Melbourne lifts ban on food trucks in the CBD.
Herald Sun June 03, 2014.
Michael Cotter with his famous Po'boy. Picture: Norm Oorloff .
•Food vans can operate in the CBD for the first time.
•Seven locations chosen for three-month trial.
•Have your say. Scroll down to share your view.
FOOD trucks have been given the green light to set up shop in Melbourne’s CBD after a ban was lifted.
For the first time the council has allowed trucks to trade outside of special events.
From Wednesday a dozen mobile vendors will be stationed at seven locations from outside the National Gallery of Victoria to near the Shrine of Remembrance.
Lord Mayor Robert Doyle said this was the first step in a three-month trial towards making the City of Melbourne more welcoming towards food truck operators.
“Food trucks have come a long way from the roadside doughnut stands and fried-food caravans of yesteryear,” Cr Doyle said.
“Gourmet food vans are a defining part of the culinary scene in global cities such as Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco and London.”
The seven locations where vans can set up shop.
Gumbo Kitchen owner Michael Cotter, whose truck is part of the trial, said in the past the council had been restrictive.
“The whole point of food trucks is to activate outdoor spaces, and at the moment not a lot of people are enjoying Melbourne’s beautiful parks,” Mr Cotter said.
“Having food trucks will activate areas not being used.”
Councillor Kevin Louey said it was unlikely the move would upset restaurants and cafes.
“Council’s policy aims to balance the interests of food van operators with the interests of established businesses. The sites we have selected have potential to be popular, without putting them in direct competition with nearby restaurants and businesses,” Cr Louey said.
Operators will notify the public where they are through their own websites.
The City of Melbourne will look at more sites as the trial continues.
< www.heraldsun.com.au/news/victoria/melbo...i0fit3-1226940621929 >
with two photos

More than a dozen new food trucks will be permanently installed in Melbourne's central business district.
Lord Mayor Robert Doyle has announced that the city's fleet of food trucks will be expanded to at least 17, after a flurry of applications from operators.
The location of the trucks will include Arts Centre and Rebecca Walk (along the north side of Yarra River).
Char char bar and grill food truck Photo: Supplied.
Lord Mayor Robert Doyle has announced that 17 food trucks have been licensed in Melbourne, and will be able to set up on a permanent or temporary basis at a number of city locations.
3AW host Neil Mitchell, who has been a strong proponent of the plan since visiting New York nearly a decade ago, said it would bring casual dining to Melbourne's parks and streets.
"We will be seeing food trucks scattered in permanent locations around Melbourne. Some will be at fixed locations, some will stay there for years," he said.
"It will bring magnificent colour and energy to the town. At last we're going to expand it, exploit it."
A food truck Photo: Supplied.
< www.theage.com.au/victoria/melbourne-exp...20160907-grap8d.html >

Fleet of food trucks to move into Melbourne CBD permanently.
Thurs.8.9.16 Herald Sun.
A FLEET of food trucks will move into permanent locations across the city in a win for fans of pop-up dining.
Lord Mayor Robert Doyle this morning announced the popular food truck fad will nestle itself in the heart of the CBD with some trucks potentially setting up camp in the same location “for several years”.
“I think people will love it, to have these different sorts of food offerings,” Cr Doyle said.
More than 500 food trucks have applied for the right to be a part of the City of Melbourne initiative, but applicants will be whittled down to just 17.
Some of the lucky few will be permanently stationed, while others will be on a rotation “on a monthly basis”.
National Gallery, Queen Victoria Market and along Flinders Street are just a handful of the locations where these food trucks will be found.
“We think these spots will work, in talking to the various traders, but obviously, depending on the footfall, that’s what makes it, or breaks it, and we want to put them where there are people going past,” Cr Doyle told 3AW.
“We will also use them for all the major carnivals we have, like Moomba, or New Year’s Eve, or the Grand Final.
“And we want a really good, diverse, world-class offering of food trucks throughout the city.”
The food truck frenzy is expected to officially launch in March next year.
< www.heraldsun.com.au/news/victoria/fleet...0cc9d264c77235875b94 >
Age:

