Matt Cohen

Federal Grand Jury Digs Into Mendocino Marijuana Growers

Maybe it's the helicopters flying overhead from April to November, or maybe it's their cash crop. Whatever it is, marijuana growers love rumors. And a big one -- that the United States attorney had convened a grand jury, and was poking around state-legal medical cannabis operations, looking for crim ... More >>

SF FoodLab: Pop-Ups Find a Home

SF FoodLab: Being a Pop-Up Haven Is No Piece of Cake

Most pop-up chefs are quick to praise the flexibility and low-risk nature of the pop-up game. Then they inevitably complain about sporadic turnouts and ill-equipped kitchens, and gaze into the middle distance as they describe their brick-and-mortar dream. Here to help are the masterminds behind SF ... More >>

Bill Banning Food Trucks from Parking Near Schools Is Withdrawn

California Bill Banning Food Trucks From Parking Near Schools Is Quashed

​Assemblymember Bill Monning (D.-Monterey), who recently introduced a bill requiring food trucks to park no closer than 1,500 feet from any school during school hours, has just withdrawn the bill from the state legislature. AB-1678 raised an outcry around the state because of its potential ec ... More >>

Off The Grid Returns With More Space And Vendors

What: Off The Grid: Fort Mason Center reopening Where: Fort Mason When: Fri., March 23, 5-10 p.m The rundown: If bacon and egg flavored popsicles, a beer garden, and live music by the Ferocious Few aren't reasons enough to come to the largest mobile food market in California, organizer Matt Co ... More >>

New Food Truck Bill Could Kill S.F.'s Street Food Scene

​Last Tuesday, Assemblymember Bill Monning (D-Carmel) introduced AB 1678, a bill intended to prevent students from eating their lunch at food trucks instead of the school cafeteria. As it's currently written, AB 1678 would ban food trucks from parking within 1,500 feet of any school. The stat ... More >>

Off the Grid's Auditioning Aspiring Street-Food Vendors

​It's sort of -- well, vaguely -- like an episode of San Francisco's Next Top Food Truck. Matt Cohen, founder of the Off the Grid street-food gatherings, is in the process of putting together the lineup for Off the Grid's flagship Friday events at Fort Mason, which will begin again in late March. ... More >>

How Food Trucks Survive the Winter

If your main source of income is foot traffic, then a cold, wet winter weather can do more than just dampen your spirits -- it can dampen your sales considerably. When food trucks, especially new ones, face their first winter, the three-month hurdle can be daunting. Off the Grid, where many trucks ... More >>

Off the Grid Moves Under SF Chronicle on Fridays

Google MapsFood trucks park Wednesday and now Friday right under the Chronicle's collective noses​Off the Grid has been so successful at putting street food once a week on Fifth and Minna Streets, in the alley that bisects the San Francisco Chronicle, that its appearances are doubling. Starti ... More >>

Fried Chicken at Rebel and Off the Grid Goes North

The past 24 hours in gossip, innuendo, and cold hard facts about the San Francisco food scene. Chef pop-up: We've been following where Evan and Sarah Rich have appeared around the city, and now Inside Scoop shares their Rebel pop-up menu: fried chicken. If not a fan of the fried, than this may be ... More >>

SOMA's New Addition, To the Races, and Daniel Patterson Updates

The past 24 hours in gossip, innuendo, and cold hard facts about the San Francisco food scene. New neighbors: LiveSOMA shares that the spaceLittle Joe's left in late June at 85 Fifth St. (at Mission) will become SOMA Restaurant and Bar. The interior looks near completion and the awnings are hung, b ... More >>

Proxy Project Sees New Additions: Including an Ambulance, and A First Look at Jasper's

The past 24 hours in gossip, innuendo, and cold hard facts about the San Francisco food scene. Hayes Valley's Proxy Project (Octavia at Linden) just stepped up its game. Eater SF shares it has a new website, and the third proxy space, Suppenküche's spin-off Biergarten, is aiming for a soft openin ... More >>

Off the Grid Celebrates Its First Birthday: An Interview with Organizer Matt Cohen

