Members of the D.C., Maryland and Virginia Food Truck Association will face off for top awards at this year’s annual Curbside Cookoff on Sept. 12 from 11 a.m.-7 p.m. at NoMa Junction at Storey Park, 1005 First St. NE.

First held in 2010, Curbside Cookoff is back featuring food trucks, fashion trucks, local beer, an artisans market, a kids zone, the DMVFTA All Star Awards and live secret ingredient chef battles. This year’s charity partner is No Kid Hungry.

The LdV (Leonardo Dog Vinci) Caprese-style hot dog from Swizzle is one of the nominees in the Breakthrough Dish competition at this year’s Curbside Cookoff. (Photo: Mark Heckathorn/DC on Heels)

Eight of the association’s members are vying for the top breakthrough dish of the year – for the best new dish of the last year, according to DMVFTA spokeswoman Diana Oberoi. The competition helps keep menus fresh, she said.

The eight dishes in the running include:

• Tequeños from Arezpa Zone. The typical Venezuelan appetizer is queso fresco wrapped in thin dough then fried. The cheese sticks are served with a garlic-cilantro dipping sauce. They are experimenting with other combinations of fillings, including a dessert tequeño such as like chocolate-dulce de leche.
• Duck confit crepe from Crepes Parfait made with garlic sautéed spinach, black currants and herb goat cheese sauce.
• Mr. Chips Sandwich from Dirty South Deli made with chopped braised pork, bread and butter jalapeños, Manchego cheese, cilantro and citrus aioli on a brioche bun.
• The Donutwich from Goodies Frozen Custard & Treats, a red velvet cake donut stuffed with frozen custard and topped with dark chocolate and cream cheese icing.
• Taco Dada from Healthy Fool made with fresh pineapple, cucumber, cilantro, onion, tomato and spinach mixed with lime and spicy sauce wrapped in a soft tortilla.
• Black truffle steak and cheese wrap from Quick Wraps mad with Il Truffelino black summer truffle cheese melted over locally farmed and all-natural beef.
• Shrimp and grits from RockSalt made with grits and shrimp in a Cajun cream sauce with scallions, bacon and tomatoes.
• The LdV (Leonardo Dog Vinci) from Swizzler, a 100 percent, grass-fed, spriral-cut, all-beef hot dog with fresh mozzarella, cherry tomatoes and arugula drisszled with balsamic glaze and house-made pesto on a locally backed pretzel bun.

 
Other categories that will be awarded on Saturday include:

Chef of the Year

Awarded to a food truck chef who has achieved and set high culinary standards of excellence for the regional food truck industry.

• Ali Arellano, Arepza Zone
• Mounir Elhilali, Crepes Parfait
• Jacob Hunter, Dirty South Deli
• Karrin Jones, RockSalt
• Joe Neuman, Sloppy Mama’s
• Huy Nguyen, PhoWheels
• Alex Tsamouras, Feelin’ Crabby

Brandon Byrd of Goodies Frozen Custard & Treats is up nominated for dessert chef of the year. (Photo: Mark Heckathorn/DC on Heels)

Dessert Chef of the Year

Awarded to a food truck chef who has achieved and set high culinary standards of excellence for the regional food truck industry in the areas of pastries and desserts.

• Craig Barisi, That Cheesecake Truck
• Brandon Byrd, Goodies Frozen Custard & Treats
• Kirk Francis, Captain Cookie & the Milk Man
• Aaron and Sandra McNeil, Midnight Confections Cupcakery
• Sam and Kristi Whitfield, Curbside Cupcakes

Outstanding Customer Service

Awarded to a food truck that has demonstrated consistent high standards of customer service.

• Arepa Zone
• CapMac
• DC Slices
• Dirty South Deli
• Federal City Brothers
• RockSalt
• Sang on Wheels
• South Meets East
• Swizzler

Best New Food Truck

Awarded to a food truck that has opened within the last 12 months and has distinguished itself for quality of food and or customer service.

• Balkanik Taste
• Carolina Q (new ownership)
• Chix N Stix
• Dirty South Deli
• Federal City Brothers
• Mojaita Latin Flavor
• Muncheez
• Pittsburgh Rick’s
• Quick Wraps
• RockSalt
• Swizzler

Food Truck Design of the Year

Awarded to a food truck for excellence in concept and execution of food truck design and décor.

• Cajunators
• Crepes Parfait
• Lemongrass Truck
• Muncheez
• Swizzler

 
You can cast your vote in all the categories online until Sept. 10.

