“There are two areas of boundless creativity in the Bay Area: Tech and Food. The food culture here is about the freshest and most authentic food that can also be accessible to everyone. The best expression of that culture is the SF Street Food Festival” — Vijay Rajendran, Founder of Hungry Globetrotter Inc.
On Saturday, August 18, Hungry Globetrotter Inc. will partner with La Cocina, a non-profit 501(c)3 organization which builds partnerships with low-income, immigrant food entrepreneurs in the Mission District, to co-sponsor the 2012 San Francisco Street Food Festival. The festival will bring together 80+ food trucks, food carts, restaurants and renowned chefs, and attract aproximately 80,000 people to eight blocks of the city’s Mission District. The event is free, but donations for La Cocina are encouraged at the door for those that are able to give.
A night market will be held from 6-9 p.m. the night before the street festival at Alemany Market, one of San Francisco’s oldest landmarks. Twenty-Seven vendors will flank the space, providing sinfully-good grub for under $10. The entrance fee is a $25 donation, which will support La Cocina’s incubator kitchen.
A two-day conference will be held beginning on August 19 for food enthusiasts and entrepreneurs, policy makers, nonprofit organizers and volunteers, city government officials, and media to discuss food, community, entrepreneurship and the ways that food creates opportunity.
“The San Francisco Street Food Festival is a showcase for talented chefs who don’t always get the recognition they deserve and to challenge some of those who do bring it as hard as they can. Walking the festival means tasting the food of women entrepreneurs who are part of La Cocina’s Incubator program, like Veronica Salazar, a Mexican home cook who has gone brick and mortar, Azalina Eusope, a fifth generation Malaysian street food vendor or Lali Gonthi, a Georgian home cook looking to turn the meals she makes for the small Georgian community here into a living. These talented women are cooking next to names like Charles Phan, Thomas McNaughton and Nom Nom Truck as they bring the best of what they do to the same street for the same price.Ultimately, this is not just another food event, but a place and time when the best of all food worlds.” –Caleb Zigas, Executive Director of La Cocina
To learn more about San Francisco’s street food culture, check out this video by Amanda Huelse:
