By LEKHA JANDHYALA | THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
ANAHEIM – Angel Stadium’s parking grounds were a whirl of colors, smells, and music Saturday afternoon, as hundreds of people gathered to attend the second annual OC Foodie Fest.
The vibrant environment was set up for 100 food vendors, including food trucks SoCO Certified Famers’ Market and local boutique booths.
Guests were treated to a diverse array of delicious food creations and stars from The Food Network shared the newest food trends. In support of OC’s very own culture, the festival highlighted local artists, musicians, and charities. Second Harvest Food Bank partnered with OC Foodie Fest, hosted a food drive at the event where people who donated five cans of food received a free ticket to an Angels’ game.
Despite the heat, many people stayed in line at a few specific trucks, including The Lime Truck, last year’s first-place winner for “Best of the Fest.”
“Having a food truck is a completely different experience. When it’s a food truck, you have people hunting us down, following our schedule and really wanting our food,” said Daniel Shemtob, The Lime Truck’s co-owner.
“They love what we come up with and that’s what makes this job so fun,” he said as he talked about the family-like relationship the crew has with each other and with its loyal customers. “It’s creative genius.”
Customer Allie Wong agreed, waiting in line to get her own Blood Orange Lemonade.
“It’s a delicious infusion of flavors,” she said
Just next door stood Seabirds, featuring a vegan, organic cuisine. Featured with The Lime Truck on The Food Network’s hit TV show, “The Great Food Truck Race,” Seabirds interested certain foodies as well.
“Last year was crazy. I ran out of food so fast, that this year I prepped for three days before the event. This year it is much slower,” Seabirds’ Stephanie Morgan said.
The heat definitely had an effect on the crowd turnout.
“It’s not the food that will make me go home,” said Kevin Lite, 55, “it’s this heat!”
Just last year, OC Foodie Fest was created “to celebrate O.C.’s love of food and its power to bring the community together, “according to the event’s website, ocfoodiefest.com. According to the site, more than 8,500 food-lovers attended last year’s sold-out festival, which featured 49 gourmet trucks, showcased various arts and entertainment, and supported charities.
“It was chaotic, and lines were really long,” said Vanessa Flores, a therapist in Anaheim, recalling last year’s festival she had also attended. “But it was a great opportunity to see different food trucks.”
She and her boyfriend, Mike Francis, 28, consider themselves, “definite ‘Yelpers'”. The two were came prepared for the event by both coming early so they could beat the lines and researching which food trucks would be at the event.
“We both wanted to try lobster for some time after hearing about lobster rolls,” said Francis, standing in Lobsta Truck’s line, one of the longest at the event.
http://www.ocregister.com/articles/food-314150-truck-year.html
