Food Trucks @ City Hall, May 8th [Events]
2013 May 6
Rizak: Well, it is a fundraiser for Shepherds of Good Hope so do feel free to splurge. ;)
www.shepherdsofgoodhope.com
www.shepherdsofgoodhope.com
2013 May 7
Shawna Wagman tweeted today only 7 of 21 food trucks/carts will be ready for launch date.
Cathy Ferguson (@street_eater) tweeted back: 7 max. Some are going to be serving tmrw w/ out their truck/cart. Most delayed in building. Generator supplier crapped out.
A promoter (wise events) added that there will also be 10 international food vendors already at the plaza for Tulip Festival, but didn't say that the bracelet would include food from them.
This afternoon the City tweeted an invitation to come try samples from "some of the 18 new carts and trucks."
Cathy Ferguson (@street_eater) tweeted back: 7 max. Some are going to be serving tmrw w/ out their truck/cart. Most delayed in building. Generator supplier crapped out.
A promoter (wise events) added that there will also be 10 international food vendors already at the plaza for Tulip Festival, but didn't say that the bracelet would include food from them.
This afternoon the City tweeted an invitation to come try samples from "some of the 18 new carts and trucks."
2013 May 7
It sounds disorganized already and the event hasn't even happened yet... But I'm a trooper so I will head over around noon and see what's available. At least The Shephards of Good Hope benefit from it in the end.
Junkster There is also a food truck rally on Sparks Street on May 17th and 18th: www.sparksstreetmall.com
Junkster There is also a food truck rally on Sparks Street on May 17th and 18th: www.sparksstreetmall.com
2013 May 8
For Food Network lovers, like myself.
www.ottawacitizenstyle.com
Will they be filming too? :O
probably not..
www.ottawacitizenstyle.com
Will they be filming too? :O
probably not..
2013 May 8
Brian Mc Did you get anything to eat at least? When I got there, there was a sign up saying we had to buy a bracelet from a Shepherds of Good Hope volunteer. After running around the plaza I finally found a Sheps tent and the volunteers said they sold out of bracelets by 11:45. (I got there around noon.) There was quite a crowd of us looking to buy bracelets but they told us that there were only a limited amount of samples so they only sold a certain number of bracelets. The volunteers seemed to be turning away hundreds of people. I don't think they planned on having that many people show up.
So in the end I didn't get to try any of the street food as I had anticipated. The sandwich I bought at Roast 'N Brew was very good but not what I had my mind on...
So in the end I didn't get to try any of the street food as I had anticipated. The sandwich I bought at Roast 'N Brew was very good but not what I had my mind on...
2013 May 8
Count yourself lucky that you got turned away, I paid $20 for a a couple beef and cream cheese wraps (my wife and I) from Streats then left for a restaurant on Elgin. Streats was the only truck that seemed to have their act together. There may have been one other that was ready for the 11:30 start given by the mayor this morning.
I'm not sure about the amount of food, I just couldn't wait in the sun for 30 minutes with our 6 month old in each of the "lines" that formed haphazardly on the lawn.
Who'd a thunk that a food truck thing in the shadow of Place Bell and NDHQ would be popular. Why do Ottawa event organizers consistently underestimate the demand for food events in this city?
Beau's tent was good though.
I'm not sure about the amount of food, I just couldn't wait in the sun for 30 minutes with our 6 month old in each of the "lines" that formed haphazardly on the lawn.
Who'd a thunk that a food truck thing in the shadow of Place Bell and NDHQ would be popular. Why do Ottawa event organizers consistently underestimate the demand for food events in this city?
Beau's tent was good though.
2013 May 8
It looks like my $10 lunch was worth it then - a panini, two sides and some pita chips to take home.
Not only are Place Bell and NDHQ there but lots of other offices too. Hopefully some of these events organizers will plan better. That food truck festival was getting a lot of coverage in the social media as well as print so naturally large crowds will show up. I may even forgo the Sparks Street festival next week and just wait until the carts are set up at a street corner near me.
