Invitation-Only Tweets: New Tactic for Mission Street-Food Vendors?

Perhaps worried about police action like the one targeting Sexy Soup Lady last Friday, at least one unlicensed street-food vendor has taken a new tack: invitation-only appearances. Last week, city Health Department officials told SFoodie they'd been monitoring suspected unpermitted vendors' tweets since at least early May, and on at least one occasion alerted police at Mission Station about an upcoming appearance.

In late May, Curtis the Crème Brulee Guy asked potential customers to send direct messages via Twitter, promising to reply with details about when and where he'd appear with custards and blowtorch. On Tuesday, local blog Hoodscope published a list of recommendations for neighborhood vendors. They included making Twitter profiles private, changing venues frequently, and sending private tweets to potential customers with the where and when. The same day, Crème Brulee Guy published this on his Twitter feed:
I won't likely be serving creme brûlée till this weekend. Possibly Thursday Friday Saturday by invitation only.

And just a little while ago, this:
Can twitter keep a secret partII: reply for details of Friday night's brûlée.

Earlier this week, Sexy Soup Lady told SFoodie she was contemplating a similar tactic: making street-food appearances private events, perhaps tag-teaming with other vendors.