A street food revolution

Food is all about globalization and variety these days. While some of us are making fewer trips abroad this year, we still want to taste what’s new and exotic. Influenced by street foods found across the world, mobile establishments are creating a buzz with their bold flavors, affordable prices and chef centric atmosphere and service.

We’ve been watching the rise of food truck popularity ever since the now-legendary Kogi Korean BBQ truck hit the streets of LA. It’s one of the hottest places to eat in Los Angeles and owes a large part of its success to Twitter. Kogi, which offers a unique combination of Mexican and Korean food, is a modern variation of the taco trucks that have long been popular on the streets of L.A. Customers stand in line for hours to try their much-heralded Korean BBQ tacos. Followers find the truck with the help of a tool that has become the necessity of any serious foodie these days — a Twitter account. You’ve got to go on Twitter to get the most up-to-date news on the daily specials for that day or their present location.

Today you can find food trucks offering hot dogs made from grass-fed organic beef (Let’s Be Frank); eco-friendly hamburgers, falafel and fish tacos (Green Truck on the Go); architecturally inspired ice cream sandwiches (Coolhaus); tonkatsu burgers on rice patties (Marked 5); sushi rolls (Fishlips Sushi); vegan sausages (the Franken Stand); all manner of “fusion” tacos (Calbi BBQ, Bool BBQ, Don Chow Tacos); and coming soon, Vietnamese-style banh mi sandwiches (Nom Nom Truck).

And in New York, there’s been a turf war of sorts brewing in the streets of Manhattan and Brooklyn – frequent trading of hostilities between the new gentrified food trucks
(which serve everything from artisanal Earl Grey ice cream to vegan tacos) and the traditional (hotdogs, kebabs, etc.) vendors. Their outspoken owners and their foodie cult followers on Twitter, Facebook and food blogs, have broken the silent code of the streets.

We hear that Kogi is planning a New York outpost, so we’ll be watching…from afar.