Exotic food trucks, which have long been popular staples in such U.S. cities as Los Angeles, New York City and Portland, are slowly making their way to Canada.
However, some operators in two of the country’s biggest markets say municipal regulations often leave them spinning their wheels.
Montreal has banned street food for more than the last half-century. Toronto has had a moratorium on new food truck vending permits for almost a decade, although it is now reviewing its street vending bylaws.
Vancouver, on the other hand, revamped its rules and now is in the midst of a street eats boom.
Mention street food trucks to most people and they’ll probably think first of the hot dog and chip vans that are so familiar on the streets of cities such as Ottawa, for example.
Poutine and sausages are a big part of their menu.
But up-and-coming young chefs are also seeing the trucks as a way to offer up more exotic fare such as Mexican and Thai food.
In Montreal, chef Marc-Andre Leclerc whips up tacos with his own twist for his Grumman 78 van. The former rescue vehicle turned mobile restaurant counter takes its name from the make and model of the truck.
“The beauty of a taco is that anything goes on it,” says partner Hilary McGown, who says she and Leclerc got the idea to try a food truck during a trip to Mexico a few years ago.
Adam Hynam-Smith, who dishes up a variety of fare with his partner Tamara Jensen from their El Gastronomo Vagabundo truck in Ontario’s Niagara region, sees only benefits to expanding the availability of street food.
He points out it’s good for local businesses because people see them while they’re gathering to get some nosh off the truck _ and not just locals.
Hynam-Smith says it’s also good for tourism and notes that the Vancouver food trucks have been showcased on international foodie TV shows.
“It brings so much outside traffic as well as inside traffic. It creates that community feel,” he said.
There has been little indication that Montreal intends to widen its access to food trucks, which have been banned since the 1950s.
In 2003, Montreal decided to maintain an existing ban, amid suggestions that problems with traffic, noise and policing the trucks didn’t make it worth a change, says information provided by a city spokeswoman.
But McGown says there’s obviously a demand and that people flocked to the Grumman 78 truck when it was parked at summer events such as the Just For Laughs Festival and the Montreal International Jazz Festival.
They were able to operate because they had been hired by the events as caterers and were in a fixed location. They can also operate on private property.
McGown bristles at suggestions that food trucks are unclean and unfair competition for the city’s restaurants.
“I’m pretty sure that my truck and my production kitchen … are cleaner than most restaurants in this city,” she said.
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