The Great Food Truck Race – week one
As a fan of food trucks, I thought The Great Food Truck Race might be another offering from Food Network that was right up my alley. Unfortunately, it’s a reality show first and foremost. All the hallmarks of that genre were showcased in the season opener, and I really just want a straight up food competition.
I imagine this show is the Food Network’s take on The Amazing Race, but I’ve never watched that show. The premise is that eight food trucks representing different parts of the United States will travel to a new city every week and compete to raise the most money. Episode one introduced the teams and saw them make their from Los Angeles to Las Vegas for their first contest.
The fact that the teams have to drive their trucks across the country is a huge factor because most trucks around here wouldn’t be able to handle that ride. In fact, most of the street vendors in Philadelphia actually work out of food carts that don’t move under their own power. I liked that each team was expected to find their own location to sell their food and it showed that teams will really have to know the town to succeed (Roxy’s Grilled Cheese found great side street parking in downtown Vegas downtown, but no one was there).
Some of the trucks seemed to be operating on the notion that people would come spend money just because they were there. Most quickly learned that they would need to hustle a bit. The Hodge Podge truck was probably the most successful with this, but I think they’re all going to have to work a crowd to stay in the game. We’ll see how it affects the teams that relied on local trucks they contacted to help drum up business in week one.
I know the producers want reality show drama, but all of the posturing and arguing over “spots” didn’t appeal to me. It made everyone look bad. If watching The Next Food Network Star is any indication, I’m going to need someone to root for (Sandwich King, Jeff Mauro’s show premiered this morning on Food Network at 11:30AM) and right now no one’s fitting that bill. I do think one of the trucks that has a more defined identity and menu is going to do best here.
I wasn’t sure how I felt about each team being limited to $500 in seed money to buy food, but I understand that it levels the playing field. When one of the trucks was forced to use some of that money to repair a flat tire before they even got to Las Vegas I bought into the idea a little more. Instead of letting these unexpected pitfalls be an organic part of the show, we learn that a gimmick has been added this season and manufactured “speed bumps” will be presented each week. The only upside was that the phone calls that were made to inform the trucks they were “out of propane” were well edited.
I’ll give this show another shot this week, but if it doesn’t start to focus on the food these trucks are capable of making I might not make it though the whole season. Season one is available in its entirety on FoodNetwork.com and based on the new elements introduced here it may be a better fit for me. This season continues Sunday, August 21st at 9PM.