The second season of The Great Food Truck Race hit the road last night with eight new food trucks and the bright lights of Vegas. With a grand prize of $100,000 on the line, each truck will try to pull out all their tricks to stay in the game, but ultimately, one truck must go each week. Every Monday, FN Dish will bring you exclusive exit interviews with the latest “Food Truck” contestants to get the boot.
This week, Sky’s Gourmet Tacos seemed to face one challenge after another — money, a blown-out tire and resulting time constraints — and unfortunately, Barbara, her son Victor and business partner Kevin had to say goodbye.
FN Dish: I originally thought the $500 was going to be your major setback due to pricey ingredients; however, it looks like your blown tire might have sent your team home. Tell us about that moment and what you did to make up for lost time and money.
SGT: At the time the tire blew, we were literally right in the middle of engaging team strategy for Vegas — the cameras were rolling. During those hours of delay in locating and then having the tire replaced, I missed 12 critical phone calls, including our confirmation call for the high school’s spring break student fundraiser of which we were the exclusive food vendor for 1,500 kids/parents/supporters.
From New York to California, Korean barbecue to waffles, food trucks are taking the nation by storm as season 2 of The Great Food Truck Race kicks off tomorrow.
Food trucks across the country have established cult followings by harnessing social media and grass roots marketing. Now, you can get in on the action, too. All season long, follow Food Network’s Facebook and Twitter updates to learn how you can score a free lunch.
Here’s how it works: On Sunday night, immediately following each episode of The Great Food Truck Race, visit Food Network’s Facebook page to see which city and food truck will host a Friday lunch.
This past Tuesday, Food Network fans had the chance to leave a question for Tyler Florence about his new season of The Great Food Truck Race on Food Network’s Facebook page. We promised he’d answer a selection of them:
William Zoellick: How do you determine which food trucks are to compete?
Tyler: The casting process is handled by the production company in Los Angeles and they look for a good slice of an American story. This year we have trucks from New York, Miami and Cleveland — they’re all the best-of-the-best.
Tammy Sanner McCrae: How do you pick the cities you stop in?
Tyler: We didn’t want to double up on the cities we visited in the previous season, so this year we started out in Malibu, then we went to Las Vegas, Salt Lake City and so on. Every season, we’re going to plot a new course across the United States with new cities.
The season finale of Food Network Star is this Sunday and fans are certainly vocal about their favorite contestant over on the Star blog. This week, Jeff, Susie and Vic will face the judges one last time, but a surprise Camera Challenge will send one home early.
Cupcake Wars judge Candace Nelson is the founder and pastry chef of Sprinkles Cupcakes, the world’s first cupcake bakery. She joins us on the FN Dish each week to recap all the sweet details of the competition from her seat at the judges’ table. Here’s what she had to say about this week’s episode.
In round one of Cupcake Wars ESPYs episode, we saw cupcakes packed with power foods like almonds, blueberries and even spinach, but Florian and I weren’t feeling too energized by the bakers’ efforts. Therese and Desi were too heavy-handed with the orange and almond flavors, and Rachel’s cupcakes were just plain raw. When your cupcake texture is described as “wet,” it’s not a good thing.
Bobby Flay’s time as a judge on season seven of Food Network Star may be winding down, but season three of Worst Cooks in America is just beginning to heat up — with Flay battling it out against seasoned champ Anne Burrell.
With Anne leading one team and Bobby another, the country’s most hopeless cooks will compete for a $25,000 prize. The contestant with the best performance and progress could be you. Open casting calls are designated for later this month in cities including New York, Los Angeles, Miami, Houston and Minneapolis.
The new season is slated to premiere in February 2012.
Cupcake Wars judge Candace Nelson is the founder and pastry chef of Sprinkles Cupcakes, the world’s first cupcake bakery. She joins us on the FN Dish each week to recap all the sweet details of the competition from her seat at the judges’ table. Here’s what she had to say about this week’s episode.
Pageantry was mixed with Middle Eastern tastes in this week’s Miss USA-themed Cupcake Wars episode. Paying homage to the Lebanese heritage of the reigning Miss USA, our contestants were faced with the challenge of incorporating Middle Eastern flavors into their cupcakes. Three of the four contestants chose pistachios as an ingredient, which at first seems like a great choice, but due to a time crunch, it’s not. Baking with pistachios is extremely difficult as their flavor is very delicate and tricky to emphasize. Both Autumn’s pistachio and orange marmalade cupcake and Teresa’s carrot cupcake blended with spiced pistachios had difficulty accenting the exotic flavors. Brady’s creation had all the makings of a great cupcake with a moist cake and creamy frosting, but he fell short bringing out the flavor of the most delicate ingredient, rosewater. Seda clearly had an advantage being familiar baking with rosewater and pistachios — her cupcake was perfect.
The seventh season of Food Network Star is in full swing and the writers on the Star blog are dishing. Last week, the five remaining Food Network Star contestants got roasted by some of the industry’s funniest comedians. If you missed the episode, catch up with this recap or watch the latest exit interview. This Sunday, eliminated finalists return to help the final four in head-to-head Iron Chef battles.
With four contestants left and the season finale of Food Network Star just right around the corner on August 14, we thought it would be appropriate to give away five signed copies of Food Network Star: The Official Insider’s Guide, your all-access, behind-the-scenes pass to Food Network’s highest-rated series ever.
Food Network Star: The Official Insider’s Guide to America’s Hottest Food Show brings you all the drama of seasons one through seven — plus winning recipes like Guy’s Chipotle Pasta and Melissa’s Skirt Steak Tostadas — along with candid photographs, revealing bios, trivia and insider stories about the contestants and celebrity chef judges like Bobby Flay, Rachael Ray, Paula Deen and more.
Two of Food Network’s most popular personalities, Rachael Ray and Guy Fieri, are going head-to-head in a new series premiering this winter, Rachael vs. Guy Celebrity Cook-Off. Both Rachael and Guy will serve as coaches and mentors to eight multi-talented celebrities — from an Olympic gold medalist to Grammy-winning artists to a Golden Globe-nominated actor — contestants who are all passionate about food and cooking.
Divided into Team Rachael and Team Guy, the contestants will face intense weekly challenges that are sure to have them working, fighting and laughing as they race against the clock to prepare elaborate meals for up to 150 guests. The winning and losing teams will be chosen by the guest diners and after six episodes, the last celebrity standing will win a cash donation to his or her favorite charity.
