Street food festival unites communities
Christine Trang | 2-14-2010 | Comments |
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The accessibility of food trucks, and the sense of community that surrounds them, grabbed Elliot Shaffner’s attention.
Her admiration prompted her to taste-test 25 different food trucks in less than two months.
“Food is a form of art to me,” said Shaffner, a Laurel Canyon resident. “I love these food trucks because they give people who cannot afford a restaurant the chance to still do what they enjoy.”
Shaffner, along with more than 10,000 residents from all over Southern California, gathered at the first annual Los Angeles Street Food Festival Saturday at Los Angeles Center Studios to enjoy bite-sized samplings from some of the city’s most popular mobile food trucks. For six hours people danced, watched Afro-Brazilian martial art performances, stood in hour-long lines and consumed Kung Pao chicken tacos, grilled cheese sandwiches and Kimchi french fries.
What started out as casual conversation among a few friends turned into a 36-vendor event just six weeks later. Shawna Dawson, the owner of Sauce LA Consulting, called her personal friend and the founder of Unique Los Angeles Sonja Rasula to discuss the potential of the event. The phone call resulted in their partnership to plan the festival.
“Downtown Los Angeles is a creative hotbed for events like this, where people can engage with those from other communities,” Dawson said.
And to many in attendance, the festival represented just that: a happy occasion to spend with family and close friends, but also a convenient excuse to meet new people.
“I enjoy the variety of food offered here, but I also enjoy the people I can talk to when I wait in line,” said Eldrin Cruz, a Los Angeles resident.
While people came for the food and for the community, some vendors signed up to see what worked best for their businesses.
“I wanted to use this truck as a testing ground,” said Joe Kim, the owner of the Flying Pig food truck. “We serve pork belly and duck, which are uncommon in food trucks in Los Angeles, so we wanted to see whether people enjoyed it.”
Other vendors participated in the event to introduce their new businesses to the community.
“My friend called me after he attended a grilled cheese sandwich competition, and we decided just a few months ago to start our own grilled cheese sandwich truck,” Michele Grant, the co-owner of The Grilled Cheese Truck, said. “He knows, and everyone else knows, how much of a grilled cheese fanatic I am.”
Dominic Lau, the co-owner of the Don Chow food truck, continues to hold his daytime job as an IT Director at the University of Southern California Viterbi School of Engineering, but runs his truck business every Thursday, Friday and Saturday.
“Instead of spending a couple of hundred dollars at a club, we thought we should make a couple of hundred dollars outside of a club instead,” Lau joked. “We decided to take Chinese food and Mexican food, two of the biggest ethnic cuisines in Los Angeles, and put them together to create our menu.”
Though most enjoyed the first-of-its-kind event, some felt improvements could be made.
“It is too crowded,” Kevin Chalk, a Culver City resident, said. “I hope the event planners get bigger space and more trucks next time.”
But despite the crowds, Deandre Ivey, an Afro-Brazilian martial arts performer, thought the event turned out well.
“It is good exposure for our group, and it is a good way for us to bring people in, but it is also a good way to spend our Saturday and to enjoy ourselves,” Ivey said.
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