Misfortune Cookie

Head of the Class-Action: A D.C. lawyer seeking $5 million in damages on behalf of businesses impacted by flooding at Georgetown's Washington Harbour estimates that some waterlogged restaurants may have lost "upwards of $100,000"  over Easter weekend. [Washington Times]

Tipping the Upscales: Restaurateur Liu Chaosheng of Hong Kong Palace and Uncle Liu's Hot Pot fame is opening his fourth area venue next week. Mala Tang in Arlington will be “more upscale than his other restaurants," a manager says, but will also include a more informal “street food counter." [WaPo]

Photo by Piotrus/Creative Commons Attribution License

OK, maybe the voting system for the Curbside Cookoff wasn't the most foolproof on earth. At least no one was electing leaders to rule an unruly country. The worst that could happen is that an unworthy food truck took home top honors.

You be the judge if it did: The winner of the Curby Award was Curbside Cupcakes.

The contest, if you ask me, was beside the point. The point here was to drum up support for this burgeoning food culture in a charged political environment. In that regard, the cookoff was a huge success. Take a look at Andrew George's video from the event, in which he talks to patrons and truck proprietors alike.

Was it the David vs. Goliath storyline? Or the sheer absurdity of a nuisance trial based on that hot-grill perfume known as hamburger fumes? Or just that lawyers love reading about other lawyers in potentially precedent-setting cases?

Whatever the reason, thousands of you clicked on Y&H's Steptoe & Johnson vs. Rogue States coverage last week. It dominated everyone's attention. The case is supposed to wrap on Tuesday when D.C. Superior Court Judge John M. Mott issues his verdict.

In the meantime, your Top 5:

1. Law Firm Takes the Stand to Complain About Burger Fumes
2. Curbside Cookoff Starts Today at CityCenterDC
3. Trial Starts Today to Determine if Rogue States Burger Joint Is a 'Nuisance'
4. Law & Odor
5. Changing Tables: The Restaurants That Are Closing and Opening

Photo by Darrow Montgomery

Coffee from Northside Social

If you haven't noticed already, we at Y&H Central decided it would be a good idea to stop confusing readers. We will no longer have separate spots on the website for the Young & Hungry blog and the Young & Hungry column. From now on, you'll find everything you want under this banner.

For some reason, I was a little worried that long-time Y&H readers wouldn't follow the column to the blog. It would seem that I was worried for nothing. Thanks, as always, for reading us.

1. Above-Average Joes
2. Dave and Diane Alexander in Negotiations to Sell the Brickskeller
3. Adams Morgan Pizzeria and Lounge for Sale on Craigslist
4. District Taco Makes a Move to the Great Indoors
5. Tired of the Same Old Spots? Look for These Newbies (*)

* A certain light-drinking Budweiser beer was, once again, a popular item among readers, but we’ve stopped counting it.

It seems appropriate that, on the heels of this week's cover story about food trucks and the brick and mortars that want to slash their tires (metaphorically speaking, OK?!), Y&H should focus on District Taco, a food cart that's moving to the great indoors. Owner Osiris Hoil figures it only makes sense to place his business under a permanent roof.

No, it's not what you think. It has nothing to do with District Taco's own well-publicized battle with a quasi-Mexican chain that apparently pulled the right strings to force the cart to abandon its popular patch of concrete outside the WJLA-TV building in Rosslyn. Hoil says the decision has as much to do with time management as anything.

He spends a lot of time in the kitchen preparing his Yucatan-style meals. The pork for his carnitas, for example, needs a seven-hour braise. The slow-cooked beans for his vegetarian tacos require constant attention. "They take such a long time to cook," Hoil says about his beans. "I have to be there or I'm afraid something will be on fire."

Since moving between cart and kitchen is often unmanageable and sometimes costly (read: beans left unattended and tossed in the trash), Hoil figures he should just bring the crowd to his food instead of always hauling his food out to the crowd. Besides, the boss has 2,700 Twitter followers to tell him he's doing something worth turning into an institution. "The thing is," Hoil says, "we have a lot of regulars."

He's hoping they'll follow him to District Taco's brick-and-mortar debut this fall in the former Restaurant Vero space at 5723 Lee Highway in Arlington.

His fans will certainly have more reasons to visit. Hoil is planning to expand the menu that's based on his mother's recipes from the family farm in Tekax, Yucatan. Aside from his terrific tacos, breakfast and otherwise, Hoil will serve Yucatan-style ceviche with habanero pepper as well as peninsula favorites like puc-choc and molletes. Hoil even has his mom's recipes for carne asada, burrito mojado (a wet-style burrito with a home-made salsa), and huevos rancheros.

The ironic thing is now that District Taco will have its own space from which to cook and serve, Hoil doesn't intend to spend all his time there. He plans to put his brother in charge of the new open kitchen at the fixed location, while he manages the cart, which he plans to keep rolling. "I want to get another [cart]," Hoil says, his eye clearly on the city after which District Taco takes its name. Whenever regulations are passed that will allow new sidewalk vendors in D.C., the owner plans to have a cart ready to roll onto the streets.

It's a point of pride for Hoil.  He says he gets a lot of guff from Washingtonians about a cart named District Taco that's based in NoVa. "I get Tweets all the time," Hoil admits. He says their messages are direct: "'Shame on you. You shouldn't call yourself District Taco.'"

He wants to silence them with a D.C.-based cart.

What Hoil will never silence is the street-food life that may appear outside his new restaurant, tentatively scheduled to open in late October or early November. "If you have a restaurant and they take your customers, it's not their fault," he says about street vendors.

You have to, he adds, just get better as a restaurant.

