Street Vendor Chefs Honored in New York City

NEW YORK, Sept. 29, 2009— -- Hundreds of food lovers gathered for what some call the Super Bowl of street food in Queens, N.Y., over the weekend. The Vendy Awards is the annual cook-off between some of the best New York City sidewalk chefs, each one voted in as finalists by their customers. In a city full of hot dog vendors and pretzel stands, these carts stand out as full-service mobile gourmet kitchens, turning out everything from Mexican huaraches to Austrian schnitzel.

"I'm so happy that street food is taking a different turn," chef and Vendy judge Jehangir Mehta told ABC News. "It's almost driving down to the philosophy of having a small local farmer selling produce; it's becoming more and more personal."

Fares Zeidaies, the self-proclaimed "King of Falafel and Shawarma," and finalist for the Vendy Cup agreed. "The Vendys are the best thing that came out to food vendors," Zeidaies said. "At least it's getting recognized; at least people are being more serious about eating street food." Zeidaies learned to cook by watching his mother in the kitchen. "Look at my falafel," he told ABC News, "so beautiful, so sexy. Doesn't it say 'eat me?'"

Check Out the "GMA" Recipe Archive.

The competition, held in the shadow of the famous Unisphere in Queens' Flushing Meadows Park, was divided into four categories. The rookie of the year award is for those who have been vending for less than one year; a dessert category for street sweets; the people's choice award; and finally, the big enchilada, so to speak, the Vendy Cup honoring the best street vendor.

The first three winners are chosen by Vendy attendees. A panel of six judges, all with culinary backgrounds, selects the winner based on presentation, portability and taste.

The 2009 Vendy Cup went to Yolanda and Fernando Martinez, for whom running the Country Boys Mexican cart is a family affair. Their four children, aged 14 to 23, helped cook and distribute food to a seemingly endless line of hungry Vendy attendees. The Country Boys' specialty is huaraches – fried dough topped with seasoned meat, cabbage, salsa and cheese – which they have been selling at the Red Hook Ball Fields in Brooklyn for 16 years. Fernando Martinez thanked his entire family in Spanish for the prize.

The dessert champion was the Wafels and Dinges truck, which sells waffles with various toppings – including bacon. People's choice award winner for the second year in a row was Bangladesh-born Meru Sikder, who makes traditional Indian food in his Biryani cart.