The Great Food Truck Race

[jadewarlock]

I'm not surprised the Seabirds (vegan truck) had to do a challenge like this. The group is touted a bit on PETA for being ethical and the like (which sadly could hurt them long term because there are many who do not like PETA), so I could see the network wanting to challenge them to see which is more important - the game or their ethics. If they did do sausage, they in a way sold out, even though in their defense the show could've considered one vegan option. It also would've allowed other trucks to try it and see if they could beat the vegan option.

[Shoepie]

I thought it was fine that the vegan woman had to deal with a meat challenge and it won't be the last. I would never expect production to favor them by crafting a seperate challenge. That is the plight of all vegetarians. They have to be creative in a omniverous culture. Not a big deal. They did well.

Korilla did not gain any advantage by saving their meat. They were well underway when one mentioned that they had not even touched their booty. They may have even won that challenge. Koren BBQ is delicious. They seem to be able to crank it out quickly, which is the key to making money and the reason they won. The grilled cheese truck is in trouble because of the time it takes to grill one sandwich.

Nom Nom was able to do a good volume because their meat was already cooked and all they had was assembly. It will be interesting to see who gets this and goes for quick service. Some will have to alter their menu.

That said, we have only seen alterations! I would love to see what they can do with their original plan.

[Tilden]

I think it was fine that there was a sausage challenge, but there's no reason there couldn't have been vegan options for stuffings without them having to use up one of their five ingredients as a sausage filling. That put them at a disadvantage. If they'd had vegetarian/vegan options available to everyone as a sausage stuffing in addition to the meat, then it would have been fair--anyone could have made the choice to go with a meat or non-meat filling or some combination of both for their sausage. And, frankly, I don't think any of the contestants should be forced to choose between their convictions and competing in a challenge, regardless of what those convictions are (and as I've said, I'm not a vegan or a vegetarian, so it's not as if I'm personally offended by meat--but I don't think people who are should be forced to choose between working with it and their own principles regarding it when none of the other trucks are likely to be put in a similar position in other challenges). If they'd told Seabirds when they were chosen that there would be meat-centric challenges they'd have to deal with, I'd be fine with that, but from their reaction, I don't think they knew that would be happening.

I also don't understand why the Korilla truck automatically assumed they could just keep the meat they didn't use in the challenge to supplement their supplies for the actual challenge. I was surprised the show didn't tell them that wasn't an option after they'd chosen to do that, because they hadn't clearly told everyone that they had any option at all but to do the challenge. It's a dangerous precedent to set--if you think there's an advantage to not doing the challenge, go ahead and skip it. It's likely to lead to other trucks thinking about skipping the challenges that are supposed to be part of the game.

[Harmony2000]

Just watched the latest episode and my thoughts:

I really do not like Lime, Roxie, and Hodge Podge which means they are more than likely the final three *sighs*.

Korilla? There is just something about them that I can't warm up to, I think they are stealth jerks. I'm waiting for the epic explosion of jerkiness. I know it's coming. Now about what they did during the truck stop, clearly there wasn't a rule against it so I have no problem with it. What will be interesting is the spin the others put on this. Don't need a crystal ball to know that they will take a look at the truck that won the truck stop, take a look at the truck that didn't do the truck stop, take a look at who made the most money and decide that it's all connected.

In short, they will decide that there is no point in doing the truck stops if there isn't a serious leg up. They are going to have to make it a rule that everybody must participate or face a serious time/monetary set back. You don't want to play our silly little game? Fine, give us half your seed money and you have to sit back how ever long it took for the others to do the challenge. Better hope it wasn't a really long one. That would be fair.

Seabirds - I want to like them, they seem like nice ladies but I just don't.
Con Leche - I wish that woman would tone it down a million notches but I could wind up pulling for them.

UH....I don't remember the names of the others. It's still too early with too many trucks and right now the only ones standing out are the ones I really don't like.

Denver should be interesting, I lived there decades ago and it had huge Mexican and Korean communities. This could be a huge advantage for Korilla and Con Leche. Also for Seabird since Colorado is all about the healthy lifestyle.

The speed bumps, I hate them but I understand why they felt the need to do them. Can you imagine an entire season of everybody using their hook ups? It would be so boring! It would be nothing more than us watching them get on the phone and text their various buddies that they lined up before the show even started. The speed bumps are there to level the playing field, while I hate them I can understand why they are there.

The sausage challenge, it is what it is, they can't cater to one truck. They did the challenge for the majority, imagine if they catered to the various factors of the trucks. It would leave them with nothing. I think the girls did a good job overcoming it and sticking to their ethics. They came out looking good after it.

[Rembrant]

We've had teams not competing in the challenge in season 1, so I won't harp on Korilla opting to not compete in it, but I think it's unfair that they were allowed to keep their meat. I wonder if, in the future, the rules would be changed to give penalties to those who refuse to do the truck stop challenge. Because, you know, the rules in this race seem to change on a whim.

I am definitely feeling underwhelmed this season, maybe because of the personalities. We never even got to know Devilicious before they were eliminated. Roxy's, Lime and Korilla are all arrogant and obnoxious and I can't stand any of them. The Cafe con Leche guys are okay, but the girl, while not a jerk like most of the guys in the race, really needs to tone it down, she's annoying. And in Hodge Podge, the girls are likeable, but the guy might be worse than any guy from Korilla, Roxy's and Lime in how much of a condescending jerk he is, the way he treats his sister and especially his girlfriend. The only team in which I like all three members is Seabirds.

[Kip]

I wouldn't be surprised if there's a vegetarian challenge along the way.

I watched part of the first episode and most of last night's episode (missed the end when I got a phone call). But I'm bored with the show already.

