Arts and Culture

Indian street food hits the Bay Area fast lane

By Sandip Roy on February 3, 2010 - 3:45pm
Courtesy of Viks Chaat Corner
Share

Street cuisine is getting more diverse in every way---carts now carry crème brulée, falafel and Korean barbeque in addition to the standard fare of tacos and hot dogs.  More and more, food vendors are taking their business to the streets, as you can see by the increasing number of gourmet food carts popping up on corners across the Bay Area. 

In India, street food is called “chaat," and even though it is commonplace to see it sold on the busy boulevards of Mumbai, Delhi, and Calcutta, chaat has always been harder to find in the Bay Area…that is, until now.  KALW’s Sandip Roy has the story.

Sandip Roy is the host of New America Now, which airs on Fridays on KALW.  There is a formal inauguration of the new Viks Chaat Corner in Berkeley on Thursday, Feb 4, at 10:30am. The Mayor, Tom Bates, will cut the ribbon.

Discussion

Steven Short's picture
By Steven Short on February 14, 2010 - 2:46pm.

Not to be left out, here's a story from our big sister to the south, Los Angeles, which also has a wave of "mobile food courts" roaming the city:

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/dailydish/2010/02/dining-at-a-different-...

Paawan Kothari's picture
By Paawan Kothari on February 12, 2010 - 12:46am.

Hi Sandip,
I have been running The Chai Cart since Aug 2009 in San Francsico and been part of the growing community of pop-up street food vendors that use Twitter and Facebook to let people know where they plan to be. I am sure you have read about the creme brulee man and the magic curry kart who started this trend a year ago. In your piece about Indian Street Food in Bay Area, I am disappointed to see that you did not mention The Chai Cart. The drink "chai" may be commonly found at most cafes, but none come close to the authentic chai by The Chai Cart. I make my own blends using fresh herbs and spices and other than traditional chai flavours of Masala and Cardamom, create new flavours such as Green Chili, Lemongrass-Black Pepper Chai. The Chai Cart may be small, but it is an essential fixture of the San Francsico street food scene with over 900 followers on Twitter. Read more about me at www.thechaicart.com and hope that next time you remember the girl on a bicycle trailer that sells chai.

Steven Short's picture
By Steven Short on February 8, 2010 - 6:23pm.

Here's a story from this past weekend in The Financial Times newspaper. Read the Nopa Restaurant review if you like, then scroll down to "The Word on the street." It's clear that Austin (mentioned in the previous comment) doesn't have a monopoly on creative street food!

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/2/774c2dac-1201-11df-b6e3-00144feab49a.html?ncli...

Steven Short's picture
By Steven Short on February 4, 2010 - 11:59am.

The Bay Area loves its foodie reputation. But are we lagging when it comes to innovations like quality street food?

I was recently in Austin, TX, where street food has broken through to a new level. As with this story about Indian street food in the Bay Area, these offerings should not be confused with the traditional "taco truck." Many Austin vendors are working out of small, sleek Airstream trailers. And the food inside the trailers can be pretty sleek, too. Cupcakes, anyone? Too sweet? Then try another trailer serving organic whole foods. http://www.austinchronicle.com/gyrobase/Issue/story?oid=oid%3A597215

Share other street food discoveries you know, here or elsewhere!