Today I feel the need to clarify and articulate several things rather than make insinuating posts on facebook which raise more questions than answers. After all, this is my forum, and although I like to keep this space as a place to share good stories and recipes and such, occasionally, I have no choice but to use this blog to vent and defend myself. Hopefully, this is the last time I have to discuss what I am about to discuss because quite honestly, I want to put this week behind me and focus on making people happy.

So I wrote a blog recently entitled “Understanding the Street Vending Game,” where I explained the ins and outs of what it takes to run a mobile food concession and how we are a tight-knit community of friends who look out for one another and have each other’s backs. But at this time, I’d like to talk a little bit about the “other” side of the business—the vendors that aren’t your friends—the ones you have to beware of, who don’t have your best interests at heart and who are only in this industry not to make people happy and share their food with the public but are only in it for the money and will screw over anyone to get to the top.

Nothing gets me more frustrated than that, except for the gutless “anonymous” person/persons who write disgustingly false and negative things in the comment section of my blogs and on message boards, but I’ll get into that later.

For the most part, I try to always be upbeat and positive, even when things are rough. Nobody wants to hear your problems or see someone who is a public figure having a bad attitude. That’s why I conduct myself in a happy manner and keep my social media pages with a light tone, never discussing divisive topics such as politics or religion or medicine. But this past week, my posts have had a bit of a defensive tone, I’ll admit I may have gone overboard and I apologize for that. Sometimes though, it’s difficult to not “fire back” when people try to bring you down, and there have been some personal attacks towards me and my family on twitter, facebook and message boards, which overall I ignore, but it’s been sort of a “pile on” week for some odd reason. Not since I was a weekly cast member on the Vh1 reality series “My Big Friggin’ Wedding” have I dealt with such an amount of backlash. Maybe it’s because next week is my anniversary? Who knows.

As I said, generally I don’t let people ever see me “sweat” and I am happy go lucky in all that I do. But some folks mistake my kindness for weakness at times, and take advantage of my good nature. I don’t like being “tough guy” Johnny Meatballs, I really don’t, it’s not my thing. However, should I never defend myself?

I got the backs of all my friends who are fellow food vendors who bust their hump on a daily basis and hustle. People that clearly rip-off others and capitalize on trends I got no respect for. Whatever the legal lingo (intellectual property?), there should be some sort of route one can take to protect their business “way”  (meaning the “style”) in which a person promotes and conducts their business. Beyond copywrites and trademarks, there’s an area that doesn’t seem to have protection. Here’s what I mean…Like even if “Johnny Meatballs” is a registered trademark, that wouldn’t stop any other person from being “Joey Meatballs” or “Vinny Meatballs” and biting off my whole shtick. There’s lawsuits all the time in the music industry and other businesses regarding copyright infringement yet for some reason there doesn’t seem to be any protection in the food and beverage industry.  

Personally, I would just laugh if someone called themself Johnny Meatballs because I am that person/character/company. So nobody would be fooled. But it would bother me ten times more if they acted like me and mimicked my clothes, colors, catchphrases and overall persona and called themself by another name. Because that is just being a second rate imposter.

See when someone has a specific publically known style in which they conduct their business and how they sell a product or service, and they built a reputation in an area and are “known” as (and for) something (and are successful), it raises eyebrows when a person suddenly appears very similar—putting their own minor spin on things while simultaneously claiming to be the “first” or “best” when they aren’t. But more than anything, all our fellow counterparts in this street vending business should have a mutual respect, but not all do.

There’s more than one kettle corn maker, empanada person, and whatever else. And it’s one thing to have some similarities to each other, and follow the unwritten code of keeping to your own territory and having respect for each other and not bashing each other or trying to hurt each other. But some of my competitors in my area take direct cues from my playbook and then act like I don’t exist. That is just not cool.

Recently I came to the defense of a good friend of mine who has a pink cupcake bus and has been in the game for 2 years when I called out a newbie who has her own pink cupcake truck and even uses almost the identical slogan. I got a little bit of flak from people who said that cupcake trucks are not a novel concept and that pink is a common color. To that I said, yes, neither of them invented cupcakes or the color pink, just like I did not invent meatballs…

But when there are not one but three, four, five direct parallels and the newbie is gravitating towards the same territory and suddenly creating mutual friendships and business relationships, it is very unsettling. But what’s worse is when the newcomer ignores their counterparts and acts as if they don’t deserve acknowledgement. What’s up with that? Look, everyone should Google and research an idea and how those in their neighborhood and surrounding neighborhoods specifically market themselves and operate. That’s just common courtesy and common sense. If someone is claiming they did not do that, they are lying and clearly have something to hide if they refuse to communicate with their peers.

We vendors are very protective of our image, even more than our name. To give you an example, there is a guy in Florida who just came onto the scene there called “Jimmy Meatballs” with a green truck. Beyond our similar names, he does his own thing, has different colors, different kinds of food...and we talked. He is a nice guy, and we are organizing a friendly throwdown event.

But then you have someone in Connecticut who popped up recently selling meatballs from a hot dog wagon which looks almost identical to mine. Furthermore, he initially refused all my contacts and when we finally did talk, he said he never heard of me. Really? I’ve been around for five years and before I invented my cart I researched for weeks if there were any other in existence in the United States and beyond before I proclaimed mine “The World’s First Mobile Meatball Cart.”