Harmony - I'm with you on the speedbumps. I think there's plenty of drama is running a food truck well without throwing unnecessary obstacles in their way. And I think the contestants lining up supplies and other contacts ahead of time makes for boring tv. Take their cell phones away.

I'd rather the show would choose the selling locations. The guest judge could either rank the dishes from best to worst and the trucks pick locations in that order, or the winner could assign locations to all trucks. I think it could be interesting if there were fewer locations than trucks, so that some locations would be for a single truck and other locations for two or three.

Similarly, I'd rather the show provided a list of approved shopping locations.

Somewhat OT - last winter I met Tyler Florence at a party. He was super nice. He was shorter than I expected him to be and even more handsome in person than on tv.

[Harmony2000]

Kip - I like your ideas! I think it would be great that the winner of the truck stop would get to assign locations or pick a location. They should have X number of locations and the top placers in the truck stop get to choose first with the lower rungs having to duke it out at one location. It would be interesting! Much more so than watching them work their hook ups.

I also agree that they should take away their cell phones or make it a rule that they cannot buy on credit, get it for free, or use hookups because it just makes it boring for us viewers. When it's boring, then they have to create drama to keep us vested. I don't like drama, too much of it and I will stop watching a show. There is no need for that on this show, not if they lay down some solid rules and just make it about the trucks trying to make a buck at a new location and without their usual suppliers, customers to support them.

Tyler - he looked much better in the very beginning of this episode when his hair wasn't moussed to the sky and he had a bit of a bang going on, he also didn't look as orange. I had to look a couple times to make sure that the good looking man was really the same guy, then he went back to the orange skin and the spiked up hair.

[Tilden]

I completely agree that locations for the trucks should be assigned somehow and that they need to limit the amount of piggybacking on existing connections. I realized last night that's part of the reason the show isn't as appealing to me as some other cooking contest shows are. For instance, on Top Chef, everyone has pretty much the same conditions under which to work. It's not as if anyone uses connections to get better supplies or a better customer base. Same thing with something like Chopped--one chef might get lucky in that something in the basket happens to be a favorite ingredient of his/hers, but everybody still has the same kitchen, the same pantry, and the same amount of time. The Great Food Truck Race isn't so much about the quality of cooking or the ability to think on one's feet. It's more like The Great Connections and Marketing Race. Plus, it's kind of dull to watch the same basic menus get made over and over again--and really, no matter how fabulous your grilled cheese sandwiches are, how interesting is it to watch them made or sold? They're just a basic sandwich that everyone's made at one point or another.

And really, it wouldn't be that hard to have all the trucks set up at, say, a community event or within a particular neighborhood would it? At least that would level the playing field somewhat. As it is, a truck with a far less inventive menu and food that isn't as good might make more money just because they happened to be in the right location or have connections in a particular community.

[Tilden]

I don't have a lot to say about this week's episode, except that I don't understand why the Seabirds' reaction to Denver was that there wouldn't be a vegan restaurant there. Really? Denver's pretty big. I know Colorado, and the west in general, is assumed to be cattle country, but that doesn't mean there would be no vegan, or at least vegetarian, restaurants in all of Denver. They had the exact same reaction to Manhattan, Kansas, which had been identified as a college town, when prior to that, they'd been all happy about college towns/colleges having a lot of vegans. On top of all that, while not a vegetarian or vegan myself, that doesn't mean I haven't eaten meatless meals and eaten them happily. They don't need a community of devoted vegans. They just need people who are willing to give their truck a shot at providing them with one meal. For heaven's sake, there are times when non-vegans would just like a really good salad or some other non-meat option for lunch too. They don't need a vegan restaurant to hook up with either. They just need a vegan-friendly place that offers a number of vegan/vegetarian options. There's a place like that not far from where I live, and I'm always happy to go there. Sometimes I have a meat option; sometimes I don't. I really think Seabirds are limiting their potential customer base by assuming that only dedicated vegans/vegetarians would be interested in giving their food a try. They might try selling their food as lower calorie or lower fat in addition to being vegan. People who are dieting or concerned about fat or sodium or whatever might be happy to look into some new ideas for lunch as well.

Honestly, I'd be more likely to give their food a try than eat a grilled cheese, which I can easily make myself. Roxy's grilled cheeses probably don't taste that much different than any other grilled cheese I've ever eaten. When I eat out, I like to try new things. I like them even better when I figure they may be tasty and healthier than what I might normally grab on the run--and I don't think I'm alone in that. Seabirds need to regroup and think about how they need to market themselves to draw a bigger crowd, and really, if they are dedicated vegans, I'd think they'd be happy to use their food to help recruit people to the idea that vegan food can be a tasty, healthy option. Even if those recruits don't become full-fledged vegans, if they give up meat/meat products for one day a week or even one meal a week, doesn't that count as at least a partial win for their team, so to speak?

I don't think they need to hide who they are or what their philosophy is, but what's wrong with saying, "Hey, try this great hummus" without worrying about whether the potential customer is a vegan or not?

[Shoepie]

Tilden, I agree with every word in your above post. They make way too big a deal about being Vegan. Let that go girls, and just make good food that anyone can enjoy. I eat many meatless meals though not a vegetarian. Denver does have vegetarian restaurants and a very good one my husband and I returned to 3 times in our brief visit to Denver. It was superior.

The speed bumps are killing this show. I loved last season and the normal challenges that different venues presented. I liked it when the trucks were parked in close proximity and able to see who drew the biggest crowd. That was a signifigant statment as to what they offered and how fast they could crank it out. This season it is less about their food and more about how they manage some totally ridiculous problems. Why does production insist viewers want drama in a cooking show? Jeeeeze