AwesTRUCK

Yesterday I put on my rain boots and headed down to historic Fort York for the second installment of AwesTRUCK, a Food Truck rally and awards presentation with 50 (!) participants coming from Toronto and Southern Ontario. For those who still think "street food" translates to hot dogs sold from a dinky little cart, let me bring you up to speed. For the past two years (approximately) Food Trucks have been making a name for themselves as a powerful force in Toronto's food scene. Lately it seems that you can't hit up a big event without spotting at least one Food Truck, parked and ready to serve the hungry masses who happily stand in the queue waiting for delicious eats. You'd think that something that has been so well-received by the public would be welcomed by the city but, sadly, Food Trucks have been struggling with bureauocratic red tape pretty much since day one. It's too much to get into here, but suffice it to say, the city has not made it easy for the Food Truck community. Fortunately, AwesTRUCK was a ticketed event ($10 for advance general admission, $25 for early entry tickets, $15 at the door), with a designated space so the focus could remain where it should be: the food!

It was a rainy, rainy, rainy day yesterday but many food lovers willingly braved the elements in order to satisfy their appetites. Personally, I welcome lousy weather at outdoor events. Rain is Mother Nature's crowd control and I knew it meant that the lines for food would be reasonable (or in some cases, nonexistent). I realize that this attitude probably isn't shared by the organizers, who would be happier if the event was teeming with people, but it served my purpose well! We did our homework before we arrived at AwesTRUCK (with 50 vendors to choose from you kind of had to) and had a few Food Trucks we wanted to check out immediately. First up was the mighty Fidel Gastro, arguably the most ubiquitous vendor of Toronto's Food Truck scene, where we had Pad Thai Fries ($5). Full disclosure: I have eaten these Pad Thai fries many, MANY times before. But c'mon! PAD THAI FRIES! It's one of those food items that shouldn't work but does extremely well.

Next up was a lobster avocado spring roll ($7) from Chang Noi Enroute, the Food Truck of the Chang Noi Thai restaurant in St. Catharines. "Chang Noi" translates to "Little Elephant", which is an excellent way to describe the heft of this small but powerfully delicious dish. It was served piping hot with a chili dipping sauce and I could have easily eaten a dozen more (and the shame would have been worth it). Next we trekked over to new Food Truck Localista, who serves food using a local produce from the Hills of Headwater region. We devoured a pile of corn fritters ($8 for 6) with cilantro dipping sauce. Crispy on the outside, fluffy on the inside and full of sweet, sweet corn.

Nestled in the centre of the surrounding ring of Food Trucks, there were a few pop-up vendors at AwesTRUCK, who were just as enthusiastically serving up their wares for the hungry crowds. One of my favorite Toronto pop-ups was in attendance, FeasTO, and it was there that I achieved Nirvana through noodles (I always suspected that's the way it would go down). The chilled ramen bowl ($5) pretty much combined everything I love into a single bowl: noodles, sesame seeds, scallions, carrots, mushroom sofrito, tofu and peanuts. This is a dish I could eat daily and never get bored. Just looking at the picture now is giving me such a craving... KILLER.

I know it's unwise to judge a book by its cover, so it stands to reason that you shouldn't pick a Food Truck based on its decor... and then I saw Hamilton's TacoCat, quite possibly the cutest Food Truck of all time. I knew in an instant that these tacos (2/$6.50) would make me as happy as the TacoCat kitty, despite not having a sombrero. The taco on the left is cactus and chilies, with marinated onion, pineapple and savoury salsa and the taco on the right is tequila lime chicken with purple cabbage, salsa Verde and Mexican crema. Bearing in mind that there were probably a dozen places to eat tacos at AwesTRUCK, I feel confident that we chose wisely, even if it was motivated by specious logic. Delicious!

So how do you end a roll like this? With dessert, of course, but which one? Lots to choose from, limited amount of space left in the ol' stomach. We settled on the Itty Bitty Pie Company, another Food Truck reppin' St. Catharines (perhaps a road trip is in order in the future...). Though their tiny pies looked really yummy, we opted for the pie in a cup. Peach crumble, vanilla ice cream and a caramel drizzle in a cup to be exact. This was a great way to end a day of indulgences. Oh sweet dessert-y bliss. I also got a kick out of the little girl holding up a sign on their truck proclaiming "I am not a TART!", which is an important distinction if your business is tiny pies.

It was good timing that the awards presentation came as soon as we were too full to do much else but stand and stare. We watched as awards were given out for Best Graphic Design (The Food Dudes), Best Concept (Luchador Gournet Streatery), Best New Truck (Frankie Fettucine), Best Menu Item (Luchador Gournet Streatery), Best Pop-Up (Babi&Co.) and finally the People's Choice Award, a special award determined by online voting, went to Gourmet Gringos. It was really nice to see the Food Truck community come together to celebrate with the people who love their food them. Even the rain couldn't dampen their spirits. A great event!