Vendy Awards 2008

When I used to work on 42nd St, I'd regularly get my lunch — collard greens, rice and peas, macaroni and cheese — from a Jamaican food truck that used to park outside the office. Their food was cheap and tasty, and it was a sad blow when construction on the block forced them to move. I never did find out where they went.

Today, however, I got a chance to try food from some of their competitors at the 2008 Vendy Awards, an annual event organized by the Street Vendor Project of New York's Urban Justice Center. The project itself deals with street vendors of all kinds, but the Vendy Awards are focused on food vendors.

Now in its fourth year, the event has started to get serious — and well-deserved — attention from the food press. The five finalists were a little short of vegetarian food on the day, but I tried falafel from Mohammed Rahman's Kwik Meal — as good as any I've had anywhere — and delicious pupusa from Rafael Soler's Soler Dominican, plus a handful of cookies from Treats Truck.