How Street Food Became Vogue

Walk around any major town centre and you would have noticed an uprising in the food stakes where established players are paying particular attention to street food sellers; and it shouldn’t be a surprise as to why.

Flavour Art have been known to help many a budding street food vendor and they had some thoughts as to how this new way of dining has become so popular.


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From gourmet burgers to Vietnamese cuisine, Lebanese salads to Mexican tacos the sight of a van now just serving a grilled hot dog or less than artistic impersonation of a burger is now questioned. We have become a nation of food critics, tasters, bloggers and judges in a very short space of time; and we shouldn’t be ashamed of it, we should most definitely embrace it.


It Has A Rich History

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Street food has had a rich history. Starting in downtown LA where South American immigrants were bringing the taste of home to California, it soon became in vogue for business people to dine on street food too.

It’s popularity grew as experienced qualified chefs were leaving their luxury kitchens to set up basic versions of their kitchens often on the back of a van, that could produce high quality street food - with twists. The thought of creating a Michelin star experience on the streets of a major city must have been very appealing and terrifying at the same time for these chefs.

Since the start, street food has acquired its own loyal legion of food tastes and styles that have made it stand out and become the global sensation that it is today. 


Picking Up On Trends


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One of the key things about street food is that it most definitely picks up food trends and flavours which then become quickly adapted into other foods at a rapid scale. 

Take Kho Po dumplings that trade in London, they started adding aromas to their dishes which departed from the norm making customers crave their unique style, vision and taste. But Kho Po picked up on this from an artisan bread street food retailer that discovered this new trend whilst backpacking in Malaysia - you couldn’t make this up!


It Has Everything 

We’ve already spoken about the amount of choice that is available to the average customer, but the phenomenal rise of the street food scene over the last few years has taken London by storm.

As Bartlett Mitchel put it “From the juicy burgers of Mother Flipper, made from chuck steak and cooked medium only, served with maple fried bacon on a half brioche roll with all the trimmings, to the outstanding Breddos Tacos and their slow cooked short rib soft tacos, this is serious street food. There are now companies such as Kerb and Street Feast involved in bringing together and organising various high quality vendors, arranging mini food festivals all around the city on just about every day of the week.”

Pizza used to be either a greasy boxed up experience or something that you would need to buy frozen and then heat. Well, not anymore, street food, especially in the UK as early as 2001 showed what the pizza in Naples is really like. Pizza Pilgrims has brought the rise of the sourdough pizza experience to a whole new playing field with other restaurateurs having to change how they now make pizza due to demand.

It's An Experience

Whether that be the food, the people you meet or even the cooks and chefs preparing the food, you will be left with a sense of having learnt something new and enjoying the whole street food experience.

Eating with your hands, sat next to strangers on a street corner and talking about the food, has become the way for people to meet and talk and get to know new places, venues and food traditions all in one hit.

Why is street food in vogue? Well, these are just some of the answers, maybe and just maybe, the food is astonishingly good which pleases the inner food lover of us all. 


* Post contributed by Flavour Art

20 comments

  1. I must admit I was never into street food but it's becoming 'fashionable' so have given it a go. Turns out I was missing out all along!

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  2. I love all the street food that you can get in England now, but it will never beat the street food that I ate in Bangkok - it was incredible.

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    1. I would love to try the street food in Bankok, Dannii. What did you eat?

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  3. Street food is brilliant. You can eat on the go plus the range of flavours is incredible.

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    1. Great street food has so many fresh flavours and textures.

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  4. I think the street food I love best are those Churros with chocolate sauce:-)

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    1. I bet that was a hardship, trying those yummy donuts :)

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  5. Street food is delicious and I love the experience because it changes everyday. What is your favourite cuisine?

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    1. I love Mexican street food. It always seems so fresh and tasty, and much nicer than the food in Mexican restaurants. I also adore Thai and Chinese.

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  6. I do love street food but I don't like the price tag some of it comes with! We have regular food markets where I live and I've eaten some amazing dishes.

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    1. You can pick up some lovely dishes in Farmer's markets too.

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  7. I've never actually tried street food before. I do fancy trying it some time x

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  8. I came accross real street food before in china! Its so yummy and soo popular!

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  9. One thing I love about London is all of the Street Food festivals that we have, there are always some amazing things to try. I recently had a haggis sandwich which was divine x

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    1. Wow that sounds ... interesting :) I have had haggis before but never in a sandwich. I guess it's an aquired taste.

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  10. I haven't sampled nearly enough street food. I will have to rectify that!

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