John BirdsallMatt Cohen.​ Today marks the official birthday of Off the Grid, the roving series of food-truck gatherings that started off at Fort Mason and now has six locations, with a seventh on the way -- a weekly San Mateo Off the Grid starting July 11. To commemorate the occasion, SFoodie call ... More >>

Roamin' Cannoli Makes Sophomore Outing Today at Off The Grid

Foodspotting/Mel N.​ If you're having lunch at Off The Grid's Civic Center event today (11 a.m.-2 p.m.), save some room for dessert. It'll be your second chance to get a cannolo from new street vendor Roamin' Cannoli before she changes locations because of the regular rotation of vendors. Owne ... More >>

Off the Grid Expands in Civic Center, U.N. Plaza

Flagstaff Bill/Off the GridStarting May 9, Off the Grid Civic Center makes two weekly appearances.​Like oil companies and pot clubs, the food-truck biz is thriving. With a steady influx of new vendors and the growing appetite for food handed out through Plexi flaps, it was inevitable that Off ... More >>

This Weekend: Toasty Melts Folds Up the Card Table

ThrillistWith this weekend's truck launch, Toasty Melts makes the leap from underground to onboard.​Back in 2009, SFoodie got pinged by a guy who was teaming up with his girlfriend to wade into the slightly anarchic card-table Mission new-school street-food scene. Their name: Toasty Melts. The ... More >>

This Space for Rent: Off the Grid Rolls Out Pop-Up Food Truck

Off the Grid/FacebookWrapped with OtG's logo, the truck's available for chefs and others who want to roll out a temporary rolling eatery.​You know that truck pod Off the Grid pops up at regular weekly sites around the city. Now, organizer Matt Cohen tells SFoodie, Off the Grid is rolling out ... More >>

TomKat: Heaven's Dog and Alembic Vets Plan to Roll Out Asian Food Truck

TomKat/Facebook​Thomas Thong, who's cooked at the Slanted Door and worked briefly as a sous chef at Heaven's Dog, is teaming up with Alembic bartender Danny Louie to launch an Asian food truck called TomKat. Louie tells SFoodie the partners are already leasing the truck, and they've appled wit ... More >>

Tonight: Off the Grid Selling T-Shirts for Japan Quake Relief

​Not the best weather for an outdoor food-truck fest, maybe, but Off the Grid Fort Mason Center is dangling another incentive* for the waterproof who show up at tonight's season opener: T-shirts for Japan. OtG's Matt Cohen tells SFoodie he'll be selling shirts rocking the new Off the Grid logo ... More >>

Off the Grid Ft. Mason Center Returns Fri. with the Alembic, Tim Luym, JapaCurry

Gil Riego Jr.The weekly evening street food event returns to Fort Mason Center this Friday, Mar. 18, with more vendors than last year.​Last December, street-food promoter Matt Cohen told SFoodie readers that 2010 had been a great year for mobile food in the Bay Area, and he vowed to keep it in ... More >>

Mama's Empanadas: New Food Truck Has Roots In Chile, Italy

Mama's Empanadas/FacebookMama's Empanadas' Chilean-Italian heritage mirrors its namesake's history.​Three things San Francisco loves: 1) empanadas; 2) Mediterranean food; and 3) food trucks. They converged two weeks ago, when Mama's Empanadas made its premiere run on the Peninsula. The food tr ... More >>

The People's Favorite Street Food: Tacos or Buns?

Tamara PalmerWhat is San Francisco's favorite street food? Click to enlarge.​Last night's street food panel hosted by Commonwealth Club's Inforum was a lively musing on the diverse and still-growing local mobile food scene. Is it a trend? "While it's trendy," said Off the Grid promoter Matt Co ... More >>

Off the Grid Seeks Food Vendors for Ft. Mason Fridays

Chris MacArthur/SFoodieThis year's Friday night food pod at Ft. Mason Center will be significantly bigger than in 2010.​It's not quite American Idol, and Matt Cohen isn't Steven Tyler, exactly, but the organizer of Off the Grid is auditioning vendors for the next season of Off the Grid: Ft. Ma ... More >>

Peruvian Food Truck Coming to Potrero Hill?

