TV Time: The Great Food Truck Race: Season 4 Premiere
The Boardwalk Breakfast Empire Truck
(This post contains spoilers)
She Said:
I love The Great Food Truck Race and I look forward to watching it every summer. I wasn’t a big fan of Food Court Wars and I was so happy when I finally saw a commercial for it a couple of weeks ago. This show is a lot of fun. But, some of the fun factors depend on the contestants themselves, on their cuisines and personalities. I’m always excited to meet a new crew of trucks.
The concept of the show is super simple- and I like it just like that, simple. 8 food trucks (staffed each by 3 people) drive across in the country competing to see who can earn the most money selling their food. The winner will get to keep the fabulously designed and fancy food trucks that they are loaned by the show and 50,000 in cash. The only problem is that host Tyler Florence adds in challenges that often restrict the contestants and frankly ruin the show for me. I would love to see the guys and girls just get to compete in a real business setting without the crazy challenges. Also, Tyler just gets on my nerves because he’s so stilted and dramatic. I’m not sure how he manages to pull of being both stilted and dramatic, but he does!
Here’s what I think of this season’s crop of trucks!
Aloha Plate– I think these guys have a neat concept. I feel like we didn’t see them at all though. I don’t even remember what food they made. I want to see more of their food!
Bowled and Beautiful– I’m not pleased with all the cleavage and the cuisine doesn’t appeal to me either.
The Frankfoota Truck– I really don’t like the outfits that these girls wear. I love flag print and tank tops too. But I think you can dress classy and have fun with your personal style and I wish these girls believed this too. I love hot dogs, but I’m not impressed with them just fancying up a grocery store hot dogs with toppings.
Philly’s Finest Samboninis– I’m not a fan of this truck. These guys seem pretty aggressive and mean spirited. I also feel like the truck is really limited in what they’ll be able to make and that the sandwiches don’t look appealing.
The Slide Show– I remember Das from Food Network Star and he wasn’t my favorite. He just never seemed comfortable on camera. But, I think he’s a great cook! I’m seeing him in a new light. Everything that they served looked delicious and like something that I would definitely purchase.
Tikka Tikka Taco– These guys have a great story and I’m glad to see a veteran get a chance at achieving one of his dreams. The naan-chos that they served looked so good and was such a genius idea. I wish I could eat Indian food, but I’m violently allergic to cilantro and coriander. I’ll be cheering these guys on, especially when they don’t use cilantro and coriander. They are really creative and I think that they will go far.
Boardwalk Breakfast Empire– They are my favorites! I think that Joanne, Ilene and Tim have amazing looking food. I’m also so inspired that Sandy wants to pursue her dream of working even after losing her restaurant to Hurricane Sandy! Rock on, Boardwalk Empire!!! I think you guys could really win this and I’ll be cheering for you every week! Your Monte Cristo sandwich and your breakfast eggs both looked amazing.
The Murphy’s Spud Truck Team
Murphy’s Spud Truck– I was really happy to cheer on this truck. I’m Irish, a fellow Murphy and I love potatoes. Irish food can be a tough sell, but I thought that Nicole’s food looks amazing! I was so inspired by her story of recovery. I was so upset when they couldn’t light their grill. I was worried that they would be facing elimination when the dish they wanted to make originally couldn’t be prepared. But, when I heard how cheaply the salad was being sold for, I knew they would be going home. It’s so unfortunate that they let nerves get to them and made a costly mistake. I’m so disappointed for them. Murphy’s you’ve got a great idea and you make some delicious looking food- don’t give up!
So we’re one episode in and I’ve lost one truck to cheer for. I’m not liking some of the crazy challenges this season very much and apparently they are going to use geoduck next week- yuck! I still love this show and I’ll be cheering on Aloha Plate, The Slide Show, Tikka Tikka Taco and Boardwalk Breakfast Empire! But, I don’t want to see many more crazy challenges. Shape up, Tyler- quicker eliminations and less weird challenges. The worst moment of the show for me is one the phone rings and Tyler calls with some crazy twist or challenge!
I now live in fear of Tyler Florence calling me and ruining my day by telling me that I have to do something crazy or that he’s going to remove my oven and computer from my house.
I think I’ll screen my calls the rest of the day just to be sure.
Kari’s Rating- 8
The guys from the Tikka Tikka Taco Truck
He Said:
Kari and I have been looking forward to this season of The Great Food Truck Race since the last one ended. So is the new season as good as previous seasons that we loved? I’m not so sure yet.
It’s nice that they’re continuing to give people a shot at winning their own food truck. It gives us as viewers more heart warming stories about the contestants. Case in point, last night I cried twice, just from the trucktestants backstories. I do still wish they would showcase existing trucks because there are some awesome trucks out there that no one knows about. I am, however, super excited that the finale this season will be here in DC! How awesome that we’re being recognized as a food truck destination! Maybe next we’ll start getting recognized as a food city in general.
Das (left) of The Slide Show
So far I’m interested in Slide Show, Tikka Tikka Taco, and Aloha Plate. I’m really rooting for Das and Slide Show because even though I didn’t think he’d make a good Food Network star, he seems like a great chef that I would like to see succeed. Tikka Tikka Taco is so far showing a great knack for slight changes to traditional dishes to introduce them to other audiences. We haven’t seen much from Aloha Plate so far, but I’m looking forward to future episodes.
The truck most likely to fail in my opinion is Frankfoota. Unless these girls have taken charcuterie classes that they’re not letting on about, they’re going to be at a serious disadvantage when curveballs are thrown their way. Most of the trucks this year are pretty versatile so if you’re just coming to the competition with store bought hot dogs, it’s going to difficult for you no matter what toppings you put on it.
I was sad to see Murphy’s Spud Truck go home, but if they’d just charged more for their salad that everyone loved, they probably wouldn’t have gone home. I am still a little confused about how their propane valve wound up turned off. Didn’t they use it the day before? Why didn’t anyone else have that problem? Why did it take so long for someone at the food truck park to diagnose the problem? I also have questions about the performance of Philly’s Finest Samboninis. They appeared to be selling cheesesteaks with custom toppings both days, which would appear to violate the rules.
Despite these questions, I’m in until they reach the capital of our great country!
All images are from foodnetwork.com
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