With over twenty food options available, how did we go without lunch? Tehya and I met our friend Marco to explore and sample some of the many tasty options at the recent Sew Hungry 2012 on Ottawa Street in Hamilton, but all we had were the Beaver Tails and not the street meat we went looking for. What turned out to be a beautiful Spring day, saw hundreds of food crazy people line the streets and as if hypnotized, they stood in long lines urged on by the tantalizing scents emanating from the many kitchen on wheels. Yes, it was a gathering of food trucks and if you’re a fan of the Food Network, you have an idea of the buzz such trucks create when they hit a street corner. This time there were over 12 of them, so you can only imagine the frenzy.
With free parking available at municipal parking lots it wasn’t hard finding a parking spot (if you knew where to look), so within minutes of arriving, we were already in the thick of things and scrutinizing where we would eat. With the variety of food options available, this was not as easy as you would think. Tehya and Marco decided on the pulled pork parfait (pulled pork layers with mashed potato and gravy/bbq sauce), but I wanted to try something different so I left them in line and went exploring.
Along with the food trucks, the local restaurants on Ottawa street also took part in the event, so this also added to my confusion as to what to have for lunch. I did stop to smell the pies, but they were plastic wrapped so that didn’t work out as I envisioned. I don’t think they would want me smelling their pies either. With live music and other playful events going on, you could tell there was some planning on the part of the committee who organized the event. With a heavy police presence, there were no issues with cars and pedestrians sharing the road way and crowds were well controlled as well. Makes me wonder if they should have closed off the street.. but that’s probably something they’ll look at, as this event grows.
If you’re wondering what you missed out on as far as which restaurants and food trucks took part, here’s a list..
Ottawa Street Restaurants:
The Cannon Coffee Company
Helen’s Restaurant
Poco Loco
Cafe Limoncello
Sestre’s Coffee Shop
Dora’s Delicatessen and Catering
Food Trucks
Gorilla Cheese
Sweetness Bakery
Cupcake Diner
Caplansky’s Deli
Hank Daddy’s BBQ
Beaver Tails
Blue Donkey Streatery
Dobro Jesti
Toasted Tangerine
El Gastronomo Vagabundo
Kool Jim’s Ice Cream
Shriner’s Kettle Creek Popcorn
Smoke’s Poutinerie
Bonfire Catering
We knew this would be a well attended event, but as I worked my way back to where I left Tehya and Marco in line I noticed that they did not move more than 5 feet. After 40 minutes in line and they were no-where close to being served. I’m sure from the pics above you can also tell that the lines were long everywhere. If you were on your lunch break and had the typical hour off.. you’d go hungry for sure. It would have been so much more efficient if the trucks had tables set up in front of each, where the actual purchase – serving took place. This way when an order was placed it could be quickly filled and have more customers served, faster. I’m sure they have a reason for prepping, cooking, selling and serving from within the confines of the small trucks (maybe a health concern?), but it simply wasn’t efficient. I see the same idea done with tables at the front of the main staging area, with a few servers working in conjunction with the “kitchen” at the annual Caribana in Toronto and you won’t believe how fast it all works.
The lines were just too long, so sadly I can’t comment on the actual ‘food’ at the event. I can say this though.. the prices were a bit more than what I would expect or call fair, but people were willing to pay. We headed out after an hour or so and the crowds were just getting thicker and thicker. A lovely event which certainly have captured the imagination and taste buds of Hamiltonians. Hopefully next year we’ll get a chance to actually enjoy some of the offerings.
Don’t miss – you have to make your way to the area where the police officers are based and take a pic of the horses. I’ve never seen such beautiful and grand animals.
