New summer food truck event fuels hopes for a Toronto street food revolution

Steeltown might have beaten us to the food truck race, but three special events starting this summer are laying the groundwork for a decent street food culture in Toronto. Starting this July, Food Truck Eats will host food trucks and street food stalls featuring some top Toronto chefs in a bid to free up chefs from the substantial legal and health concerns associated with street-side operations. We caught up with Suresh Doss, the event’s organizer and the publisher of Spotlight Toronto, for the details.
Doss told us that his inspiration for the event stemmed from his travels to cities that have a vibrant street food culture, like Miami, as well as the developing scene in Niagara, Prince Edward County and Stratford. “It’s not just an abundance of food trucks [in these cities], but the scheduled meet-ups they had and the culture they have going on,” he says. “We already have some of the trucks [in Ontario], but they work on their own schedule, so it’s just trying to get them centrally located.” The response from city chefs, existing and upcoming vendors was so overwhelmingly positive that the single planned meet-up quickly ballooned into three, with up to 10 food trucks planned for the final event.
The first of the series will take place on July 2 from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. in the back parking lot of the Distillery District. Trucks from Niagara (El Gastrónomo Vagabundo), Hamilton (Cupcake Diner, Gorilla Cheese) and Prince Edward County (Buddha Dog) will dish out their goods next to food stalls from chefs who liked the idea of street food but don’t have a truck, including Chris McDonald (Cava), Carl Heinrich and Ryan Donovan (Marben), caterer Rossy Earle and consultant chef Joshna Maharaj, as well as a dosa stand by Tiffinday, Stratford’s Simple Fish and Chips and Whitby barbecue powerhouse Buster Rhino’s. In a late-breaking addition, the Black Hoof’s Geoff Hopgood formerly of the Black Hoof, will also make an appearance. Entry is free and food will be priced at $5 or less.
The second and third events will be held at different locations in September and October respectively. “Not to criticize the à la Cart program,” Doss says, “but it’s like the street food culture doesn’t exist in Toronto. My goal is to see more and better gourmet street food—to elevate it. Hopefully the city can accommodate more of these trucks by relaxing the rules.” Although we fully appreciate the city’s hard-working hot dog slingers, we couldn’t agree more.
Updates can be found on #FoodTruckEats on Twitter.
This is great news I hope we get good support for this.
When did including crossed out references become mandatory to legitimize people’s written work?
FANTASTIC! Toronto has the potential to have an amazing street food culture, with its incredible variety of cuisines appetites. Can’t wait.
With all the different cultures, it’s a shame that all we have is cheap hot dogs and sausages…here’s hoping the city (ahem…fords) do something right…
The momentum towards a real street food scene in TO is palpable! As the most diverse city in North America, we should be leading, not lagging: http://bit.ly/lR1FD2
What type of cuisine is planned for the food truck allocated a spot at Bloor and Yonge in front of Holt Renfrew…will we need a reservation and I wonder who the maitre de will be.
FINALLY!
I think the idea of a food truck ‘event’ is a great idea …lots of different eats in one particular area, instead of food trucks spread out around the downtown core at questionable locations…..for both the vendor and customer. Maybe these events can be better managed than the current city-managed(?)cart situation…which has licensed and restricted the owners into near poverty.
It’s about time! Look at cities like Austin, TX http://austinfoodcarts.com/ or SanFran for inspiration…
oh please oh please let there be korean tacos in this city. How I long for Portland’s shanty towns of culinary goodness…
i would like info as a veador. owner
Great ideas, we could definitely benefit from trucks on the streets of Toronto on a regular basis, I am sure many people would enjoy it. I believe many caterers such as http://www.icatertoronto.com would be interested in even adding a food truck or multi cultural food cart as a line of their businesses!