Food TV: The Great Food Truck Race Season 2

I haven’t had the pleasure of eating from too many interesting food trucks in my time. The first one I experienced was at the end of a long day of drinking cocktails in the Village with some friends (that sounds so trendy, it doesn’t seem like I should be writing it). Our NYC dweller friend was following some dessert truck on Twitter. My wife got all excited when she brought it up so we schlepped a ton of blocks (could have been two for all I know, I was blitzed on mojitos and whatnot) to find this truck. Not being a dessert fan, I could have cared less, but even through the diminishing haze I realized that this was a cool idea. I had heard how important the then-new Twitter had become to food trucks who would send out their locations to followers who could show up or pass the info along to their friends. A community sprung up and where there’s a community, TV cameras usually show up.

Instead of a reality show, which would probably be more expected, food trucks appeared last season on Food Network’s Great Food Truck Race, hosted by Tyler Florence. I watched most of the episodes and thought it was a pretty good show. The challenges thrown at the contestants test their mettle and could possibly reflect real world problems, but are usually so over the top and ridiculous that you realize you’re watching a show that’s less about the food itself than it is about the competition. And that’s fine. I can feel tension through my TV, but I can’t taste or smell food.

The second season kicked off a few weeks ago with the second playing this past Sunday. Thanks to a rerun earlier in the evening, I got caught up. It seemed pretty clear right away who the first team to get sent home was going to be Sky’s Gourmet Tacos had the misfortune of popping a tire on the way to the first challenge location only to wind up in the same location as a more interesting truck that also sold tacos. I also wasn’t very surprised when Devilicious got sent home in the second episode because they seemed to be non-entities throughout both episodes. At one point during the first episode my wife asked what the red team had been up to. I responded with “I have no idea.” I didn’t exactly call it right away, but there was zero surprise in that reveal.

I’m sure like most of you, I’ve got a few favorites and not-so-faves already. I like Hodge Podge because the chef is from Cleveland (I’m from Toledo, my mom and grandma are from the Cleve), plus I want to put their food in my face. I’m also leaning towards the boys from Boston in the Roxy’s Grilled Cheese truck because they’ve been the underdogs so far and again because I want to eat their food. I’m kind of neutral on Cafe Con Leche (the woman’s a little much, but I want to try their Cuban coffee) and Korilla (who remind me of Korean Run-DMC for some reason). All of which leaves two teams: Seabirds and The Lime Truck. I don’t have anything particularly bad to say about the Seabirds, who make Vegan food, but they’re just so lovey and spacey that it pushes a button somewhere inside where my cynicism lives. I think the Lime Truck guys could relate to me because they are totally arrogant douchebags. I’m not even going to link to their page on Food Network, you can find it through the others if you’re so inclined. There’s a fine line between fun cocky and asshole cocky and these dudes are so far away from the line in asshole territory that they can’t even see it. You have to root against them or be drawn to their confidence. I’m sure the hipsters love them.

So, I’m sold for now. I’m a sucker for food shows, especially the competition ones, so TGFTR fits the bill and since I can either catch it in reruns or watch it when nothing else is on, we’re good to go. What did you guys think?