Other events include Chef Battles in which food truck chefs square off against each other. At 1 p.m in the Beltway Battle, Curley from Curley’s Q representing Maryland takes on Jacob Hunter from Dirty South Deli representing D.C. and Andy Smiedala of Tortuga representing Virginia. In the “I Heart Beef: Battle at 2 p.m., Gloria Saylor of Ada’s Kitchen on Wheels takes on Mounir Elhilai from Crepes Parfait using beef as the main ingredient. At 3 p.m., participants will put on a food truck costume in a race that includes flat tires, parking tickets and other hazards. At 3:15 p.m., two fans, Amber Shuman and Rocio Daza, will team up with two food truck chefs, Haidar Charaf of Muncheez and Alicia Steward of the BBQ Bus. At 4:30 p.m. the Curbside Bakeoff will pit Jacque Pitts of The Frosted Muffin, Aaron McNeild of Midnite Confections Cupcakers and Kristi Whitfield of Curbside Cupcakes in a backeoff using spent grain, the leftover malt from brewing beer. And at 5:30 p.m., the all-star awards, including Best Five Buck Bite for the truck that offers exceptions taste and vile for $5 or less and Best in Show for the truck that makes the most creative and innovative use of the space outside their truck, will be announced.

For kids, there will be a moon bounce and a chance to make their own food truck in the arts and crafts area. There will be a cooking demon with teen chef Jordan Weber at 12:30 p.m., a cooking demo from the Hill Center at 1:30 p.m., a Good Market cooking demon at 2:30 p.m. and a Beloved Kids yoga class at 3:30 p.m.

Tickets for Curbside Cookoff are $8 and available online.

Food truck Arepa Zone opened its new stall at Union Market, 1309 Fifth St. NE, on Saturday in the stall previously occupied by RIS restaurant.

Arepa Zone opened its stall in Union Market on Saturday. (Photo: Mark Heckathorn/DC on Heels)

The Venezuelan eatery is owned by Gabriela Febres and her fiancé Ali Arellano. They won this year’s Launch Pad competition to identify and lunch promising new culinary concepts sponsored by Union Market, Mess Hall and RIS. The food truck beat out four other finalists to win six-12 months of free rent, however they must still pay Union Market 10 percent of their sales. The initial lease is for six months with an option for another six months, Febres said.

Most of the equipment was included in the stall, although Febres said they added a deep fryer and a larger grill to cook the arepas on. Still, the tiny stall is huge compared to the truck, she said, and will be staffed with three employees during the week and four on weekends.

An employee grills the arepas before they are filled. (Photo: Mark Heckathorn/DC on Heels)

The stall will serve more than a dozen arepas, Venezuelan grilled and stuffed corn patties made with Harina P.A.N., pre-cooked white maize meal. The corn cakes are sliced into a pocket and stuffed with meats, cheeses and other fillings. Many of the arepas will be the same as those served on the food truck, such as the Pelúa with shredded beef and shredded yellow cheese, the Catira with shredded chicken and shredded yellow cheese, the Sifrina with chicken salad, avocado and shredded cheddar cheese and the Pabellón with shredded beef, shredded queso fresco, sweet plantains and black beans.

Arepas are corn cakes filled with different items like shredded chicken and beef with cheese shown here.
(Photo: Mark Heckathorn/DC on Heels)

Other offerings include quesadilla-like sweet corn crepes called cachapas, which are made with sweet yellow corn and filled with cheese, ham and cheese, shredded chicken and cheese or shredded beef and cheese. There will also be tequeños, delicious gourmet cheese sticks served with a garlic-cilantro dipping sauce. Desserts include rice pudding and Venezuelan flan.

Tequeños are delicious cheese sticks served with a garlic-cilantro sauce. (Photo: Mark Heckathorn/DC on Heels)

Febres said there will be some new items added to the menu as well, including a pork shoulder arepa and a Pabellón bowl with rice, beans, sweet plantains and shredded beef. There will also be papelón con limón, a refreshing drink made with brown cane sugar and lemon juice. Arepea Zone’s Union Market stall will also sell some items from Mess Hall tenants,

Prices for arepas range from $6 to $8.50; chchapas are $7.50-$9; and tequeños are $6.50 for five. Arepa Zone’s stall at Union Market will be open Tuesday and Wednesday from 11 a.m.-7 p.m., Thursday and Friday from 11 a.m.-8 p.m. and Saturday and Sunday from 10 a.m.-8 p.m. It will be closed Monday along with the rest of Union Market’s vendors.

Arepa Zone beat out four other proposed new eateries to win the second Launch Pad competition sponsored by Union Market, Mess Hall and RIS restaurant. They will take over Ris’ stall at Union Market free for 6-12 months beginning Aug. 31.