Herald Sun:

Just Open: Ten Piece Cutlery, Hamilton (Brisbane, Qld)
Sep 7 2016.
MasterChef runner-up Matt Sinclair. Photo: Network Ten.
What's the lowdown?
There's a show on the telly called MasterChef that you might have heard of. All-round top bloke Matt Sinclair was the runner-up this season (only by a two-point margin, mind) and with business/kitchen partner Moe Rickard, he's now serving Asian-inspired street snacks at Ten Piece Cutlery, a food truck permanently parked Hamilton's Eat Street Markets.
Ten Piece Cutlery is open for business every weekend. Photo: Supplied.
Why should I care?
Because it's properly good food. A cut far above most of the noodles, pancakes, and chocolate sauce-drenched crepes found elsewhere at the night-time shipping container markets. All meat and seafood is sourced from Queensland and Sinclair is working closely with local farmers for the veg. The dishes are bright, fresh, full of flavour, and healthier than chips on a stick.
Very good. What are we eating?
The launch menu featured three items including fried Mooloolaba school prawns wrapped up in a taco with gochu (Korean pepper) mayo and wombok (two for $12) that punch with flavour. Props to Sinclair for keeping the prawn heads attached. If you've never had a whole school prawn before, head over to Eat Street and edify yourself.
A disposable wooden fork makes short work of slow-cooked tamarind-glazed beef brisket spiked with lemongrass-infused Thai fish sauce and served on vermicelli noodles ($14). Meanwhile, salt-and-pepper whiting tails with pearl barley, chilli-ginger dressing and crisp-fried shallots ($13) are gently pan-fried to put the flavour of fresh Queensland fish in the spotlight.
Ten Piece Cutlery from MasterChef's Matt Sinclair at Eat Street Markets. Photo: Callan Boys.
The menu will evolve over time, although punters can expect similar dishes if they pay a visit on the weekend (although the whiting might appear in a slider instead, says Rickard).
Will I have to line up for very long?
Probably not. Ten Piece Cutlery is located on the booze-free grass area away from the main market hubbub, so a lot of punters have likely filled up on funnel cake before they realise it's there. Best advice is to bypass the gozleme stands and head straight for Sinclair. Just don't have a beer or wine in your hand because for annoying licensing restrictions, you'll be told to finish it before setting foot on the lawn.
Related Content:
MasterChef's Matt Sinclair to open Ten Piece Cutlery in Brisbane.
Open Fri-Sat 4pm-10pm; Sun 11am-3pm.
Eat Street Markets, 99 MacCarthur Avenue, Hamilton, 07 3358 2500, tenpiececutlery.com.au.
< www.goodfood.com.au/eat-out/just-open/ju...lton-20160907-grb13a >
Semi-permanently parked, almost-certainly a caravan rather than a truck, but obscured by the false front.
Roderick

Portsmouth UK, HMS Victory display.
No ID other than the Citroen emblem on the grill.