Not only are Place Bell and NDHQ there but lots of other offices too. Hopefully some of these events organizers will plan better. That food truck festival was getting a lot of coverage in the social media as well as print so naturally large crowds will show up. I may even forgo the Sparks Street festival next week and just wait until the carts are set up at a street corner near me.
2013 May 8
I heard that they sold the maximum 500 bracelets in less than half an hour. I was unencumbered by strollers or partners so I was able to sample samosas, asian sausage rolls, savory fried cakes, empanadas, guacamole, fruit drinks, crispy leek and quinoa bites, chicken and cranberry salad wraps etc. The organization of the event was really pretty bush league. I refused to stand in line half an hour for a quarter of a baked potato. The lady who was making churros was nowhere near ready in time, and she had two countertop deep fryers that she kept feeling to see if they were hot enough. I didn't stand in line later when they were ready.
At one point during the speeches, James Cunningham, the host of Food network's Eat St., spoke about the city being on the leading edge of the food truck scene in Canada, and he praised the methodology that the city had used to decide who got the precious food truck licences.
Lines were haphazard and crazy long, and there seemed to be a real shortage of garbage containers considering there were 500 people eating off disposable plates. So it looks like I may have sampled a bit more than others who have posted, and glad the event raised so much money for the Shepherds of Good Hope, but it was really nuts.
Not sure if it was a fair assessment of what these vendors can do, because most were not cooking in the actual trucks, but everything I tasted was a good alternative to the offerings at a typical chip wagon.
At one point during the speeches, James Cunningham, the host of Food network's Eat St., spoke about the city being on the leading edge of the food truck scene in Canada, and he praised the methodology that the city had used to decide who got the precious food truck licences.
Lines were haphazard and crazy long, and there seemed to be a real shortage of garbage containers considering there were 500 people eating off disposable plates. So it looks like I may have sampled a bit more than others who have posted, and glad the event raised so much money for the Shepherds of Good Hope, but it was really nuts.
Not sure if it was a fair assessment of what these vendors can do, because most were not cooking in the actual trucks, but everything I tasted was a good alternative to the offerings at a typical chip wagon.
2013 May 8
My colleagues and I headed over for 11:30. The only vendor that didn't have a huge line up was Olive Green and that was because they were tucked away near the doors to city hall. They also seemed to be organized - the food was already prepared and all we had to do was help ourselves. Lined up for over half an hour for a baked potato and another half hour for half of a waffle. Spent time looking for a garbage pail. The only positive about this event was that the money went to the Shepherds of Good Hope. Let's hope the vendors get their act together before they hit the streets!
2013 May 8
I had to drive my mom to do some blood test so I did mine too. I was suppose to meet a couple of people at 11:30 there but my mom forgot and ate something in the middle of the night so she could not do the blood test till 11:15 or later.
I called about 10:30 and asked one of the people I was meeting to pick me up a bracelet since I might not be able to get there till 12:00 or so and really glad I did.
Got there about 12:15 and it was a tad disorganized. I had to ask a police officer on the way into the city hall exactly where the food truck event was. He said he only heard from someone else earlier this morning.
I did see the Sheppards of Good Hope booth but they were out of bracelets already. I called my friends and they said they were at Urban Cowboy booth and walked all around and could not find that booth since the name I saw was something like Urban Rail and missed the flag Urban Cowboy due to the line and cover of the tent. Ask a security guard near the stage and he did not know so went back to the Sheppards of Good Hope booth and the volunteers did not know so asked someone from the city that was there and she did not know either. She just suggested I walk around and look for their signs uhmmm what was I doing for the previous 10 minutes. Lines are confusing and sometimes you don't know which line one is for. Called again and they said they were now in line for the blue truck so I know they were at STREAT by Urban Pear.
Met up and got my bracelet. They said several people asked them if the bracelet was for sale since they ran out. I did ask at the Sheppards of Good Hope booth and the city person said they sold something like 550 maybe 575 tickets. Kind of interesting they did not know for sure if they said there was a cap. My bracelet was numbered 566 if that helps.
