"food trucks" news and stories

Food trucks may be this year's "It" trend, but it isn't always a smooth ride for the operators of these mobile culinary businesses that serve up everything from cupcakes to frog legs.

One of the problems is that city-government officials are still figuring out how to amend codes and ordinances to accommodate the trucks, whose needs are very different from a bricks-and-mortar restaurant. One such dilemma: Where will the trucks park?

Minneapolis officials have the right idea. Lining Nicollet Mall (a car-free downtown area that bustles with pedestrian traffic all day and well into the night) are several food trucks in permanent spots. "They identify the location and that's where they are for the year," explains Douglas Kress, a policy aide to Lisa Goodman, who sits on the Minneapolis City Council. They include Smack Shack (lobster rolls), World Street Kitchen (Indian fare), Dandelion (seasonal foods), She Royal (coffee and foods from East Africa, the Mediterranean and Asia) and Cruzn Cafe (comfort foods).

The trend in gourmet food trucks may still be going strong, with mobile units serving everything from tapas to dim sum. But wait! What do we spy? Is it the next generation in the mobilization of food?Get ready for BikeCaffe. That's right; as Mother Nature Network reports, the U.K.-based company is looking to unleash an army of its pedaling baristas on U.S. shores, with at least one BikeCaffe operating in Denver already and others planned for Philadelphia, Pittsburgh and (of all places) Phoenix. (Not sure we'd want to commit to trying to hawk hot coffee in the desert from the seat of a bike, but okay.)

The fancy, three-wheeled contraptions are outfitted with a full-service coffee bar in front, which serves 100-percent fair-trade coffee, Italian-style espresso, and most other coffeehouse staples. And as the fact that the story was picked up by MNN suggests, the company is billing itself as ultra-eco-friendly. (After all, this is a bike we're talking about -- no worries about global-warming emissions here.)

There would seem to be another side benefit of operating a BikeCaffe: after a few months of pedaling that thing uphill, you're pretty much guaranteed to be able to eat all the biscotti you can manage and never pack on a pound.

It's official. As we reported here in September, one of New York's swank dining spots (which was known more for its prime location than for its food), Tavern on the Green is now home to four food trucks.

The shuttered restaurant's new residents opened for business in Central Park the New York Post reported. In a space that was once the tavern's "Crystal Room," you can now buy tacos, dumplings, soup, and ice cream.

"We did great today; it was the introduction," food truck owner Leslie Lampert told the Post. "There are a lot of curious parkgoers here. This is nostalgia for me in terms of having Tavern on the Green in my life, personally and culturally. This makes me so proud."

Street food has gone leagues beyond the old Sabrett umbrella, a steamed dog on a bun and a ginormous yellow mustard dispenser (but don't get us wrong; we're still Sabrett fans). L.A.'s Grilled Cheese Truck and the Phoenix take on a mobile Parisian crèpes unit, Truckin' Good Food, are street-food lovers' fever dreams. Are you with us on this? Head over to the Huffington Post for the low-down on the country's Top 10 Most Influential Food Trucks.

• Carb lovers, rejoice: Whole-grain pasta has come a long way from its gluey, gritty past.
• Will L.A.'s food trucks be subject to the same health department rules as other food venues? Renegade restaurateurs await word.
• Mark Bittman gets in touch with his inner Brit with this scone recipe.
• Quick: What do you get when you cross a Chinese restaurant with a Mexican restaurant? If you're Chef José Andrés, you get $6 million dollars to start a new restaurant in Las Vegas.
• Xiao Ye is "best when the customers are a little drunk, a little high, maybe both and in any event extremely hungry." Oof.