John BirdsallSpotted today at 17th Street and Carolina in Potrero Hill.​Anybody heard anything about a Peruvian food truck named Sanguchon coming to Potrero Hill? Today SFoodie spotted an A-frame sign at 17th Street and Carolina, Jackson Park's northwest corner. It gives a website ― www.sang ... More >>

The Year in Food: Street Food Gets Serious

Chris MacArthurMobile vending went legit in 2010, thanks to events like Off the Grid Fort Mason Center.​Twelve months, ten storylines: It's SFoodie's annual look back at the year in food. La CocinaAugust's S.F. Street Food Festival drew huge crowds to the Mission.​What burst onto the sc ... More >>

Ten Reasons Bay Area Street Food Will Expand in 2011

Gil Riego Jr.​Matt Cohen is the organizer of San Francisco's Off the Grid street food events and a consultant for the mobile vending industry via the SF Cart Project. John BirdsallOff the Grid's Matt Cohen.​A year ago I gave you "5 Reasons People Will Tell You Street Food is Dead in 201 ... More >>

Oh, Snap! The Best San Francisco Food Photos of 2010

San Francisco's culinary landscape is an ever-changing one, and this past year was no exception. Scores of restaurants opened and closed, events were thrown, and new chefs stepped into the spotlight. Here are some of the most arresting images SF Weekly and SFoodie captured in 2010. Lara Hata​ ... More >>

Off the Grid Ft. Mason Center Says Farewell for the Season

Chris MacArthurOff the Grid launched at Fort Mason Center in late June.​When it launched in late June, Off the Grid Fort Mason Center was San Francisco's first weekly food pod. On Friday, it says farewell to the 2010 season (it'll return in March 2011). Organized by Matt Cohen and La Cocina, O ... More >>

New Legislation Would Make It Easier to Sell Street Food in San Francisco

Thomas R./YelpThe Liba Falafel truck parks on private property in Potrero Hill.​San Francisco is poised to streamline its rules for mobile food vending, making it easier ― and cheaper ― for street food vendors to operate on both public and private property. A Planning Commission hearing to ... More >>

No Food Trucks for Giants Victory Parade

Chairman Bao/FacebookSorry, baseball fans: This won't be happening Wednesday in Civic Center Plaza.​Wednesday's victory parade for the world-champion San Francisco Giants is sure to have plenty of pomp, emotion, and "Let Timmy Smoke" T-shirts, but there's one thing it won't have: food trucks. ... More >>

La Cocina Hosts Workshop on Street-Food Legislation

Chris MacArthur/SF WeeklyMonday's workshop is designed in part to educate the street-food loving public about policy issues in San Francisco.​La Cocina will host a workshop next week to help decipher the shifting landscape of San Francisco's street-food legislation. Supervisor Bevan Dufty has ... More >>

Off the Grid UN Plaza Debuts Quietly

Luis ChongThe Thursday street-food market represents the fifth Off the Grid pod.​The fifth location of Matt Cohen's Off the Grid street-food gathering made a quiet debut yesterday at United Nations Plaza. Four food trucks (El Tonayense, IZ-IT, Le Truc, and Senor Sisig) made the trip to the ope ... More >>

OTG McCoppin, Greek Fest: Valencia Street Serves Up Street-Food Contrasts

Alex HochmanThe inaugural OTG McCoppin brought out a mostly under-30 crowd.​Two blocks separated a pair of very different food gatherings in the Mission Saturday. We always thought of McCoppin Hub, a small section of pavement next to the Central Freeway on-ramp, as a prime spot to score black ... More >>

More Food Trucks, More Korean-Mexican Fusion, and Other SFoodie Highlights From This Week

Kim Jong Grillin'/FacebookBest. Name. Ever.​Highlights from the blog this week:1. The biggest SFoodie news of the week: SF Cart Project's Matt Cohen finally got Rec and Parks, the various permitting agencies, and the trucks together to launch two more "Off the Grid" street-food gatherings in the U ... More >>

Fresh Eats: The State of S.F.’s Street Food

Off the Grid Launches in Haight and Civic Center Later This Week

Chris MacArthur/SF WeeklyThe first Off the Grid launched at Fort Mason Center in late June.​Brace yourself for San Francisco street food to expand big this week. Off the Grid organizer Matt Cohen is announcing this morning that two of the three weekly street-food events slated for city parks w ... More >>

