Food Truck

A new breed of food truck is giving the ubiquitous cheesesteak a run for its money as the city's preferred curbside delight. The inaugural Philadelphia Vendy Awards, a culinary showdown among eight of the city's elite mobile food vendors Saturday in Northern Liberties, sought to identify and reward the leaders of that breed. And nary a steak was in sight. "It's been a long hard day, but it's been a beautiful day," Thomas Bacon, also known as Gigi, of Gigi & Big R Caribbean/American Soul Food, the victor of the event, said as he clutched a gleaming trophy.

Bright red stockings, velvet bows and gold garland adorn the banister in Rodney and April Brown's Mount Airy home on this April morning. Across the living room, Christmas cards are taped to the wall. To top off the holiday scene, a Christmas tree sits several feet from the front door. It is two weeks after Easter, and the Browns' decor suggests St. Nick himself will be dropping by at any time. What kind of job keeps you so busy that you don't get around to taking down your Christmas decorations nearly a month into spring?

Mister Softee doesn't mind competition, but he won't tolerate impostors, especially this weekend - the "Christmas of the ice cream season," said co-owner James Conway. This summer, the mobile ice cream vendor, based in Runnemede, has escalated its longstanding battle against those who illegally use Mister Softee's name, smiling cone-head logo, and famous jingle. The U.S. Marshal's Office last month confiscated two ice cream trucks from owners who had been ordered by a federal court judge to stop operating as lookalikes and to reimburse Mister Softee $20,000 in legal fees.

ATLANTIC CITY - Atlantic City's poorest residents had next to nothing going into the storm, and they came out of it with even less. In the shadow of multibillion-dollar casinos that now boast of having come through Hurricane Sandy just fine, many of the seaside gambling resort's least fortunate endure hardship with quiet resignation - even gratitude for the help they're getting. Some lost heat, hot water, and electricity for days or weeks. They lost many of their meager possessions, their food, and most of their clothes.

AH, THE CORNUCOPIA: symbol of food abundance. A "horn of plenty" overflowing with food. And all of it 100 percent vegan. Wait, how can that be? Where's the deprivation, the scarcity, the righteous self-denial? Who came up with such a crazy symbol? It's actually logical, of course, because the cornucopia is a "harvest" icon, which means plant produce - and nowadays plant foods are being shared in more abundant variety and diversity than ever, if you know where to look. After I covered Bethlehem's VegFest, I reaped a bumper crop of comments pointing out veggie celebrations, although smaller-scale, much closer to home.

Two weeks ago, Glassboro Road resident Robert Hochswinder blasted the Monroe Township Council after getting a "runaround" on his complaints about a food vendor at the intersection of Glassboro and Fries Mill Roads. The vendor is Bill Millward of Franklinville, who has run a breakfast/lunch truck at the rural site for the last four years. He dispenses fast food to truck drivers and others who pass by. At the Aug. 15 council meeting, Hochswinder complained about traffic, safety, trash and health problems he said stemmed from the food truck.

My friend, Al Fresco, is befuddled these days about what passes for a sidewalk cafe. You know Al - loves to eat outdoors in the fresh air, and this is the season for it. Breakfast, lunch, dinner or cocktails - he's out there. But lately, Al has noticed a proliferation of umbrella tables in unlikely locales - places where you'd be more likely to catch a bus than linger over a lemonade. In the parking lot of a suburban strip mall, for example, a street corner in North Philadelphia, or along a South Jersey highway with semis buzzing by. Not cute, not quaint.

IT'S SCHMIDTS WORKERS' TURN I would like to remind the former employees of the Christian Schmidt Brewing company (Schmidts of Philadelphia) it is our time to vote come November. We now have the opportunity to let Wilson Goode and his administration know how we feel about the closing of our plant in May. The current mayor and administration stood by and did nothing while we lost our jobs, and it's our time to repay the favor. Francis L. Smith Jr Philadelphia IT'S UP TO THE COMMUNITY ITSELF A program on the New Jersey Network the other night documented the struggle of the Negro Ensemble Company in New York, showing excerpts from the play, "The Zooman and The Sign.

Menu: All vegetarian, mostly Middle Eastern, totally filling. Two locations: 34th Street between Walnut and Spruce, 10:30 a.m.-4 p.m.; Spruce between 35th and 36th, 11 a.m.-3 p.m. Monday-Friday. Look for: A dark-green awning and a line about 10 deep. How long: Family-owned and -operated since 1984. Web: magiccarpetfoods.com. Facebook: www.facebook.com/pages/Magic-Carpet-Foods/130251873665043 . The old-fashioned way: 215-334-0948. Order: Magic meatballs.