Some new contenders for this year's top food cart honors are ready to bring the heat — but not the meat.
The city's largest food truck competition, the Vendy Awards, announced a new category for its 12th annual showdown, on Sept. 17: best vegan street food.
Among the six finalists are Monk's Meats, a vegan BBQ truck that uses plant-based proteins that still pack a meaty and smoky punch, along with vegan hotdog truck Yeah Dawg.
Not all of the trucks are fully vegan, but they offer tasty, animal-free bites that are standouts on the street food scene, according to the Vendy's.
Bamboo Bites, for example, cooks up a variety of sticky-rice variations, but also makes vegan favorites like its mango and sesame on coconut rice.
The Vendy's also announced finalists for their Rookie of the Year category, which includes food trucks Harlem Seafood Soul and Sisig City, a Filipino-inspired food truck, as well as its Best Dessert truck, with finalists including A Lil’ Bit of Fun, makers of artisanal, gluten-free funnel cakes and trendy Raindrop Cake — yes, cakes that look like giant raindrops.
The Best in Market category — food trucks that sell their locally sourced bites at food markets like Smorgasburg, the Vendy Plaza in Harlem and the Queens Night Market — were also announced. Trucks that made the cut include Queens arepa makers, Arepalicious and Big Mozz, known for hand-stretching mozzarella cheese at the Smorgasburg market.
The finalists for its top prize, the Vendy Cup, will be announced later this summer.
A full list of the current finalists — who were chosen after being nominated by online vote — is available on the Vendy's website.
Winners will be chosen during a massive food festival on Governors Island on Sept. 17. You can buy tickets here — with early bird general admission starting at $90 — to taste a bite of all the finalists' food, and vote on a "people's choice" winner.
