SF Vs. NYC: A street vendor food-off

Moseying around Manhattan while working a spell over at Harper's Bazaar (if not for confidentiality agreements, you can be sure I'd be spilling all of the [very mellow and not-so]-juicy beans), I am reminded how great New York's street vendor culture is. Now, I'm Bay Area born and raised, so my bias is clear, but I'd be outright lying if I said that all of the apparel street vendors in the city of San Francisco even paled in comparison to the ones right outside my SoHo door. What San Francisco is really stepping up, though, is it's street food culture. If you're a mission dweller, or one of the many who practically live in the neighborhood anyway, you may have seen these folks around. If not, be sure to hop on the 14 and try some of these tasty treats before they go the way of Ritual, Tartine, Little Star, and the rest of the good Mission eats, and result in ridiculous queueing up.

First of all, Murat the Muffin Man (AKA. Amuse Bouche) is serving up home baked breakfast goods and a cuplet (it is pretty small) of chai for exactly $1 at the 24th st. BART station. Can you think of a better way to start your day? He can also be found on various street corners or by following him on twitter.

Photo: SF Gate

Proprietress of the Sexy Soup Cart, the Sexy Soup Lady brings organic soups to the street, straight from the farmer's market's freshest ingredients. Just like the happy-mouthed muffin man and most other street cart caterers, you can follow the soupstress on twitter to see where to get your next carrot ginger or asparagus flavored fix.

Photo: SF Weekly

The Creme Brule Cart, manned by no other than the Creme Brulee Man, has caused such a stir in the street food scene that he's been featured on the front page of the Chronicle. Currently on his honeymoon, Mr. and Mrs. Brulee will be back on June 14th. Keep yourself posted.

Photo: Yelp

I know that by now you're probably too hungry to read on, so just point your twitter feeds over to The Cookie Wag, Magic Curry Kart, I Love Street Food, and the Eat Real Festival to keep up with San Francisco's thriving street foodies. Who knows? Maybe if they get enough requests they'll start making some special night time appearances around 444 Jessie. One can only hope...