Ah, the sweet, sweet smell of hot dogs steaming from a bright, shiny curbside cart. What’s more New York than that? Not much. And seeing as nobody running around this city has time to sit down for a long, wholesome lunch break anymore, today’s ever-widening range of food carts and trucks offer quick, tasty solutions to those midday hunger pangs.
But without the switch from old-fashioned wooden carts to modern stainless-steel pushcarts, it wouldn’t be possible for vendors to sling the vast array of street foods that you can choose from today. It all went down in 1948, the hot idea of Ed Beller and Mark Monies, who co-founded Admar Bar and Kitchen Equipment Co. that same year.
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Ed, it turns out, is my grandfather. I recently had the pleasure of talking with him about his unlikely and meteoric rise to the top of hot dog, peanut, and knish pushcart game. He served up Admar’s origins (the company was first located on Catherine Street, later moving to Long Island City, and eventually transferring over to Worksman Trading in Ozone Park in the late ‘60’s), pioneering street vendor tech and brushes with fame. And yes, even after all these years he can still enjoy a nice pushcart dog – just don’t forget the sauerkraut and onion sauce.
Read the rest over at Motherboard