Arepa Zone co-owner Ali Arellano prepares an arepa at the Launch Pad final on Sunday. (Photo: Mark Heckathorn/DC on Heels)

Launch Pad is a project to identify and launch a promising new culinary concept. The process began with 18 entries, chef and judge Ris Lacoste told DC on Heels. That field was whittled down to 10 then to the final five, who presented their concepts and food samples at Union Market’s Dock 5 on Sunday. Joining Lacoste on the judges panel were Al Goldberg, founder of Mess Hall; Patrick O’Connell, owner and chef at the Inn at Little Washington; Aaron Silverman, owner and chef Rose’s Luxury; Katsuya Fukushima, chef and partner at Daikaya; Nora Poullian, chef and owner of Restaurant Nora; and David Hall, a partner at Revolution Ventures, an investment firm.

Mason Dixie Buscuit Co. won the 2014 Launch Pad competition. It opened in December and has already expanded to Baltimore and Charlotte, N.C.

Arepa Zone, which is owned by Gabriela Febres and fiancé Ali Arellano, opened its food truck 1 1/2 years ago. It serves authentic Venezuelan cuisine including 13 kinds of arepas, a grilled corn patty stuffed with meats, cheeses and other fillings, cachapas, a sweet corn pancake filled with cheese or cheese and meat, and tequeños, fried Venezuelan cheese sticks serving with AZ dipping sauce – a yummy garlic-cilantro sauce. It also serves desserts like rice pudding and flan, and Venezuelan sodas.

During a breakfast for the media, judges and investors in June, Febres told DC on Heels that the menu at Union Market would be the same as the food truck, which was voted Best New Food Truck and Food Truck of the Year at the 2014 Curbside Cookoff Food Truck Awards. “Its already proven successful, although we may add additional fillings,” she said. The two started Arepa Zone because there was “no places to eat authentic Venezuelan food” in the DMV.

Ali Arellano and Gaby Febres give their 5-minute presentation to Launch Pad judges. (Photo: Mark Heckathorn/DC on Heels)

Febres and Arellano met when he was a distributor of Central American products and worked at the Venezuelan embassy. They currently prepare their food in a commercial kitchen in Sterling, Va., but are building their own 2,200-square-foot kitchen in in Fairfax, where the food for the truck and stall will be prepared and delivered to Union Market daily to cook and finish. Dishes will cost from $6-$8.50 Febres told the judges. They hope to add a second food truck and a brick and mortar restaurant in the future.

Prior to presenting their businesses to the judges, the finalists had access to advisors such as Top Chef Spike Mendelsohn of Good Stuff Eatery, We the Pizza and Bearnaise; Mike Lenard of Takorean; Danielle Vogal of Glen’s Garden Market; Terrell Danley of D.C. Central Kitchen; and Richie Bradenburg, director of culinary strategy for Edens, which owns Union Market.

The other finalists in this year’s Launch Pad competition were:

• Bao Bros Bar: Louis Grayson and Nelson Wong proposed turning the traditional Taiwanese street food into a fast-casual dining experience. Their steamed bao buns would be filled with the traditional pork belly as well as beef, lamb, chicken or tofu and combined with a variety of house-made pickled vegetables and sauces. Grayson said he would quit his job at Expedia and Wong at Booz, Allen, Hamilton if they had won. Bao Bros Bar was the winner of the People’s Choice Award.
• Bene: Mark Baik, Mini Suh and Jin Woo Park proposed a fast, fine-casual Italian concept that would bridge the gap between the relatively inexpensive chain restaurant and expensive fine-dining eateries . Bene would have served high-quality fresh pasta bowls. Although all have Korean heritage, they all grew up in the New York Tri-State area and met in school. Their menu included salads, antipastas, as well as classic and specialty pastas.
• Half Smoke: Andre McCain proposed a concept serving pork, beef, chicken and veggie sausages “assembly line” style like Chipolte in buns, bowls or on flatbreads with customizable toppings such as chili, kimchi and artichokes. He also planned to offer seasonal sausages such as foie gras, duck and smoked elk along with sides such as tater tots, Brussels sprouts and funnel cake for dessert.
• Whisked!: Already an established presence at four farmer’s markets and more than 30 retail locations including Whole Foods Markets throughout the DMV, Jenna Huntsberger planned to expanded her current menu in addition to current offerings of quiches pies and cookies.

Arepa Zone will take over Ris’ stall in Union Market and open on Aug. 31. (Photo: Mark Heckathorn/DC on Heels)

In addition to the stall at Union Market, Arepa Zone also won a free membership to Mess Hall culinary incubator, mentorship from Lacoste and introductions to investors.