Philadelphia Vendy Awards

The Vendy Awards started in New York City and are expanding to Philadelphia this year. The contest among streetside food vendors benefits The Food Trust, a nonprofit that strives to make health food available to all. The winner will be announced on July 9th from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. at Piazza at Schmidts. Finalists were announced today:

Philadelphia- The Philadelphia Vendy Awards are proud to announce that the finalists for the inaugural event are:

Name of business: Cucina Zapata
Chef/Owner(s): Robert and Ruk Zapata
How long have you been in business: Two and a half months
Where are you from: Rob, South Jersey & Ruk- Khon Kaen, Thailand
What kind of food do you serve?: An amalgamation of Thai and Mexican.
Specialties: Thai Sweet Potato Chicken Curry, Thai Short-Rib Taco, Chicken Satay Taco
Tell us something about you or your business that you want the world to know: We hope to one day import organic chilies from our small farm in Thailand and use them in our sauces and food. We are always looking for different ways to serve healthy, quality food to our customers.
Why do you deserve to win the Vendy Award?: Because we do what we loves and we loves what we do.

Name of business: Gigi and Big R Caribbean/American Soul Food
Chef/Owner(s): Elukene Rene & Thomas Bacon
Years in business: 10 Years
Where are you from: Rene, Haiti & Thomas, Philly
What kind of food do you serve?: Caribbean/American Soul Food
Specialties: BBQ Jerk From The Smoking Grill and Our Fried Whiting Fish With Rene's Special Seasonings
Tell us something about you or your business that you want the world to know: We serve our soul food to please the soul but also want our customers to have a spiritual filling as well. That’s why our platters run over with food. We aim to please.
Why do you deserve to win the Vendy Award?: In our working class society we have a busy schedule with the family first, then the job, then back to the family. These vital hours of interaction with family/job doesn't leave us with a lot of wholesome food prep time. This is why we serve our customers nutritious and tasty food. We love to hear our customers say "I got a large fish platter and had enough to share with my children and reheat for later." We fill in the gap for time, health and flavor. Home away from home. We aim to please.

Name of business: Guapos Tacos
Chef/Owner(s): Jose Garces & Jun Aizak
Years in business: Established in 2010
Where are you (owners/chefs) from: Jose Garces, Chicago & Jun Aizak, Japan
What kind of food do you serve?: Tacos
Specialties: Mexican Sodas, House made guacamole, esquites (sweet corn, queso fresco, chipotle, and lime)
Tell us something about you or your business that you want the world to know: The truck is owned by an Iron Chef.
Why do you deserve to win the Vendy Award?: I will send you this answer shortly.

Name of business: King of Falafel
Chef/Owner(s): Nabil & Hined Akkeh
Years in business: 1989, 22 years
Where are you from: Syria
What kind of food do you serve?: Middle Eastern Food
Specialties: Falafel.
Tell us something about you or your business that you want the world to know: We were both electrical engineers back in Syria.
Why do you deserve to win the Vendy Award?: We helped introduce Philadelphia to Middle Eastern food. When we started we were one of the very few serving this kind of food, now it is everywhere—on the streets and in restaurants—but our customers keep coming back to us. They come back because we serve healthy and affordable food made from good ingredients. We soak and grind our chickpeas to make our falafel and hummus—we don’t use mixes or pre-made food, everything is made by us from high quality, fresh ingredients—that is our tradition and you can taste the difference.

Name of business: La Copine
Chef/Owner(s): Nikki Hill (chef/owner) and Claire Wadsworth (owner)
Years in business: Four months
Where are you from: Nikki grew up in Salt Lake City, Utah. Claire grew up in Houston, Texas and Summit, New Jersey.
What kind of food do you serve?: Brunch. Home-made style favorites.
Specialties: Cooking with locally sourced naturally raised food, keeping it simple and tasteful.
Tell us something about you or your business that you want the world to know: We are grateful for Garden Variety. They have allowed us a jumping off point for our business. This is only the beginning for La Copine.
Why do you deserve to win the Vendy Award?: For most people brunch is a weekend luxury, and La Copine makes it affordable while using farm-fresh, well sourced food. La Copine deserves to win because we have a unique concept and genuinely we care about the quality and experience for the people in our community.

Name of business: Magic Carpet Foods
Chef/Owner(s): Dean Varvoutis, president / Deborah Carson, executive chef
Years in business: Since 1984, 27 years +
Where are you from: Born and raised in Philadelphia area
What kind of food do you serve?: Whole world vegetarian cuisine
Specialties: Middle Eastern and Mediterranean influence, solid vegetarian staples
Tell us something about you or your business that you want the world to know: We provide the gateway to vegetarian eating for the common person. People should know that you don’t need to be vegetarian to enjoy vegetarian food. That’s our claim to fame.
Why do you deserve to win the Vendy Award?: It is nice to be recognized for something you worked hard at for so long.

Name of business: Sugar Philly
Chef/Owner(s): John Suh, Franklin Shen, Dan Tang (chef)
Years in business: 1.5 years
Where are you from: Philadelphia
What kind of food do you serve?: Desserts ("Gourmet")
Specialties: French Macarons
Tell us something about you or your business that you want the world to know: Our food truck Sheila was once a mail postal truck outside the World Trade Center
Why do you deserve to win the Vendy Award?: French Macarons > Cupcakes......

Name of business: Sweet Box
Chef/Owner(s): Pastry chef and owner, Gretchen Fantini
Years in business: Three months
Where are you from: Philadelphia
What kind of food do you serve?: Premium ingredient cupcakes...and more.
Specialties: Every single cupcake is special because they truly are Made with Love, but the favorite is my Southern Red Velvet. It is a cocoa buttermilk cake made with a Madagascar bourbon vanilla cream cheese frosting.
Tell us something about you or your business that you want the world to know: Before starting my sweets-to-the-streets business, my previous profession was in the legal field. Don't wait any longer, follow your heart and make it a reality.
Why do you deserve to win the Vendy Award?: I might not be able to win us the Super Bowl but I can make Philadelphians happy by creating modern desserts that not only look good but taste just as good. I am committed to bring that high standard that they look for in every single dessert that I make.