Tamara Palmer

Marina Snetkova bakes on her truck, Cookie Time.

​Marina Snetkova used to wake up at 5 a.m. for her Wall Street job as a day trader for a hedge fund; now she rises at the same time to hop in her truck to start baking.

After losing her job in 2008, Snetkova, who is originally from Latvia, started traveling west with dreams to open a wine bar with desserts and use her skills learned at pastry school. She wound up in San Francisco and, two weeks ago, unveiled a refurbished ice cream truck dubbed Cookie Time.

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Steven Gdula/Bloomsbury

Gobs in their first incarnation (left) and the Gobba Gobba Hey cookbook.

​In his lovely essay "Never Can Say Goodbye," author and food entrepreneur Steven Gdula lays out his decision to stop his Gobba Gobba Hey baking business after 33 months, having faced a crossroads on whether to expand or focus on other pursuits.

Born on the streets of the Mission District in 2009, Gobba Gobba Hey sold "gobs," a "cake-like confection" (Gdula's words) that often got mistaken for whoopie pies, off of a tray. Back home in Pennsylvania, these were almost always of a chocolate variety, filled with plain buttercream, but Gdula utilized the bounty of California produce to create flavors like pistachio orange and lemon thyme.

Newly transplanted to San Francisco from Washington, D.C., Gdula was inspired by emerging street food mavens like the Magic Curry Cart and the Crème Brûlée Cart (brothers Brian and Curtis Kimball) and quickly became a peer. As Gdula writes:

The pace was exciting. It was exhilarating to be a part of a burgeoning movement that was being created daily as other new vendors like myself stepped onto the streets to sell their wares. But it wasn't just the people making the food who were responsible for the new scene. The food bloggers, Yelpers, local media, Twitter followers and even the curious neighbors who came to see what this mobile buffet was all about, all were part of it. We all made this thing happen. And having just relocated to San Francisco several months prior, this was my new community in more ways than one.

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Chris MacArthur

​Off The Grid will send its weekly Fort Mason gathering to hibernate away from the cold and wind for a few months after November 18. Organizer Matt Cohen tells SFoodie to expect the event's return to happen in mid-March.

While the main party takes a break, Off The Grid's numerous other weekly events remain, though the night markets (Mondays in San Mateo, Wednesdays in North Berkeley, Thursdays in the Upper Haight, and monthly Saturdays at McCoppin Alley) will have reduced hours from 5-8 p.m. starting in a couple of weeks. Cohen plans to use the small breather as a time to recharge and brainstorm some fun and unusual events; one unexpected highlight this season was a month of Saturdays at Berkeley horse racing track Golden Gate Fields, to offer an idea of how widely he thinks.

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Courtesy of Bacon Bacon

Bacon Bacon serves lunch today in Soma.

​Starting today, Off the Grid is bringing lunch to Second and Folsom Streets every weekday for the next four or five months.Two food trucks will be parked in front of 303 Second Street, an office-retail space currently undergoing renovations, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. The rota starts with Bacon Bacon and The Chairman (formerly Chairman Bao), who will appear on Mondays. Tuesdays bring Koja Kitchen and Liba Falafel, Wednesdays Doc's of the Bay and Phat Thai. Kasa Indian and Fins on the Hoof arrive on Thursdays, and Arki Truck and Smok'n Warehouse pull up on Fridays. Employees of CNET and other nearby office workers might want to consider sending out several silent prayers to the god of street food.

Flickr/Gary Soup

​San Francisco's premiere cream puffery Pacific Puffs entered the food truck fray this summer, almost two years to the month after launching its Union Street storefront in 2009. Thankfully, one of Cow Hollow's most compelling sweet offerings isn't limited to that neighborhood anymore.

"The thing that really appealed to us about going mobile is the ability to reach a broad, enthusiastic customer base in a dynamic way," says Rhys Carvolth, who started the company with his brother Trent. "The hard working and diverse mobile food culture is one that we've always admired and respected. We are so grateful to be part of this community now."

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Luis Chong

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coutureauchocolat.com

Bacon Bacon's bacon bouquet.

​Off The Grid has honed on our favorite, secret cravings that are socially regulated to the morning but are truly perfect for any time of day.

Saturday night (Sept. 3) from 5-9 p.m., Off The Grid McCoppin (McCoppin at Valencia) presents a "Breakfast for Dinner" theme night with four food trucks serving the most important meal of the day.

The Brunch Box, already permanently oriented to this idea, will offer its usual fare like a pork belly frittata, sour batard French toast, and the E.A.T. (fried egg, avocado, heirloom tomato, macerated shallots and garlic aioli, with a bacon option that forms a B.E.A.T.). Bacon Bacon will be blooming bacon bouquets and other meaty treats, ArKi Truck (short for Architect's Kitchen) will have steak and egg wraps as well as homemade donuts, and Let's Be Frank will bring the "Woeuff Dog" (scrambled eggs, onions, bacon, and hot dog in an Acme bun).

With Off The Grid also hosting its second Kentucky Derby-inspired afternoon at the races at Golden Gate Fields in Berkeley on Saturday, there are plenty of opportunities to partake in food truck action this weekend and eat meals in any order you like.

Tamara Palmer

​On Thursday, SFoodie's Jonathan Kauffman will finish "Going Legit," an excellent six-part series providing valuable tips on how to navigate the tricky world of legal street food businesses. The articles should save prospective vendors lots of bureaucratic nightmares, and probably a decent chunk of change as well. But we also understand that the system is still so daunting and tricky that many people will continue to consider operating outside of it.

Well, if you're gonna do that, do it with some style and panache -- be an outlaw! Simply follow our top tips on going illegitimate:

• Don't feed them before midnight: Health inspectors like to sleep, so make sure you're out on the streets selling after they're all unconscious. Keep a small cache of Rohypnol (aka roofies) in case one happens to turn up at an odd hour; you can grind one up and slip it in his taco.

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​Hot Food, Cold Nights

Where: McCoppin and Valencia

When: Saturday, July 2, 5-9 p.m.

Cost: $32.64 (advance); $35 day of event

The rundown: Off the Grid is trying something new this weekend at its McCoppin location. Each of the five food trucks will serve a special spicy dish only to people who buy a ticket for all five. "It's sort of like a spicy tasting menu," says Off the Grid founder Matthew Cohen.

The menu: lechon kawali on a bed of Asian-style noodles from Senor Sisig; chiles gueros rellenos con chimole de res tacos from Chaac Mool; Korean rice cake from Tomkat; the Papa-rizo from Toasty Melts; and spicy grilled pork patty banh mi from Little Green Cyclo.

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www.nakedchorizo.com

​Chef-owner Zenia Llamas was looking for a provocative name for her new Filipino food truck which debuted in April.

Naked Chorizo is a literal translation of Chorizong Hubad, a seasoned uncased pork sausage.

Llamas' version is marinated and then cured for 5 days, to be used in her signature dishes: tacos, silog (breakfast plate with garlic rice and fried egg), and a breakfast burrito.

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