They had saved an Asian sample plate (samosa and a couple of others) and a brisket Slider from Urban Cowboy for me. We got to the top of the Streats line and got some pork in tortilla with cilantro sauce. So it about an hour they managed to get the bracelets and 3 samples.
The Samosas were so so and they other 2 in the Asian plate were nothing special. The beef Brisket were decent and of a decent size for a sample but not as good as the ones I had in Texas last month and a little too sauced for my liking. The little pork tortilla cigar from Streat was tasty.
The others wanted the roasted potatoes next so about 10-15 mins for that. It was good but not worth the time for maybe a quarter or half of small potato with some sour cream, chives and/or cheese.
Lined up for the Korean one next and got a cup of rice, veggies and beef. This is the largest in size but the beef were not very tender but it cannot be easy to cook in such quantity.
While the others were in line for the Korean, I went to the churro stand and were able to get 2 which we were going to share but 2 of us each had one since one did not want the sweet. The churro was not fully cooked and still undercooked inside and it was dusted with cinnamon sugar. Ron E was at the stand wanting to take a photo of a box of churros so the people might have been a little distracted when they toss a few churros back in the oil but the ones they left out were not cooked sufficiently.
The line before Lunch truck were gone but they came out with tarragon chicken salad with cranberries and walnuts while we are walking past so got to sample it. It was tasty.
Got into the shortened line at STREAT again and picked up a quinoa salad on endive and a sausage bite on tortilla with creaming dill sauce. two of us split the taste of the quinoa on endive and I had a mini corner of the sausage bite.. the sausage was good.
By now it is 2:15 so we lined up for the shortened line for the egg waffles and last was the empanada stand where we got half a decent chicken empanada, Dorito tortilla chips (really?) and a sample of the fruit drink which is nice but a bit too sweet.
There is a roaster food truck in red but it must have ran out of food early since I did not see any food being served there. Only 3 real food trucks per say, empanada was a food cart and several were booths.
So STREAT is one I would look out for this summer and I would look out for LUNCH also. If I ran across the Empanada food cart, I would probably buy some and would sample more of the BBQ from Urban Cowboy since someone else had some kind of pulled chicken slider.
Since I like STREAT so much, I would also look to try Urban Pear sometime.
Disorganization of the event by the city with start time, lack of information on what is available let along where they are, etc. need improvement.
p.s. With the recycling and composting initiative in Ottawa, the city missed a great PR opportunity where they bring in some temporary recycling bins for the bottles and cans (and maybe plastic cups)plus green bins for the compostable food containers.
I called about 10:30 and asked one of the people I was meeting to pick me up a bracelet since I might not be able to get there till 12:00 or so and really glad I did.
Got there about 12:15 and it was a tad disorganized. I had to ask a police officer on the way into the city hall exactly where the food truck event was. He said he only heard from someone else earlier this morning.
I did see the Sheppards of Good Hope booth but they were out of bracelets already. I called my friends and they said they were at Urban Cowboy booth and walked all around and could not find that booth since the name I saw was something like Urban Rail and missed the flag Urban Cowboy due to the line and cover of the tent. Ask a security guard near the stage and he did not know so went back to the Sheppards of Good Hope booth and the volunteers did not know so asked someone from the city that was there and she did not know either. She just suggested I walk around and look for their signs uhmmm what was I doing for the previous 10 minutes. Lines are confusing and sometimes you don't know which line one is for. Called again and they said they were now in line for the blue truck so I know they were at STREAT by Urban Pear.
Met up and got my bracelet. They said several people asked them if the bracelet was for sale since they ran out. I did ask at the Sheppards of Good Hope booth and the city person said they sold something like 550 maybe 575 tickets. Kind of interesting they did not know for sure if they said there was a cap. My bracelet was numbered 566 if that helps.
They had saved an Asian sample plate (samosa and a couple of others) and a brisket Slider from Urban Cowboy for me. We got to the top of the Streats line and got some pork in tortilla with cilantro sauce. So it about an hour they managed to get the bracelets and 3 samples.
