UncurbedDC is a concept where vacant buildings are used as pop-up shows, paired with food trucks.  The first one was hosted by BBQ Bus in Georgetown (recap).  The second UncurbedDC is going to be a bit more massive, with 5 food trucks and a dance party!  Here are the details:

Date: Fri & Sat, March 23 & 24
Location: 1134 19th St NW
5 Food Trucks: @DCempanadas, @DCslices, @TaKorean, @TheFicelle, @CurbsideCupcake
Menu: Five-course food and beer pairing from Flying Dog Brewery (more menu details at the bottom of this post)
Tickets: http://uncurbeddc.eventbrite.com ($47 for the dinner -or- $10 for the DJ/art party)

Menu details:

1ST COURSE: DC EMPANADAS Poached Pear and Brie Cheese Empanada
Beer Pairing: Raging Bitch IPA

2ND COURSE: DC SLICES Prosciutto & Caramelized Onion Pizza w/ Ricotta & Mozzarella
Veggie Option: Spinach & Caramelized Onion Pizza with Ricotta & Mozzarella
Beer Pairing: Wildeman Farmhouse IPA

3RD COURSE: TAKOREAN Korean Style Roasted Pork TaKo with Kimchi & Radish Slaw, Pork
Cracklings, Cilantro, Sriracha, Lime Crema
Veggie Option: Caramelized Tofu TaKo with Napa & Romaine Slaw, Cilantro, Sriacha, Lime Crema
Beer Pairing: Old Scratch Amber Lager

4TH COURSE: THE ROLLING FICELLE “The Davis” (Chicken Salad Sandwich with Housemade Lemon
Aioli, Almonds, Avocado and Romaine Lettuce)
Veggie Option: “The Perilli” (Eggplant, Red Pepper and Tomato Caponata with Fresh Mozzarella and Housemade Garlic Aioli)
Beer Pairing: Doggie Style Classic Pale Ale

5TH COURSE: CURBSIDE CUPCAKES Variety of Snicker-doodle and Red Velvet Cupcakes Beer Pairing:
Gonzo Imperial Porter

My friend, LOWswimmer, has an excellent review of a new Indian food bus named Flavors of India.  FTF reader, Matthew, wrote in to describe that there isn’t really a menu with pricing, it just lists different items that can go on your $9 (as of Sept 2012) $8 platter of food.  And, thanks to Elise for being first to report this new truck at GWU on March 6, 2012.  Maybe they’ll get on Twitter soon so I can start tracking them!

The Big Cheese and Screwtop Wine Bar (1025 N. Fillmore St., Arlington) are teaming up to bring you a grilled cheese happy hour with wine pairings this Saturday! (March 17, 2012 – St Patrick’s Day)  Here are some details:

GRILLED CHEESE LOVERS in PARADISE HAPPY HOUR
This Saturday St. Patrick’s Day from 4-6:30!

Love Grilled Cheese? Love Wine & Beer? Then join The Big Cheese – Grilled Cheese Gourmet Food Truck, at your favorite neighborhood wine bar, screwtop, this Saturday March 17th from 4-6:30!
1025 N. Fillmore St., Arlington, VA 22201 703-888-0845

We’ll each be serving flights for $9!
Grilled Cheese Flights from The Big Cheese truck,
and Wine & Beer Pairing Flights from screwtop.
What a blast! Kids Welcome!

Grilled Cheese Flight #1 Born in the USA- $9
Midnight Moon- goat, caramelized onion
Full Vermonty- Cabot Clothbound
Thrilled Cheese- chipotle cheddar, jalapeño, guacamole
*Enjoy your Grilled Cheeses inside screwtop and pair with a Beer Flight or Wine pairing flight for $9

Grilled Cheese Flight #2 – Cheesy Madness- $9
Mt Fuji- Mt. Tam Brie, Fuji apple, honey on multigrain
Truffle Shuffle- Sottocenere, artichoke hearts on multigrain
Midnight Moon- goat, caramelized onion on multigrain
*Enjoy your Grilled Cheeses inside screwtop and pair with a Beer Flight or Wine pairing flight for $9

A new BBQ truck comes to Montgomery County, MD today (Rockledge Dr), named Curley’s Q.  Voted #1 BBQ by his ex-wife, Mr. Curley serves up delicious smoked meats.  More info and links are on their page!

The owner of the new meatball truck that was spotted late last year got in touch to tell everyone about his new truck: Ball or Nothing!  March 9 is apparently National Meatball Day, which makes this announcement timely.