You may have already heard that the Department of Consumer and Regulatory Affairs announced the 20 food vendors who will take part in the inaugural Curbside Cook-Off on Oct. 7 and 8 at CityCenterDC. The list is heavy on the newbie trucks that have generated so much controversy, but two vendors in particular stick out like tourists in downtown D.C.

Both Rebel Heroes and District Taco are Northern Virginia street-food operators. How'd they sneak into a cook-off co-hosted by DCRA?

Sam Williams, vending coordinator for DCRA, says the NoVa vendors' inclusion is simply to "highlight carts not in the District that are trying to get a license here." For example, Williams notes that District Taco, the terrific Yucatan-influenced vendor in Arlington, can't secure a license in the city after which it takes its name. Why? Because District Taco is a food cart, not a truck, and cart licenses can't be issued until the new regulations are passed.

As for Rebel Heroes, Williams says that he's been working with the owners to license the popular truck in the District. He expects Rebel Heroes to be licensed by the time of the Curbside Cook-Off. This means, of course, that El Floridano will soon have competition in the rolling banh mi market.

No one, it seems, has heard of BBQ Bandidos, one of the 20 winners. But Williams is looking into it. Or he will once he's out of the hospital. The DCRA official broke his leg Sunday during his usual soccer game. He says it's bad. "I'm going to be out of commission," he says.

More than 4,800 ballots were cast in the contest. Here are the 20 winning vendors:

Red Hook Lobster Truck

DC Slices

District Taco

Eat Wonky

BBQ Bandidos

Yellow Cart

Pedro and Vinny’s Burrito Cart

Curbside Cupcakes

DC Empanadas

Eat Sauca

El Floridano

Fojol Bros.

Food Chain DC

Fry Captain

Yellow Truck

Pleasant Pops

Rebel Heroes

Sweet Bites

Sweetflow Mobile

Takorean

Brick-and-mortar restaurants would like to see food trucks affixed to permanent sites or restricted to parking spots 100 feet away from any licensed eatery (which would essentially ban the mobile vendors from downtown). Drew Costley and Andrew George hit the streets themselves to ask you if D.C. should put restrictions on these rolling snack bars.

This insightful video, produced by Drew Costley and Andrew George, is part of this week's cover story on food trucks and the regulatory battle they face to keep their business alive. Listen to three food truck owners explain some of the difficulties they face on the streets of D.C.

In what could become D.C.'s own version of the Vendy Awards, Brightest Young Things has just announced the First Annual Curbside Cook-Off set for next month on the site of the old convention center. BYT is partnering with DCRA and the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities to present the two-day event on October 7 and 8.

The public will have a chance to decide what street food vendors will represent D.C. in the contest. BYT plans to release more information later on how you can vote for the 20 spots available in the cookoff.

In the meantime, consider this: The contest is a smart way to build public support for D.C.'s army of ever-expanding food trucks, which are finding themselves increasingly under attack by local BIDs, brick-and-mortar businesses, food depot owners, and ANCs. The timing can't be coincidental. The D.C. Council is expected to consider the new food vendor rules later the same month.

You could, of course, support the food trucks now by eating at one. Find their locations here.

It was the sign that hooked me. There it was, a simple hand-painted sandwich board straddling the median on Wisconsin Avenue in Bethesda. Its message was direct: PIT BBQ. An arrow pointed right.

I turned right.

I eventually ran right into Hardy's, a big white truck parked just outside the Montgomery Farm Women's Cooperative. The truck is where you meet Roxie. She takes your order, serves up sides, and shouts to her husband what meats you want. Her husband, Corries Hardy, is just a few feet away, tending his large portable smoker crammed with three tiers of juicy meats, including sausage, ribs, brisket, turkey, and pork.

I immediately start asking him the usual barbecue-geek questions: What kind of wood does he use? How long does he smoke his various meats? Does he use a rub?

His answers are brief and friendly (though his tone understandably suspicious of a stranger asking waaaay too many questions): He uses apple wood only. He likes its sweet scent. (Don't get him started on hickory.) Hardy has created his own special brown sugar-based rub, which is adapted from his grandfather's recipe. He smokes his brisket for about seven hours and his ribs for about three.

His style of barbecue, like his rub, is inspired by his grandfather's work at the smoker in Florida. It's the  kind of slow-smoked 'cue that doesn't play up the smoke. Which explains why he keeps his pit constantly open.

I politely tell Hardy that I've spent a lot of time in Texas and have grown accustomed to its style of barbecue. I'm speaking in code, of course. I'm signaling my bias and giving myself an easy out, should I not prefer Hardy's 'cue. After all, this former Army man towers above me like a skyscraper. His arms look like the thighs of an Olympic sprinter. He wears a straw hat. He reminds me of Alex Karras in Blazing Saddles, and I wasn't interested in being the horse that takes his punch, particularly after the pitmaster offered me a free sample of his brisket (not that smokey but tender and sweet).

I then bought some ribs; I would have bought more, but I had just eaten lunch. Hardy gave me an extra rib. (Man, if I didn't like his 'cue now, I figured I was destined to be dog food.)

Hardy's ribs are indeed sweet. But they also have an excellent chew. They require some jaw work to remove the meat from the bone, just the way I like 'em. But the surprise came from Hardy's sauce, which starts with a sweet hit of what tastes like cider vinegar, but resolves into this welcome blast of heat.

It might not be my preferred style of barbecue, but I could appreciate its craft. This is a pitmaster who has dedicated himself to his own personalized style of barbecue, down to the custom-made rub and the home-made sauce. There is a meticulousness and singularity of purpose here that I can fully embrace. These are the traits of the finest pitmasters, from North Carolina to Central Texas. The fact that my heart and palate will forever belong to Lone Star State 'cue is not Corries Hardy's fault.

Hardy's barbecue is available from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday and Sundays near the Montgomery Farm Women's Cooperative at Willow and Wisconsin streets in Bethesda.