Fresh Eats: Matt Cohen says starting a food truck isn't easy

Trash: The Downside of Street Food

Jonathan KauffmanThe aftermath of an evening at the Off the Grid food-truck gathering.​ After eating a dozen or so food-truck meals in the past few weeks, the disgusting side of the Summer of Truck became apparent: all that trash. I ended up with boxes in my car, boxes strapped to my bike, enough ... More >>

Highlights from a tour of S.F.'s newest street food trucks

How Much Does San Francisco Charge Food Trucks? We Asked SF Cart Project's Matt Cohen

Chris MacArthur/SF WeeklyHapa SF's William Pilz at a recent Off the Grid street-food event.​ We at SFoodie like to talk up how it's the summer of food trucks, and in this week's review, I surveyed seven of the newcomers. Common wisdom about food trucks is that they offer budding restaurateurs a ch ... More >>

City Says Yes to Three New Off the Grid Street-Food Markets for S.F. Parks

Chris MacArthur/SF WeeklyMobile vendors (like the ones pictured here at Off the Grid at Fort Mason Center) should soon be rolling into three city neighborhoods.​More than four hours into yesterday's Rec and Park meeting, commissioners approved a proposal to create three mobile street-food mark ... More >>

Off the Grid Organizer Seeking Permits for Street-Food Markets in S.F. Parks

Chris MacArthur/SF WeeklyRec and Park commissioners vote Thursday to allow Off the Grid-like markets in three city parks.​The organizer of S.F.'s Off the Grid street-food market at Fort Mason Center could soon be rolling out similar events in three city parks. At Thursday's regularly scheduled ... More >>

S.F.'s Food Truck Culture: Scenes from Friday's Off the Grid

Chris MacArthur/SF Weekly​In case you haven't been paying attention, you're living through the Summer of the Food Truck in San Francisco. Chefs and others bitten by the entrepreneurial bug are taking to the streets, offering a range of cuisines that seems to expand weekly. No event better show ... More >>

Kauffman's Five: This Week in Blogging

Edible Office/Flickr​A few of my favorite blog posts from the week:​1. As anyone who's hit Portland or Austin's food-cart strips knows, the appeal of a street-food vendor's single-subject approach is amplified ― exponentially ― when a passel of carts come together. Matt Cohen, La Cocina, and ... More >>

Off the Grid, a Roaming Mobile Food Party, Starts Next Friday

_e.t./FlickrPeko-Peko is one of the vendors lined up for the weekly street-food night market.​The culmination of nearly a year of work and negotiations with city officials and community organizations, mobile food consultant/activist Matt Cohen of SF Cart Project, in conjunction with La Cocina ... More >>

SF Weekly Parent Company to Underwrite Legal Challenge to Arizona Immigration Bill

​Last week, there were some murmurs among local bloggers about whether SF Weekly would suffer as a result of a proposed city boycott of Arizona businesses because of the Grand Canyon State's harsh new immigration law. Editors at SF Appeal and SFist raised the prospect of city officials refusing to ... More >>

Doggy Bag: Why S.F. Street Food Won't Be All Washed Up in 2010

Doug ZimmermanMagic Curry Man isn't budging.​Our favorite morsel from the blogs. Not buyin' the hate: San Francisco Cart Project's Matt Cohen takes a look at the economics of street food -- namely, at five reasons why the street food movement that hit hard here in 2009 might be expected to su ... More >>

Food Truck Envy? La Cocina Explains How to Legally Operate Your Own

thecorkdork.wordpress.com​The upcoming workshop "How to Sell from a Mobile Unit (Legally!) in the Bay Area" hopes to dish out the 411 needed to hawk food on wheels.Local business incubator La Cocina will break down the daunting and morphing but potentially doable path to running a food truck or m ... More >>

Doggy Bag: Today's Odds and Ends

​Our favorite morsels from the food blogs and beyond. Street map: At Grub Street, local street food agregator Matt Cohen offers a user guide to both Saturday's looming street food festival on Folsom and next weekend's Eat Real in Oakland. His tips go something like this: seek out unusual stuf ... More >>