Launching on March 17, 2012, Ball or Nothing describes their offerings:

Clearly, balls are the theme. Meatballs, of course, but we will also be regularly serving our veggie ball with a Dragon Breath-cheese middle and our Super Great Special Ball Of The Week! — starting off with our Chicken Adobo Ball. Also featured will be our Ghost Chili Tomato Sauce. It’s hot, no doubt, but we promise even those who aren’t chili heads will love it.

Pino’s Auto Grill started serving in Montgomery County, MD last week.  Viewing the photo of their truck above, it might be obvious what cuisine they serve: Italian! 🙂 They describe their offerings as: Authentic Italian dishes. Homemade Sauces. Fresh Pasta. Delicious Subs.  More info and links are on their page.

The DC government is getting ahead of itself in looking to pass the food truck Sales Tax Act prior to the passage of the new food truck regulations.  The issue is a bit more serious than it initially appears.  As the DCFTA explains:

Under current food truck regulations, a vending license holder, typically the owner, must be present on the truck for it to operate. For the food truck to operate without the owner, he or she must obtain additional vending licenses for employees. As a result, a single food truck has multiple licenses holders, each of which pays fees as if it were the business owner.

The Sales Tax Act would make each license holder responsible for the business’ sales tax and could possibly require each employee to pay the business’ full amount of tax collected, resulting in a food truck paying double, triple or even more the amount of tax actually collected and threatening the ability of the food truck to remain in business.

“We don’t believe the Sales Tax Act’s intent is to threaten the viability of food trucks, but obviously it cannot be passed with the current food truck regulations still in place,” Ruddell-Tabisola said. “It only makes sense for the tax act to be adopted in tandem with passage of the Mayor’s proposed new food truck rules.”

Stephan, from El Flordiano, will be opening a restaurant called Mothership at 3301 Georgia Ave NW!  Tim Carman from the Washington Post has a great article on the restaurant plans.  Stephan hopes to open sometime in May 2012.

El Floridano is the 5th DC food truck to advance in creating a brick & mortar restaurant!  The others are: PORC, DC Empanadas, District Taco and Sauca.  If anyone needed any convincing that fostering food truck development will lead to brick & mortar restaurant openings, here is your overwhelming proof.

Eater DC has the scoop on José Andrés’ new food truck, named Pepe! Menu items range in in price from the $8 Escalivada sandwich (eggplant, red peppers, sweet onions, spinach & mojo rojo) to the $20 Pepito de Iberico (seared Iberico pork & Serrano ham, roasted green peppers, caramelized onions & alioli).

More info and links are on the Pepe page!  Here is the menu:

Butifarra ‘Burger’

Spanish pork burger with alioli and brava sauce 10

Pollo Frito

fried chicken breast with lettuce, piparra peppers,
alioli and brava sauce 10

Escalivada

roasted eggplant, red peppers, sweet onions, spinach and mojo rojo 8

Pepito de Ibérico

seared Ibérico pork and Serrano ham with roasted green peppers, caramelized onions and alioli 20

Spanish Grilled Cheese

Manchego, Murcia, Valdeón, Membrillo and fresh goat cheese 10

Fútbol Club Barcelona

thinly sliced chicken, bacon, lettuce, tomato and shallot mayonnaise 9

Jamón Serrano y Queso Manchego

Serrano ham, Manchego and olive oil 9

Pepito de Ternera

seared beef tenderloin, caramelized onion, piquillo pepper confit
and blue cheese 14

Chicken Noodle Soup

served with warm ficelle bread 8

Non-Alcoholic Beverages

Sangria

Pepe Tonic

3

Dessert

Chocolate and Hazelnut Ice Cream Flauta

Chocolate cookie sandwich with hazelnut ice cream 5

New food truck regulations public comment period has ended

DCRA announced that 3,200 comments have been received regarding the proposed vending regulations.  All of the public comments have been posted here (arranged by date).

Open up the National Mall to food trucks!

According to the Washington Examiner, Harriet Tregoning, the Director of the Washington DC Office of Planning, wants the National Park Service to consider opening up the National Mall to food truck vending.  Recognizing that even tourists bemoan the thought of a Klondike bar & soft pretzel lunch, the National Park Service isn’t completely rejecting the idea. Though, the NPS is unlikely to welcome food trucks anytime soon as they are still hung up on revising a Mall-wide concessions agreement (i.e. tourists will be stuck with the same old hot dog and ice cream carts).