4th Annual Vendy Awards

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Summer ushers in more than just warm weather and the start of Penn’s summer break: it kicks off the hottest festival season all year, with spectacular shindigs one after another. One such fête was Philadelphia’s 4th Annual Vendy Awards, taking over Penn Treaty Park on Saturday, June 14, 2014.

For those new to the Vendy Awards, it’s “the first street food event and competition series in the U.S., providing a forum for vendors to compete for the title of Best Street food.” It celebrates its tenth anniversary this year, holding competitions in New York, Los Angeles, New Orleans, and Chicago. The fundraiser is organized by the Street Vendor Project, a membership-based non-profit organization that stands up for vendors’ rights.

Penn Appétit’s Carolyn Grace and Nicole Woon prepped their stomachs well in advance and are here to share their perspectives–as an attendee and as a judge, respectively–from the field.

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Carolyn Grace: Forget the Oscars. The Vendys are my new favorite awards event!  I mean, who doesn’t want to spend the afternoon in Penn Treaty Park, eating a smorgasbord of food from Philly’s best vendors?  Here are some of the delicious bites I tried:

Cheese E. Wagon: Chicken Quesadilla

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Herb roasted chicken, combined with pico de gallo and roasted pepper coulis and served with a four-bean salad.  This is a specialty of Cheese E. Wagon’s, and it’s easy to taste why.  The savory chicken and subtle use of cheese are incredibly filling and satisfying.  This is only further complemented by the black and pinto beans in the salad.

Bonjour Crêperie:  The Bella Crêpe

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Très délicieuse!  This light crêpe is packed with warm, syrupy strawberries and bananas, covered with a drizzle of Nutella, and dusted with powdered sugar.  Even with so many uber-sweet ingredients, the Bella is the perfect amount of sweet for an early morning dessert.

Samosa Deb: Fish Samosa and Saag Paneer

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The salmon samosa had a nice smoky flavor and mildly spicy kick.  The Saag Paneer consisted of rice topped with melted cheese and spinach, a very hearty dish that also had a spicy aftertaste.

HEART Food Truck: Chilled Savory Strawberry Soup and Escargot

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This was one of my favorite vendors of the entire day!  The strawberry soup was made with goat’s milk creme fraiche and a black pepper cornbread crumble.  The sweetness of the cornbread enhanced the natural sweetness of the strawberries, while the pepper gave the soup a pleasantly surprising tang overall.  The escargot was made up of mushroom oatmeal and garlic scape cream.  The dish was incredibly rich and creamy.  The savoriness came from the mushroom and was further heightened by the garlic.

Local 215:  Pork Fritter and Pork Belly Mac and Cheese with Crushed Potato Chips

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Included in the pork fritter were capers, pistachios, and hoisin sriracha sauce.  This gave it a mixture of sweet and smoky flavors that ultimately ended with a spicy kick.  The pork belly mac and cheese was a little too chewy for my taste, but the crunchiness of the chips at least complemented the consistency.  Speaking of taste, the taste of pork belly matched very well with the mac and cheese.

Jimmies Cupcake Co.: The LeBron James

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If only the Heat had made plays as sweet as this cupcake during the NBA finals!  Oh well, I was rooting for the Spurs anyway, but back to the cupcake.  The delightfully sweet vanilla cake is balanced by a citrusy tang and zest from the raspberry icing and key lime glaze.

Oink & Moo: BBQ Brisket Slider

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The brisket slider was topped with Oink & Moo’s signature cole slaw and homemade BBQ sauce.  What a sandwich!  The warm and savory BBQ sauce went well with the sweet cole slaw.

Curbside Creamery:  Black Raspberry Ice Cream

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I can never get ice cream from Mr. Frosty ever again.  Curbside Creamery has won my heart with its richly churned ice cream and sugary homemade waffle cones. (They make waffle CUPS, too!) It’s the perfect treat on a glorious summer afternoon.

Pie Stand:  Shepherd’s Pie

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A French take on an English classic!  The Shepherd’s Pie consisted of braised beef, slow roasted with Burgundy wine and Shallots, hand pulled infused with beef velouté, cremini mushrooms, peas, and carrots.  With so many hearty foods rolled into this tiny pie, it’s no wonder why one sample leaves you full until the next meal.

