DISH OF THE WEEK: Ice Cream Sandwiches from THE GOOD BATCH at THE VENDY AWARDS

Every week, I document another dish that impressed and satiated me during my food adventures around New York City

The Vendy Awards is my favorite day of the year. For the last eight years, I have done everything in my power to attend the festival dedicated to the best street food in the city. Not only is it a full day of eating, but it’s a day to support the Street Vendor Project and their advocacy work in fighting for better laws and rights of street vendors.

I am very invested in the day for many reasons: a) I lead food cart tours for Turnstile Tours, b) we’re sponsors of the event, c) I believe in the cause, and d) the food is undeniably delicious. And in years past, I have spent weeks documenting the nominees through a series of videos.

But this year, because I was in Europe for most of the summer, I was not able to dedicate as much time to meeting and documenting the vendors and their businesses. In fact, going into the Vendy Awards, I was only familiar with a handful of the nominees. Which meant I had to eat from every single one of the 26 nominees in less than four hours.

Along with a stuffed gullet, I ended up with some incredible new food discoveries from the hard-working and well-deserving vendors, including a trio of Indonesian satay, Filipino hot dogs, mind-blowing fake meat sliders, and giant mozzarella cheese sticks.

But, as many people know, I have quite a sweet tooth. And the winner of Best Dessert gets my vote for most memorable final bite. The Good Batch began at Smorgasburg (hence their inclusion) and has since gone on to open their own bakery in Clinton Hill, Brooklyn.

Chef Anna Gordon also provides stroopwafels for my Lower East Side food tour, so I’m familiar with her treats, but but she is best known for her ice cream sandwiches. She brought a great showing of two varieties to the Vendys: the Goodwich, a chocolate chunk oat cookie with drizzled fudge and sea salt and the drop dead amazing Crispy, a bookend of caramel rice crispy cookies. Both contained vanilla ice cream in the middle which I would normally complain was boring, but the combination was so good, it ended up being the most exciting thing I ate all day.

There are many winners at the Vendy Awards each year, from the Street Vendor Project to the crowned champions to all the vendors who gain notoriety and legal support to the hungry crowds who get to taste all the delicious award-winning hard work.