Zap Out!

The Vendy Award for best street food vendors is. Congratulations to winners Solber Pupusas for their Caribbean meat patties. There is no doubt the variety of street food has expanded dramatically in the last few years from hot dogs, pretzels, and tacos to a virtual smorgasboard of foods from around the world: tamales, kim chi, Belgian waffles, and more. (Which national cuisine is responsible for the cupcake? We could do with less of those, in your correspondent's humble opinion.)

The BQE could easily host its own mini-Vendy's. But that it's notoriously difficult to get back on the highway once you've gotten off, you could begin with souvlaki and cevapi (Balkan grilled meat) in Astoria, samosas and empanadas in Jackson Heights, banh mi (Vietnamese sandwiches) in Sunset Park. What's harder to find, in Greenpoint or anywhere in NYC, is the Polish zapiekanka, a kind of mini-French-bread pizza with an indescribable topping of cheese, mushrooms, and ketchup. 

Zapiekanka

"Zapping out" (a term coined by Mike Waters, if memory holds) was what you did if you had a little money and couldn't face another kotlet schabowy (breaded pork cutlet). I'd gladly jump off the BQE at Meeker St. and take my chances getting back on for smak zapiekanki. (You can see more Polish street food, including the original bagel--obwarzianki--on this website from which I got the photo above.)