West Philly’s own GiGi and Big R’s Caribbean Soul Food truck came up big in Philly’s first ever Vendy Awards yesterday, taking home top honors.

A panel of five judges, including Mayor Michael Nutter, voted to award Gigi and Big R’s the Vendy Cup as top truck. The competition featured a cook-off among the eight finalists.

Thomas Bacon, aka Gigi, told the Philadelphia Inquirer:

“It’s been a long hard day, but it’s been a beautiful day. The Vendy Cup is a trophy that I can drink cool beer out of – after standing over a deep fryer, frying chicken, cooking cabbage and greens, and serving the customers.”

You can get a taste of their stuff, which includes pretty damn good soul food platters, at their usual spot at 38th and Spruce. West Philly truck Cucina Zapata, a fixture on the Drexel campus, won the People’s Choice Award after voting by about 500 attendees.

Here’s a video from CBS Philly:

If you have been around Philly for a while you have probably seen Suzanne Francis’ work. But even if you have been here only a short spell you have most definitely seen the subject of her work. Francis, who lives in the West Philly neighborhood of Parkside, has a wonderful eye for architecture and landscapes that define Philadelphia and she captures them on handmade prints.

Francis will be at VIX Emporium (5009 Baltimore Ave.) tonight from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. to talk about her work and how she makes it. One of the great things about her stuff is that she makes it affordable, so you can take a piece home tonight as well. Tonight’s event will include light refreshments and Francis will bring along some of her tools to provide folks a glimpse into how she produces such memorable pieces.

If you can’t make it tonight, stop by VIX anytime to check out her stuff.

There is no shortage of food delivery options in West Philly. You got your pizza/cheese steak standards. Manakeesh has made Lebanese fusion a phone call away. Roost will bring a half a rotisserie chicken and biscuits to your front porch. Now the folks behind New Delhi, the classy Indian restaurant near 40th and Chestnut, will bring you two curry platters for lunch complete with samosas for $8 (plus tax and tip).

The operation is called CurryBox and is available at lunchtime on Tuesday through Friday. The service is targeted at University City employees so the delivery area, which covers Drexel, Penn and USP, only extends west to 46th Street.

A different selection of entrees is available daily, though Chicken Tikka Masala (the only meat entree) is available every day and it’s $1 extra.

Here’s how it works: Order before 10 a.m. Tuesday through Friday and choose your delivery time. You can also place an order after 3 p.m. for the following day. Orders are done online. Done.

They plan to expand the service to Center City soon. Check their website for full details and the menu.

We are starting to get an indication of what the cuts to the School District of Philadelphia budget will mean for local neighborhood schools.

The Henry C. Lea School (4700 Locust St.) has lost its full-time librarian for the 2011-2012 school year. Luckily a combination of grassroots groups are stepping in to help out. The West Philadelphia Alliance for Children (WePAC) will bring its celebrated program Open Books Open Minds to Lea. That means that volunteers will keep the library open and help younger students with reading and older students with research for school projects.

Click here if you are interested in volunteering at Lea through the WePAC program. WePAC asks for a minimum commitment of two hours every other week.

Also, the West Philly Coalition for Neighborhood Schools is sponsoring a book drive through the summer to provide more books for in-classroom libraries at Lea. You can drop off books at Bindlestiff Books (4530 Baltimore Ave.) during business hours or on the porch at 4317 Larchwood Ave. All books appropriate for children K-8 are appreciated. A group of teachers will go through the books over the summer and divide them into the appropriate grade levels.

West Philly residents Clare Hyre and Rania Campbell-Cobb want to build an organic rooftop farm on a warehouse in Southwest Philly. This would be a first in Philly and they need a little help.

The two accomplished farmers hope to use Cloud 9 Urban Rooftop Farm (Facebook link) to research urban farming best practices, educate folks on the benefits of rooftop farms and, of course, supply more fresh, locally grown food to West Philly. Read a lot more about the project here.

There are two ways you can help. Clare and Rania have started an online fundraising campaign to raise $5,000 to help cover the start-up costs. They are well over halfway there and need to raise the rest by month’s end. They also have some cool gifts for contributing. Go here to check it out.

Second, they are hosting a benefit BBQ tomorrow (Facebook link) at 4909 Warrington Ave. $7 gets you into the door and a plate of good food.

They hope to start building infrastructure this fall and start farming in the spring.

 
In case you haven’t already heard … tonight is the Baltimore Avenue Dollar Stroll in West Philly. This thing (as the lines at participating shops and restaurants last month showed) has gotten big. People are coming from around the city.  Our insider advice? Get there early. It starts at 5:30 p.m.

Here’s a story from 6ABC last night: