AlwaysPartying: Food Trucks at the Brooklyn Yard

Arthur Bovino — May 27, 2009

Considering its environmental issues, the Gowanus Canal might not seem like the go-to spot for snacking, but last Saturday at the Brooklyn Yard in Carroll Gardens, it was. Van Leeuwen and the Green Pirate were the only actual trucks at Parked!: The Best Food Trucks in NYC, but plenty of good food could be had from Pizza Moto and Margarita of the Red Hook huaraches vendors.

Margarita’s Stand (above) stole the show. Starting at one o’clock, there was no less than a two hour wait for the famed Red Hook huaraches (with cheese and chorizo, $7). They were good, but (and we say this with love) they weren’t two hours good. The best use of time was to leave a friend on line and do two things: glean the secrets of the tortilla and pizza-making processes, and bring food back to your place-holder from every other participant at the event. For the record, Margarita’s tortillas are made fresh, which is what takes so long. She makes the dough in batches, then to make each one she pats it, folds a smear of refried beans inside, pats it closed, and flattens it between a plastic-lined metal press. Then she cooks each tortilla, four at a time on the flat top.

Pizza Moto, Dave Scarlow’s homemade, mobile brick oven pizza moved much faster. There were three pizzas available: the Margherita ($8); the Artichoke with Mozzarella, Artichoke and Olive Oil ($11); and the Ramps with Wild Leeks, Bacon, Grana Padano Cheese and Tomato Sauce ($11). After a dash of La Baleine Sea Salt, the paper plate sized pizzas were cooked three at a time, at quarter turns by an open flame, then finished with olive oil and grated cheese.

The Green Pirate juice truck was serving five specialty combinations in plastic cups claimed to have been made from corn. We’re not very health-conscious, but the Hot Pink Limeade (made with beets) was a good way to hydrate between glasses of red sangria.

The Van Leeuwen guys showed up fashionably late, but early enough for some of their ten flavors (Pistachio, Espresso and Gianduia) to serve as appetizers before huaraches.