The Samosas were so so and they other 2 in the Asian plate were nothing special. The beef Brisket were decent and of a decent size for a sample but not as good as the ones I had in Texas last month and a little too sauced for my liking. The little pork tortilla cigar from Streat was tasty.
The others wanted the roasted potatoes next so about 10-15 mins for that. It was good but not worth the time for maybe a quarter or half of small potato with some sour cream, chives and/or cheese.
Lined up for the Korean one next and got a cup of rice, veggies and beef. This is the largest in size but the beef were not very tender but it cannot be easy to cook in such quantity.
While the others were in line for the Korean, I went to the churro stand and were able to get 2 which we were going to share but 2 of us each had one since one did not want the sweet. The churro was not fully cooked and still undercooked inside and it was dusted with cinnamon sugar. Ron E was at the stand wanting to take a photo of a box of churros so the people might have been a little distracted when they toss a few churros back in the oil but the ones they left out were not cooked sufficiently.
The line before Lunch truck were gone but they came out with tarragon chicken salad with cranberries and walnuts while we are walking past so got to sample it. It was tasty.
Got into the shortened line at STREAT again and picked up a quinoa salad on endive and a sausage bite on tortilla with creaming dill sauce. two of us split the taste of the quinoa on endive and I had a mini corner of the sausage bite.. the sausage was good.
By now it is 2:15 so we lined up for the shortened line for the egg waffles and last was the empanada stand where we got half a decent chicken empanada, Dorito tortilla chips (really?) and a sample of the fruit drink which is nice but a bit too sweet.
There is a roaster food truck in red but it must have ran out of food early since I did not see any food being served there. Only 3 real food trucks per say, empanada was a food cart and several were booths.
So STREAT is one I would look out for this summer and I would look out for LUNCH also. If I ran across the Empanada food cart, I would probably buy some and would sample more of the BBQ from Urban Cowboy since someone else had some kind of pulled chicken slider.
Since I like STREAT so much, I would also look to try Urban Pear sometime.
Disorganization of the event by the city with start time, lack of information on what is available let along where they are, etc. need improvement.
p.s. With the recycling and composting initiative in Ottawa, the city missed a great PR opportunity where they bring in some temporary recycling bins for the bottles and cans (and maybe plastic cups)plus green bins for the compostable food containers.
2013 May 8
When we were leaving, I saw the STREAT truck packing up so was cheeky and asked for a tour of their food truck.
Very clean and well kitted out. They extended the truck by 2 feet and added the propane tanks to the back. They bought the truck in October and gutted it. With the modification and kitting out plus the mural it was only ready beginning of May.
The rest of the truck are as they detailed in the Ottawa Citizen. 2 large fridges, triple sinks with 2 water tanks, fryer, griddle, grill, 4 burner? stove, oven, counter space, generator, or plug into 2 120v outlets.
This is a top notch operation and a lot of thoughts and planning went into it.
Very clean and well kitted out. They extended the truck by 2 feet and added the propane tanks to the back. They bought the truck in October and gutted it. With the modification and kitting out plus the mural it was only ready beginning of May.
The rest of the truck are as they detailed in the Ottawa Citizen. 2 large fridges, triple sinks with 2 water tanks, fryer, griddle, grill, 4 burner? stove, oven, counter space, generator, or plug into 2 120v outlets.
This is a top notch operation and a lot of thoughts and planning went into it.
2013 May 10
I got there at 11:45 and they were sold out of bracelets. So I went to the internation food tents there. The Indonesian one was a huge mistake. 5 people in line in front of me. It took, no joke, half an hour to get to the front of the line, and ten minutes to get 2 servings of Nasi Goreng. Which was really bad too. The rice was gritty, the egg flavourless, and the sauce unidentifiable until you got a sharp aftertaste of fishiness.
On the other hand the place doing tacos was faster and much better.
On the other hand the place doing tacos was faster and much better.
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