This past Saturday, Mrs. G-LO, our two boys, and I headed into Philly for the 2013 Vendy Awards. The event, which was held at Penn Treaty Park, featured some of Philadelphia’s best “Sweet” and “Savory” street vendors competing for the following four awards: the Vendy Cup, the People’s Taste Award, Tide Stain Eraser’s “Messy Yet Tasty” Award, and Best Dessert.
Below are the vendors that competed in the Savory category:
- Chewy’s: American food
- Chez Yasmine: Couscous to Parisian sandwiches to Banh Mi to fresh salads
- The Cow and the Curd: Wisconsin beer battered fried cheese curds
- Christis’ Falafel Truck: Greek food
- King of Falafel: Middle Eastern Food
- Foo Truck: Asian inspired hand-held creations called Foowiches
- Kami: Bulgogi Cheesesteaks, Bulgogi burger, BiBimBap
- Lil’ Dan’s Gourmet: Italian and American food
- Poi Dog Snack Shop: Hawaiian plate lunches and Hawaiian style food
- The Tot Cart: Tater Tots
And here are the vendors that competed in the Sweet category:
- Cupcake Carnivale: Artisan, Gourmet cupcakes
- Jimmies Cupcake Co: Gourmet cupcakes
- Lil’ Pop Shop: Delicious Popsicles
- Sugar Philly: French Macarons
- Sweet Box: Premium ingredient cupcakes
With fifteen different vendors on hand serving a variety of dishes to everyone that attended this year’s event, it was difficult to sample everything that was on offer. Thankfully, I learned from my mistakes at the Brewer’s Plate and Opening Tap (i.e. I took it very easy on the beer consumption since it has a tendency to fill me up very quickly), so while I didn’t try EVERYTHING, I did try most things.
While I genuinely enjoyed every dish that I sampled, there were a couple of dishes that really stood out. My favorite items from the “Savory” category were the fried cheese curds from The Cow and the Curd, the Korean noodles from Kami, and the Couscous from Chez Yasmine. My favorite items from the “Sweet category” were the popsicles from Lil’ Pop Shop and the Boulevardier Macaron from Sugar Philly (all of the cupcakes were delicious too, but to be perfectly honest, I’m a little tired of cupcakes).
Overall, the G-LO family had a fantastic time at the 2013 Philadelphia Vendy Awards. As has been the case at all of the events that I’ve attended in 2013 (it’s been a busy first half of the year!), this event was filled with great food, great drink, a fantastic DJ that was spinning some fantastic music, and a plethora of truly kind and enthusiastic people.
Many thanks to the good people at Food Shelter for providing us with media passes to this outstanding event. We’re already looking forward to the 2014 Vendy Awards!
One last thing…
I almost forgot to tell you who won! Below are the official 2013 Vendy Award winners:
- Vendy Cup: The King of Falafel
- People’s Taste Award: The Cow and the Curd
- Tide Stain Eraser’s “Messy Yet Tasty” Award: The Cow and the Curd
- Best Dessert: Lil’ Pop Shop
Categories: Brew and Booze News
AMKrouse
The Alemonger
G-LO
limpd
The Wookie
The ROK
Sarah -BeautifulTangibleThings
The Astounding Prism
It's just the booze dancing... 
Beer Battered Fried WHAT???!!!!!! That’s it! The Canuckians can have Wisconsin all to themselves and they won’t need an armed invasion to accomplish it. WTH is wrong with those people? WAY too much Big Beer swill coursing through beer bong funnels up there. They’ve lost all sense of gastronomic sanity. Probably have ultra chlorinated water to boot.
Pity there wasn’t a Han DynaVendy Truck though the Korean option look tasty. I’m intrigued by the Tater Tot wheels too. They’ve always been a grossly undervalued tuber specialty.
Cheers!
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Actually, those fried cheese curds were pretty spectacular. Crisp and crunchy on the outside and creamy delicious on the inside. Not something I would eat every day, but definitely a tasty treat every now and again.
You’re right about Han Dynasty. They would have slaughtered the competition. Dan Dan or Three Cup Chicken to go? Yes please!
And the Tater Tots were just ok. Would have been better if the dipping sauce had more heat.
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