September 22 2016.
Shark cartilage, lamb lungs and 'beer': it's a gourmet food truck for dogs.
If you believed we've seen every conceivable kind of food truck, think again. A new one starting on Saturday is exclusively for dogs.
And it's not about cheap chicken mince or pig's ears. It's called Canine Wellness Kitchen, it's strictly gourmet – would sir like some green lipped mussel? – and it claims to be the first pets' food truck in Australia.
Food truck for dogs to open.
Strictly gourmet, the Canine Wellness Kitchen claims to be the first pets' food truck in Australia.
Its founders asked: why should humans have all the fun eating fresh cooked Nutella crepes, banh mi sliders and kimchi quesadillas on a night out at a park or festival?
Dogs at this truck can munch on cow hoof, shark cartilage, lamb lungs and beef achilles knot tendons. There is even a "beer" – called Freddie's Froth, made of bone broth.
Katie Crandon and Laura Yeomans have started up Canine Wellness Kitchen. Happy customer Cookie visits the dog food truck. Photo: Simon Schluter The truck has a small dog-level serving window for Rover, along with a human-sized counter.
Co-founder Katie Crandon said she and partner, Laura Yeomans, who run a pet food business, are connoisseurs of the food truck scene but felt sorry for their cocker spaniel Freddie.
"He always gets tied up either under a table or to a pole and he often gets the short end of the stick," Ms Crandon said.
"The idea [behind the dog food truck] is, you come to the truck, buy yourself a meal and a beer and the dog can enjoy the same food as what you're eating."
A Canine Munchies plate featuring shark cartilage, liver, lamb lung and kangaroo meat. Photo: Simon Schluter The "locally sourced" menu, which states the health benefits to your pooch of each dish, includes dry foods or "munchies" such as beef liver ("good for brain development, combating fatigue, muscle and mental ability, a source of folic acid, B12 vitamins and iron"); and Roo Chew, kangaroo that is high in protein, low in fat and good for allergies and sensitive tummies.
A dish called The Love Mussel is green lipped mussel – a "superfood" that heals creaky joints and is a natural anti-inflammatory and "a rich source of omega fatty acids and minerals'.
The "Collar Unbuckler" dish from Canine Wellness Kitchen, coming to a food truck park near you. Photo: Simon Schluter The truck is opening at 9am on Saturday at Hank Marvin Market in Alma Park, St Kilda East, and will be there each Saturday until Christmas.
They will also be at the park near the Lost Dogs Home in North Melbourne next Thursday, and are already scoping out sites at Port Melbourne foreshore, and food truck parks in Thornbury and Preston.
Katie Crandon and Laura Yeomans have started up Canine Wellness Kitchen, a food truck for dogs. Photo: Simon Schluter Ms Crandon said there had been a "huge response" to the idea on Facebook, with a lot of excited dog owners saying "please come to our suburb" and they were already thinking of launching more trucks.
< www.theage.com.au/victoria/shark-cartila...20160922-grmddf.html >

160501Su Melbourne (Vic.) Essendon Airport: open day, Mercedes coffee van, serving under the verandah of the ~1960 terminal. (Roderick Smith)

Roderick

More detail, from an older item.
Roderick.

