Over the past several days the blogosphere has had some interesting conversations regarding the state of street food in Seattle. The impetus of the discussion is an article by Eric Hess titled Freeing Food Carts. The subhead: "Outdated rules 86 street food in Seattle and Vancouver; Portland thrives." In comparing the three cities, Hess concludes Seattle’s scene is floundering.

The crux of his argument is the revised street food legislation adopted by City Council last year. The regulations were enacted in an attempt to ramp up the curbside community by, among other things, opening roadways to food trucks. But as Hess points out, few vendors have taken advantage of the opportunity. "Since July, the city issued seven new permits for food trucks—defined in Seattle as self-powered vehicles with kitchens onboard—to vend from public streets." And sidewalk vendors, such as hot dog carts? Six. "The numbers," he writes, "don’t signal an explosion of street food."

Indeed, the city’s rules have their quirks (mobile operators aren’t shy about saying so), and thus they really haven’t taken. But does that indicate the food truck scene is flatlining? Not exactly.

While the number of trucks parking on public roadways is minimal, that’s not to say they aren’t out there. They’re just parking on private lots, just as they were doing before City Council got involved. In the past year we’ve seen a steady stream of new trucks and trailers, and more are on the way. Debuting this weekend is Crisp Creperie. In the pipeline is RollinQ, Pretzelwagen, and Jemil’s Big Easy, to name a few. Health department officials, which monitor the wagons, say 143 full-service operations have permits to operate in King County.

Compared to a city like Portland, with its hundreds of vendors, we have a ways to go. No doubt. But just look around and you’ll see a whole new way of eating is taking root.