South Beach Wine & Food Festival's Food Trucks On Midtown's Tracks
Last year in South Beach, trucks parked under the big tent where Burger Bash takes place for a food truck party hosted by Andrew Zimmern. It was a great event. But trucks and sand don't mix so well. Neither do sand, trucks, and lines of people anxious to get both food and booze. This year's Zimmern-hosted food truck event Trucks on Midtown's Tracks was the perfect solution: a breezy tented concrete pavillion where all the trucks could easily park, where air hockey, Ping-Pong tables, and basketball backboards awaited attendees who needed an eating break, and where guests in line were quaffed by volunteers pouring Brazilian sparkling wine provided by Wines of Brasil. It was by all accounts a success.
View Slides: SOBEWFF's Food Trucks on Midtown's Tracks
More than 20 food trucks participated in the event this year, most from Florida. Notable participants included truck expansions of Florida institutions — CubanCube of Islas Canarias and El Rey de las Fritas. There was no lack of range in cuisine. Pizza, quesadilla, grilled cheese sandwiches, fish sausage, burgers, and savory waffles were just some of the things on offer. There were dessert trucks on hand, too, including mobile eateries serving frozen yogurt, soft-serve, cupcakes, and gelato. Of course, the host Andrew Zimmern's own truck AZ Canteen was on hand, too, and happened to be serving one of the event's best dishes, the AZ Canteen Dog, a Pat LaFrieda wiener with slaw and fresh jalapeños.
Other strong dishes served at Trucks on Midtown's Tracks included Crazydilla's Cubadilla, Ms. Cheezious' smoked barbecue pulled pork, grilled Cheddar cheese sandwich with fried pickles, Il Fiorentino's potato ravioli, and GastroPod's GastroPho — their take on the Vietnamese classic soup.
In the end, Zimmern picked Slow Food Truck's "Beef Shorty Slider" topped with queso fresco, arugula, and crispy shallots as his choice for the event's winner. But attendees put last year's victor Miami's own Ms. Cheezious (one of The Daily Meal's 101 Best Food Trucks in America) back up on the throne, using their poker chips to give them the People's Choice Award for the second year in a row. But you could argue that the real winners were the five trucks who took their game to the next level, featuring customized food license plates. Check out the customized license plates from 2 Jive Turkeys, El Rey de las Fritas, Potoffee Gourmet Chips Truck, HipPOP's Handcrafted Gelato Bars, and Joji Frozen Yogurt.
Arthur Bovino is The Daily Meal's executive editor. Read more articles by Arthur, reach him by email, or click here to follow Arthur on Twitter.