Sarah Jessica Parker Will Be Watching the Vendies Last week we aired Chris Noth’s lament about the corporatization of the city. Turns out his Sex and the City co-star Sarah Jessica Parker is also looking out for the little man. During Ralph Lauren’s recent 40th-anniversary party, Parker told our reporter Amy Odell that she loved the magazine’s “Street Fare” feature. “I’ll eat anything if it’s off of a cart,” she confessed — her favorite being a Middle Eastern one on Sixth Avenue somewhere between 47th and 55th. So she’s not worried about hygiene? “I think they’re actually pretty vigilant about it,” she said. “They’ve got these business men standing in line for three hours to get their lunch … and you don’t hear a lot of reports about intestinal issues.” As for her favorite eatery that isn’t on wheels, she admits, “I don’t know how to pronounce it correctly. S-F-O?” Is this how one of the girls ended up at El Cantinero and not Il Cantinori in that episode?
Related: Street Fare [NYM]
Back of the House
Handicapping the Vendies
The Vendy Awards, a.k.a. the Homeless Beards, are upon us again, and the finalists for Street Vendor of the year have just been announced. As at the Beards, a familiar cluster of luminaries dominates the nominations. These are not necessarily the very best carts going, but the ones whose years of service and body of work has earned them a high reputation among sidewalk gastronomes. The nominees, and our handicapping, are below.
User’s Guide
And the Nominee for Best Performance by a Falafel …
The street cart boils the restaurant experience down to its most intimate dimensions: One person cooks for another, with no waiters, walls, or even kitchen separating them. For this reason, New York’s best vendors inspire fierce loyalty. Now, “cartisans” can vote for the vendors they love best. But the polls will soon close: The Street Vendor Project’s Vendy Awards are happening October 22 at St. Mark’s Church, and voting ends the day before. Which means we only have 13 days to lobby furiously for our candidates. Without further ado …
Update, 1:15 p.m.: Contrary to what we just said, the Street Vendor Project tells us that the polls close today, at midnight. All the more reason to blindly follow our endorsements!