Under the beacon-like yellow and red umbrella of Mr. V’s mobile vending cart stands owner and operator Jon Verno. This summer, Verno celebrated his twentieth anniversary in street vending.

Many landmark moments in his life happened while he held a spatula in one hand and tongs in the other. Verno remembers when he first learned he was going to have a son: his girlfriend at the time ran up to the cart, overwhelmed with the news. He was on the streets for the New Year’s celebration during Y2K, telling his employees he loved them as the uncertain seconds ticked down. (When the world didn’t end, he turned around to a line of 15 hungry customers.) After learning that his father passed after a fourth battle with cancer, Verno took the cart out to work and escape. On those nights, Verno was at the corner of Goodman and Monroe. But he also has lunchtime wheels on the ground on Crittenden Boulevard and East Avenue.