Because this was an awards event, I had to make my selections for each of the three categories: Best Dessert, Rookie of the Year and the Vendy Cup.  Let’s see how my picks compared with those of the judges and the audience!

Carolyn’s Picks:
Vendy Cup – Pie Stand
Rookie of the Year – HEART Food Truck
Best Dessert – Curbside Creamery

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The judges get decked out in stunning Beth Beverly rogue taxidermy pieces. (clockwise, from top left: Danya, Nicole, Lily F., Lily C., Felicia, Ann)

Nicole Woon: I still remember my first food truck experience; it was right around the time Kogi and the concept of upscale street food took the industry by storm. Calbi, an L.A.-based Mexican-Korean fusion restaurant-on-wheels, took my food truck innocence with a hulking bulgogi burrito. It was like nothing I had ever tasted before: the beef’s savory juices threatened to drip down my chin as I tore in while a pungent hit of kimchi made my nostrils flare. The innovation and quality of street food has crescendoed over the past decade, with owners determined to show that they can bring creative and tasty dishes to the masses. In Philly specifically, roundups like at LOVE Park and Drexel’s 33rd and Arch, and events such as the Vendy Awards and Night Market show the public that street food is a force to be reckoned with.

When I received the invitation to join this year’s Vendy Awards judging panel, I was floored and excited to be in great company with some of Philly’s food scene’s most influential females: Felicia D’Ambrosio, founding partner of Federal Donuts and Communications Chief at CookNSolo Restaurants; Lily Fischer, owner of Cake Life Bake Shop; Danya Henninger, editor and contributor to Zagat, Philly.com, and Philly Beer Scene Magazine; Ann Karlen, Executive Director of Fair Food; and Lily Cope, Executive Director of COOK.

We sampled our way through a host of savory and sweet delights, with vendors visiting the judges’ tables to share their food and stories. Hearing about their backgrounds and the inspiration behind dishes was one of my favorite parts of the event. These vendors give it their all on a daily basis, motivated to source locally, craft dishes from scratch, and build relationships with customers. In addition to the aforementioned food that Carolyn touched on, here are some more memorable bites that day:

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It’s not a question: you can never go wrong with fried cheese curds. The sampler platter the team presented featured their white and cheddar cheese curds; goat’s milk cheese curds (affectionately known as “billy curds”); and poutine, featuring fries topped with Hatfield bacon, curd bits too small to fry, and rich and savory gravy. The goat’s milk cheese curds were particularly unique, bringing a lovely tanginess that paired well with the sweeter sauces.

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Milk + Sugar delivered a plethora of treats, including Beyoncé-inspired pastel pink cupcakes and “Kitchen Sink” cookies rife with chocolate chips, butterscotch chips, and pretzels.

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Jimmie’s Cupcakes doesn’t just bake its namesake sweet: I nearly jumped up and down with delight when I learned of their ice cream sandwiches. Salted toffee brownie cookies embraced a thick chunk of vanilla ice cream, delivering one rich bite after another.

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Of course, Curbside Creamery brought their game in the ice cream department with a dense, creamy ball of coffee ice cream squished between crisp oatmeal biscoff cookies.

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Might I add that Curbside Creamery has the most beautiful truck design? I wish my car looked like this; time to call up their decorator.

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A bevy of beverages was just the ticket to wash down the day’s grub. We sipped from cans and bottles of Sam Adams Lager, Sam Adams Seasonal, Sam Adams Rebel IPA, Angry Orchard Crisp Cider, and GuS Grown Up Sodas.

After a long (top-secret) deliberation, the judges picked the Vendy Cup winner, while the audience members chose People’s Choice, Rookie of the Year, and Best Dessert. Not to sound cliché, but every truck there was a winner, bringing incredible eats to the public on a daily basis. With plenty of food, free-flowing libations, and a breezy sunny day to boot, this year’s Vendy Awards knocked it out of the (Penn Treaty) park.

2014 Vendy Awards Winners:
Vendy Cup – Pie Stand
People’s Choice – The Cow and The Curd
Rookie of the Year – Oink & Moo
Best Dessert – Bonjour Crêperie

Nicole (on the far right) with the other judges and the winner of the Vendy Cup, Pie Stand!
Penn Appétit Blog Editor and Vendy Award judge Nicole (on the far right) with the other judges and the winner of the Vendy Cup, Pie Stand!

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