SACTOMOFO- Mobile Food Truck Festival

So, after waiting for this Food Truck Festival it has finally arrived.  Today gourmet food trucks from Sacramento and San Francisco and other vendors descended on Fremont Park in the heart of Sacramento.  The purpose for the festival was to show the city that it is something that Sacramento needs and wants and to change the ordinance that would allow a food truck to park for more than just half an hour at a time in the city limits.  A few of the new food trucks in town have been Tweeting their location but once half an hour is up they have to move, often leaving customers having to either wait for the next location Tweet or find another means for lunch.  Hopefully the sucess of this festival will help change the minds of the powers that be.  And a sucess it was! I think on think on the news I heard 9,000 people?  I believe it.  I don't think there were any lines for any of the trucks that didn't run into the 2 hour time frame.  2 hours for a sandwich, some Indian food, Chinese, Korean..Yes, Yes, and Yes and maybe even longer for some of the more famous trucks from San Francisco.  Spencer on the go had to pack up after just a few hours after running out of food.  Several other truck were crossing off items on their menus as things began to run out.  I know some of the volunteers even went on supply runs to stock some of the trucks.
Most impressive is that with all those people there were no problems.. no one really complained about the long wait in line, everyone was friendly and curtious and mostly we made new friends having to stand in line for so long together.  Most of the time we joked about how many steps we'd advanced in half an hour and where we started from and where we were now in relationship to the truck and how many more hours did we think it would take to actually be able to place our order.
I went with 3 of my friends and we all stood line at different trucks and met after we got our orders and shared our loot.  All the food was great.  Chicken Masala burrito and chick pea and chicken curry from Curry it Up, Chorizo tacos and beef tacos from La Piedad, a Bahn mi sandwich from Mama Kims, and pulled pork and mac and cheese grilled cheese sandwich and Korean Beef grilled cheeese sandwich from Drewski's Hot Rod.  I wish the lines were not so long only because I really wanted to try some of the other trucks.
Here are just some random shots from the festival

Good job to all those who worked so hard to organize this event.  It turned out to be a great sucess.
I think next year they need a larger venue, more trucks and maybe a 2 day event.

Foodbuzz Festival-Day 1

I was so looking forward to the Foodbuzz Festival this year. Last year I had to miss it because of the birth of my granddaughter. I hitched a ride with Catherine and we came down to San Francisco to the festival.

After checking in and receiving our swag bag of goodies, lots of goodies from the sponsors..but really a Ginzu knife? I had to laugh at that one. I had a chance to rest and get ready for our welcome dinner. I opted to stay at the Sir Francis Drake Hotel, which is where the Foodbuzz Festival was headquartered. I loved this hotel and my room was cute and very comfy. I think it was the best thing about the festival.

Later in the evening all the bloggers (about 350) all gathered in the lobby of the hotel to socialize before we were bussed to the opening dinner. There I also met up with a

fellow blogger, Sara also from Sacramento. There were bloggers from all over the country plus a few bloggers that were international.

The dinner was held at Fort Mason. We were to have dinner from food trucks!! I was excited about that, with all the food truck craze.

Our dinner was held in one of the buildings at Fort Mason. The bloggers were all to bring a gift that reflected their blog or their region. As we entered we were given a number of the table we were to sit at and directions on how to go about exchanging our gifts. After finding my table and meeting my table mates I walked around checking out what food vendors trucks we would be having dinner from. The funniest thing is 350 bloggers all whipping out their cameras taking pictures of the trucks, the cupcake display and of course the food once we were able to get our food.

bloggers taking pictures of the mini cupcake display that spelled out Foodbuzz

We were all called to ordered and asked to take our seats so we could begin the introductions of the Foodbuzz personnel and a couple of sponsors. We were then instructed to begin the gift swap. I brought a Olive cookbook by my pal Marlena Spieler. Since myself and two other bloggers had cooked through her Jewish Cooking Book and olives represent our region, I thought it was appropriate. In return I received the book The Atomic Kitchen. This is a book about the kitchens and kitchen gadgets and appliances of the future conceived in the 1950's. This was a cool book since a lot of the gadgets and appliances were things we either had or I had seen..boy doesn't that age me!!

Then we were all set free to visit the food truck and eat!!! Besides the food trucks there were different wineries and beer manufactures. So, lots of food and drinks..what more can you ask for.

The top trucks were Roti Rolli and Spencer on the Go. Roti Rolli was the porketta truck and Spencer on the Go was a contestant on Food Truck Wars on the Food Channel. There were about 8-10 vendors in all including the wine and beer people.

I have to say Roti Rolli was the best!! Of course you can never go wrong with Porketta. The other vendors were also quite good but my vote was for Rolli Roti.

porketta sandwich..the best!! Find them at the Ferry Building

New England lobster Cappuccino and baked lamb cheek sandwich

Korean taco

jalapeno brined pork sandwich and chicharrones

Vegan gumbo

After dinner a couple of food bloggers and I walked over to the Off the Grid event that is held every Friday night at Fort Mason. A bunch of food trucks that gather and provide a fun atmosphere. There were at least a dozen food trucks plus a band was playing. Hello..Sacramento are you listening?

the bao truck.. just thought this was a cute truck

another truck at Off the Grid..Filipino food

Back on the bus and back to the hotel.. the day was fun, met quite a few bloggers from all over the country. Tomorrow is going to be a busy day.