mac is a knock off from the Whopper!
July 6, 2011 at 11:18 am | by NikkiThere is no such thing as originality anyway.
July 6, 2011 at 11:31 am | by mattagascarDear elgastro:
I hope you know that your food is excellent, creative, and powerfully appreciated by throngs of supportive (and happily fed!) people. Your Thai-inspired cuisine and your rigorous and enviable work ethic is what has earned you (and will continue to earn you) so many devoted followers. Elgastro, Suresh Doss, and all of the hard-working vendors and organizers who brought Food Truck Eats to Toronto deserve far more encouragement and praise.
It really is shameful that a few boo-birds with misfired and empty accusations accomplish nothing but spreading hurt and offense. Whatever their reason or intention, such comments only display as silly, unproductive, and individualistic nitpicking. If they truly mean well, then they would do well (for others and for themselves) to remember that a lot of people (vendors and foodies) came to and left from the Food Truck Eats event with uplifting positivity.
Elgastro and other vendors: focus on the multitude of comments now spreading that say: ‘The overwhelming response to Food Truck Eats shows how much TO needs to work to reform and regulate these wonderful vendors for which there is screamingly obvious demand’. Time to tune out the boo-birds, and just keep serving them the delicious food they line up for.
Everyone–vendors and foodies alike–should be congratulated who came out and brought passion to the event. A well deserved ‘well-done’!
July 6, 2011 at 11:35 am | by Drink at FoodTruckEats2: "Positivi-Tea"!If only every dish on the planet was truly authentic and never copied.
Some of these comments really show how immature the Toronto palate can be sometimes. I can think of at least 3 restaurants in the city that have a variation of the pork bun on their menu right now. Anyone been to 416 snack bar lately?
Secondly, there are numerous food trucks in the U.S. that serve these pork buns. But clearly the complaints are coming from citizens of a city that have little to no exposure to these trucks.
I suggest you guys venture out a bit and try some of the food thats out there.
July 6, 2011 at 11:41 am | by MatthewI agree with Tamara and Nikki – pork buns weren’t invented by David Chang, though he does make a mean one!
Having been fortunate enough to have sampled both Chang’s and elgastro’s pork buns I can say they are different enough to make any impending lawsuits unnecessary. Personally, I like elgastro’s bun to filling ratio a little better.
Congrats on all your success! You make me want to move to St. Kitt’s!
July 6, 2011 at 12:17 pm | by AndyI’m going to allow David Chang to weigh in on this. Here’s a direct quote (page 79 of the Momofuku cookbook):
“If Momofuku is famous for something it’s these steamed pork buns. Are they good? They are. Are they something that sprang from our collective imagination like Athena out of Zeus’ forehead? Hell no. They’re just our take on a pretty common Asian food formula: steamed bread + tasty meat = good eating”
Let’s shift the focus back to how EGV and friends are fighting the good fight. Awesome work guys!
July 6, 2011 at 12:21 pm | by PeteIt’s just a pork bun.
Go to the French Laundry, see how many food items there are “original.”
Have fun.
July 6, 2011 at 12:22 pm | by The PontiffEvery dishes in this world have it’s beginning from somewhere.
By the way ndk and all the knock offs, our great great…etc ancestors have been been eating buns with belly meat since buddha was born.
Who cares as long as the food is good…get a life!
July 6, 2011 at 12:50 pm | by BaboonWell ndK aren’t you just a little pill. As a trained chef myself, I can say that we all take inspiration from the great ones within the industry. Whether it’s Chang, Gushue, Keller, Achatz or Adrià – culinary masters are best lauded by having others make versions of their dishes.
Because of Chuck Hughes I know add beets to my mirepoix for braised short ribs and because of Jonathan Gushue I now make lettuce soup (not half as good as his). But I don’t go walking around with a sandwich board around my neck advertising the fact. Real foodies can spot the origin of the idea and the polite ones don’t get all accusatory and mean-spirited on comment boards. Why can’t you just be pleased with the accomplishment of a hard-working individual?
At the end of the day it’s all about access – giving the masses the ability to have something similar in their own backyard, at a price that they can afford. Just in case you didn’t know ndK, not everyone can afford to Porter into NYC in order to eat at Momofuku.
Tamara, I don’t know you, but you’re definitely an inspiration to young chefs and I hope that EGV continues to be a success.
July 6, 2011 at 12:56 pm | by Tsk TskWow, BB=KO, no need for the over-the-top condescension. It seems really odd to imply that a chef would bite into something somewhat similar to what he makes at his own establishment and… What? Sue? Call the police? The whole statement makes no sense. Especially considering steamed pork buns are made all over.
July 6, 2011 at 3:05 pm | by Jinx