September 8 2016 Melbourne 'Age'.
Window of opportunity for Melbourne food trucks, but there's one small snag.
For the first time, Melbourne's CBD will open its doors to a fleet of food trucks.
But the food truck operators face an uphill battle to win a permit, with only the cream of the crop set to survive a brutal culling process.
Only the best food trucks will make the cut. Photo: Simon Schluter In what surely sets the scene for Australia's latest foodie reality television show, more than 500 food truck operators have already applied for one of just 17 permits.
So how will the lucky operators be chosen? Will there be a taste off? Can the public vote?
More than 500 food trucks are hoping to win a spot in the CBD.
Will MasterChef's Gary Mehigan be rolled in to cull the mediocre from the masterful?
Vendors will be chosen by a panel of five Melbourne City Council staff (at this stage, we know little about their burger-tasting credentials).
However Melbourne lord mayor Robert Doyle said there would be set criteria to decide on the winners.
Lord mayor Robert Doyle wants the food to be 'healthy and fresh'. Photo: Steven Siewert "We want it to be healthy food, we want it to be fresh, we want them to be sustainable businesses," he said.
Food trucks with great presentation and a strong media following will also be given priority.
"We appreciate good food in Australia's culinary capital which is why we will be only accepting 17 of the best food trucks we can identify," Cr Doyle said.
The culling process is set to take a number of months, with food truck sites to open by March next year.
They will be located in front for the National Gallery of Victoria (near where current trucks operate), on Peel Street at the Queen Victoria Market and at three fairly-desolate sites on Flinders Street near the Yarra River.
Five of the food trucks will be permanent, while the other 12 will rotate monthly.
Rent will range between $200- and $1700-a-month depending on the location and Cr Doyle said he was confident the trucks would not affect the profits of established restaurants and cafes.
"We feel like it's a complementary offer and we certainly aren't in the business of driving other businesses out," he said.
Previously, the council has trialled food trucks around the municipality, including Michael Ibrahim's Soul Kitchen espresso bar and wood-fired pizza outlet near the Arts Centre on St Kilda Road.
While Mr Ibrahim is now facing fierce competition for his parking spot, he said when he first started his business 13-years ago there were very few boutique food van operators in Melbourne.
"In 2003, if I said I had a food truck they would have thought it was an ice-cream van or hot dog van," he said.
"I think the quality that we are putting out of the food truck is equal if not better than restaurants."
* Queen St near Queen Victoria Market: one permanent; two rotational; market days only, Tues. & Thurs.-Sun, 9.00-16.00.
* Flinders St at Spencer St (under the viaduct): one permanent; two rotational; Mon.-Fri. 7.00-19.00, Sat. & Sun. 10.00-22.00.
* Rebecca Walk (Flinders St rail underpass): four rotational; Mon.-Wed. 7.00-19.00; Thurs.-Sat. 16.00-22.00.
* Lez Erdi Plaza (Yarra River north bank): one permanent; two rotational; Sun.-Thurs. 7.00-21.00; Fri. & Sat. 7.00-23.00.
* St Kilda Rd outside NGV / Arts Centre: two permanent; two rotational; Sun.-Thurs. 6.00-21.00; Fri. & Sat. 7.00-23.00; may be extended during events.
< www.theage.com.au/victoria/window-of-opp...20160908-grbgd3.html > Six comments:
* Melbourne food trucks charge more than any city anywhere.
* Try Rome.
* Why not let the market decide rather than some council criteria of goodness?
If the food is bad and the business poorly run they won't survive.
why once again do we have to have someone hold our hands and tell us what is good for us. What if I feel like crap food late at night? Let the public decide what they want!
* so let any old truck use public space to make a profit and compete with rate paying retailers? I would think it is strategically useful to only let those who will make/change the nature of a place (like a park etc) in and not just anyone.
* I am sure there would be some sort of charge regardless to have a food serving permit. But as for just anyone, who are the council to judge those who will make/ change the nature of a place. You can't force people to eat veggo or paleo because it is good for you or it has the wrong vibe for the venue/park. As for the rate paying retailers, maybe some competition will help them to extract digits a bit further and give the people what they want. Not everyone want a sit down dinner, that's why the market decides not the council
* Just another fad for folk to post on their social media and advertise that they just paid an excessive amount to eat like a pauper.
* Mr Doyle is denying Melburnians the right to discretionary spending in their consumer behaviour by limiting food truck licenses to those peddling Council's approved product? This is rampant authoritarianism from a man who appears to delight in being annoying. Let the market decide and raise truckloads of City revenue from as many players as prepared to risk their arms subject to OHS and Health Regulations is surely a better strategy?
* I agree see above! Also having been to a few places around the US where food trucks have been for a while, they offer a wide variety of food and it all tastes good. Not all of it is healthy or council approved.

Not mine, so just the link: Citroen snackvan www.flickr.com/photos/21611052@N02/15542961265
With or without carets, it isn't clickable: copy and paste to your browser.
Roderick

Footscray station to be transformed with weekly twilight market in November.
Maribyrnong Leader October 29, 2016.
A SPRINGTIME market has sprung up in Footscray.
For four weeks in November, Footscray station will be transformed at twilight into a market offering hawker-style food, stalls, and eclectic entertainment and music.
Located on the station forecourt in Irving St, the market will showcase some of Footscray’s best dining experiences from Vietnamese, Japanese to African food.
Sekai Japanese Ramen, Burger Business, Viet Soup Kitchen, Konjo Cafe and Restaurant, Scapegoat Coffee and Roti Road will be among the local traders.
Visitors can enjoy al fresco dining, entertainment and music by Victoria University students, and craft stalls selling jewellery and homewares.
The market will run every Thursday from 4-8.30pm.
< www.heraldsun.com.au/leader/north-west/f...19fc7a652468444886cf >
The photo is from the article.
Roderick

161107M Melbourne 'Herald Sun' - Collins St food-van park (plus the map from the 'Age').
Roderick