I got into a little discussion with a fellow foodie friend of mine regarding the whole “origin” of the meatball craze. He pointed out that Rocco DiSpirito and his mama’s meatballs came along in the early 2000s along with some publications regarding meatballs as a trending food. I’ll say it again; I did not invent the meatball or the idea to sell it. It’s been prepared and sold for years and was always a prime “comfort food.” But while it was gaining popularity in spurts strictly in the culinary world in the early to mid-2000s, it wasn’t a mainstream craze until around 2008 when we all burst onto the scene in the northeast at the same time.

Let’s once again look at the timeline. There was myself and Dan Mancini…later the Meatball Shop opened in NYC…followed by the appearance of Joey “Saucy Balls” Galluzzi on NBC…most recently this meatball cart comes along in Connecticut…and so many others who came and went over the past 5 years. There was even a Joey Ramone meatball truck in NYC. And how’s this for a little inside information…Ramone’s people had a tent right next to mine selling their jarred sauce at a feast years ago and they were enamored with my meatball cart, asking me a million questions which I gladly answered not thinking anything of it. Years later, they pop up with a meatball truck in New York? Hmmm….

The idea of “specializing” in meatballs was a phenom similar to the celebrity chefs specializing in burgers. And it cannot be disputed that I am the first to be credited with taking the meatball beyond the culinary world and basing music, merchandise and countless other things around the meatball and becoming a meatball “persona” beyond being a cook. Everyone who took that route did it AFTER me and all I ask for is the proper credit and respect. It’s not about money to me. I have said it many times; I would give my meatballs away for free because to me it’s about the passion. And maybe I am romanticizing this all too much because after all, it is a business. But how did something our Italian grandmothers started centuries ago—the simple pleasure of feeding your family and friends with a home-cooked meal—turn into such a cutthroat world where everyone wants to jump on the bandwagon by any means necessary?

Throughout all this meatball madness, there has been the Italian-American cook, Steve Martorano, probably one the most successful of the bunch and known more for his meatballs than anything else. I’ve interviewed him on this site, communicate with him regularly on facebook, and although we’ve never met, he “gets me” and what I’m trying to explain and has always come to my defense. Why he is not given more credit by the mainstream is beyond me. Maybe it’s because he is not a “vanilla chef,” or maybe it’s because unlike so many of these celebrity chefs these days, he’s not hiding behind a PR firm or out playing golf, he’s constantly dealing directly with his public, and making videos and personally building his brand—from shirts to books to wines and many other items.

Am I intimidated by Steve? Of course not. I emulate him. And we have that mutual respect for each other and stay in contact. Unlike the ones I mentioned, who refuse to even acknowledge my existence. Why can’t we all get along and collaborate on projects and unite among the common bond that is this wonderful meatball? Wouldn’t you all love to see us all assemble in the same place and have a cook-off or simply just demonstrate our recipes? Only Steve has been a supporter of mine. He started his empire by selling food out of his basement window in Philly, so maybe he sees himself in me—someone who is out there every day hustling and trying to take my business to the next level.

What truly stinks is that the little guy is getting screwed in 2013. Yes competition is great but this is not Coke vs. Pepsi here. How can the little guy compete with people who have unlimited capital and resources? It may come off as sour grapes, but unfortunately whoever has the most money at the end of the day is the one who is still standing and that’s not fair. Yes, life is not fair, but the public should deserve the opportunity to decide for themselves who has the best product.

The sad thing is, if you don’t have the means to get your product to the masses, they will never have the chance to taste it. There should be enough of the pie for us all to share, and I wish we could all be friends and break bread together, but I am learning that the food business at times can be more shady than corporate America. This is supposed to be fun!

Maybe I am hard-headed or just stupid, but for years out of principle, I refused to eat Oreo cookies and only had Hydrox in my house because that was the true, original Oreo, which most people don’t know. I have written an entire blog about that topic which was highly circulated on entrepreneur websites which examines the subject. Now Hydrox is out of business due to an inability to compete in the market and Oreo will stand forever. This generation will never have the chance to taste for themselves the superior sandwich cookie.

Where am I going with all this? I know it may seem like I am beating a dead horse, but it’s just frustrating when day after day new duplicate street vendors are coming along and the ones who were here for years are losing business. So all I want people to take out of this blog is to understand my frustration is with copycats, not competition. It’s a free country and we are built on competition. It’s healthy. It keeps you one step ahead. But imposters and those who refuse to even acknowledge that you are there out of intimidation or greed or whatever it is, leave a bad taste in my mouth, no pun intended.

Now I will conclude this blog by personally calling out the “anonymous” fool/fools who continues to post weird and childish things in the comment sections below. If you have an issue with me, please address it with me direct and identify yourself with your real name and phone number so we can have a conversation. Or better yet, come visit me in person since you clearly have indicated that you know where I am on a daily basis and seem to think you know an awful lot about my background. So why not show yourself? You are attacking my livelihood and I don’t appreciate it. Let’s talk like gentlemen, no need to hide behind a computer and call me a “phony” or put down my family and friends.

To all of you who have come to my defense, I thank you so much. I am so appreciative to all my loyal fans and friends who continue to root for me and support me in the streets and online. I love you all and God Bless.