Editor’s Note: One of my favorite features from the original VendrTV blog was the Cartivores section. Every week, we chatted with new street food-loving friends about their most memorable mobile eats. Well, we’re not ones to let a good thing go here at VendrTV. So, of course, Cartivores is back with major food industry players added to the mix! I’m thrilled to introduce our revamped Cartivores column with the legendary Tim Zagat of ZAGAT restaurant guides and ZAGAT.com leading the way.

VendrTV: As someone who’s seen the food industry undergo many changes, did you ever anticipate mobile food would become so popular?

ZAGAT: Over the past 40 or so years, a major food revolution has taken place in American dining culture. Not only have we witnessed the influx of new cuisines, but also the development of dining out as entertainment. I think that in the dawn of the Digital Age – where smartphones allow you to browse the internet while you sit on the train, and social networking websites allow you to connect with people via different mediums – the idea of food going mobile seems to be natural progression.

V: What’s your impression of the street food scene – fad or viable new market? Has it reached its peak?

Z: I think the street food scene is a very popular movement with our surveyors that we are continuing to follow on ZAGAT.com as it develops in many of our markets.

V: We see that Zagat recently began to rate food trucks in New York. Any plans to expand street food coverage to other cities? What are some initial reactions?

Z: The first food trucks were actually rated in our Los Angeles Restaurants Survey – and over the past two years, we’ve seen food trucks earning Zagat ratings in New York, San Francisco and Austin, to name a few. The initial reaction to food trucks seems to be one of immediate favorability and popularity with our surveyors.

Image: Peek & Eat from Flickr

V: What’s your most memorable street food meal or experience?

Z: For me, the thought of “street food” brings me back to buying hot dogs and pretzels on the street as a child growing up in the city. More recently, there have been a number of food trucks parked outside our office, including Rickshaw Dumpling and Wafels & Dinges trucks. I particularly enjoy the dumplings, but I plan to gradually try them all. (Watch VendrTV’s episode with Wafels & Dinges.)

V: Any advice for street food vendors?

Z: The best advice I can offer street food vendors is to continue to do something we’ve stood by with our Zagat content – listen to your audience and make your product available to them wherever they are.

Editor’s Note: Luckily for food trucks, they can move to wherever that may be!

• Wafels & Dinges (New York, NY)
• This Is Why You’re Fat Tour (New York, NY)
• Hong’s Dumplings (Burlington, VT)