The Great Food Truck Race

[isoS]

My wife had an interesting theory: maybe Korilla was squirreling away some of their earnings in past weeks, thinking they were doing well enough to move forward and thinking they could use those savings to make up for a bad week by slipping it in there. I doubt they believed this was legal, but it's at least marginally less cheat-y than dropping cash you didn't earn at all into the till.

I hope they explain it a little this week, because I'm getting tired of waiting for one you you to Google and post a link to Korilla's side of the story.

[Fritz Zwicky]

Korilla has tweeted stuff implying that they can't speak about it until their non-disclosure agreement runs out. Though they did say, "WE WOULD NEVER CHEAT ON YOU NEW YORK."

I think that your wife may have the right idea, but I wonder how they would've gotten away with squirreling away money when the reason they were caught here is because the receipts didn't match their total. Is it OK for confident contestants to just keep the excess cash that they don't need to move forward to the next round?

Sad to see them go, in any case, because they really did seem to be the only truck that had their shit together, and it would be nice for a truck like that to win the whole thing. Steamroll the rest.

[Fritz Zwicky]

Well, I'm totally pleased with the results of this week's episode. As the weeks went on, I was more and more charmed by Hodge Podge's dynamic of a fussy guy who won't let this gauntlet of women mess with his food, and was pleased that they managed to succeed in the challenge that should have hurt them more than any other.

As for the Massholes--boy, failing in the face of an additional $1000 is remarkable. Better now than never, I guess. I'm excited to see who'll win in the battle between outrageous reality show ego (Lime Truck) and gaw-shucks likeability (Hodge Podge). I'm kind of fine with either one.

[Monty]

I hate how gimmicky the finale was. I realize it's a gimmick-heavy show and all that, but I really prefer cooking-show finales where the contestants are allowed to just do whatever they want. Especially after they made a big deal out of how everyone would get to sell whatever they wanted, whenever they wanted, and then both teams got cut off both evenings.

Also, I hate Tyler Florence.

[Itslikeimsayin]

I re-watched part of the finale tonight and it reminded me about the part where Hodge Podge was selling that plate of three desserts for $35. Did I miss something there? Who would pay $35 per order for that?

[isoS]

No shit! That was disgusting! Hodge tended to load their plates, uh, generously, but that was basically three full desserts for the cost of four full desserts that they apparently expected one person to eat (I saw no one sharing it, and if they were it would kind of defeat the purpose of that offer, since then fewer people are buying). I guess it worked though, since they almost made up the $1500 setback. I think the fact that it was kind of a work event for that place made it very easy for them to sell -- like if an ice cream truck shows up outside your office, everyone is going to get ice cream whether they felt like it or not. Groupthink, man.

I liked the finale though. It was surprising how close it was, and even though a subjective opinion -- the judged challenge -- ended up deciding it, I felt like the most worthy team won. (Also the most douchey, but whatever.) And it was entertaining, since it was competitive. I agree that the speed bumps were a bit excessive, but I was amazed at how well the two teams handled them. Made them look even more impressive in the end.

[Itslikeimsayin]

Another thing I'd been meaning to mention here: What was that knob sticking off Roxy's Grilled Cheese truck? I never did figure that out.

[isoS]

A vent, I assume.

[Itslikeimsayin]

Aesthetically, though, was it supposed to be something?

[funnyclown]

I felt like the most worthy team won. (Also the most douchey, but whatever.)

I think it was about an 8-way tie for most douchey. I would have liked this show much more if it had just been the contestants (and the host) getting punched in the face for an hour each week. But, yeah, at least Lime Truck's food looked good.

[Itslikeimsayin]

I finally hit up the Lime Truck today. Had carnitas fries, which were french fries covered with 10-hour-cooked carnitas, slaw, some sort of chipotle sauce, sour cream, cotija cheese and it seemed like there were a few black beans and corn kernels in there too ($7). It was good. It wasn't amazing or anything, and $7 seemed a little steep for the size of it. The other menu item that appealed to me, that I'd probably try next time if they have it again, is a beer-braised short rib quesadilla.

[Monty]

This is back! And there's a crazy twist: it's all first-timers! This is everyone's first food-truck experience!

[Adult Ed]

I'd be stunned if the teams aren't eliminated in roughly the order they finished in the first episode. Most of these teams are incompetent.

[Monty]

Yeah, but at least they're incompetent in a new and interesting way. Last season had way too many teams getting loaned food and having truck connections.

[sparklepicnic]

psssst, I really wanted to try some Korilla, but I live in MN. I've made these twice, they're super yums.

http://chowdivine.com/bulgogi-kimchi...la-korilla-bbq

[Adult Ed]

Korilla is OK, I guess. They park a few blocks from my office once a week or so.

[Itslikeimsayin]

I'm having trouble fully articulating why, but I'm really not a fan of the new format. The appeal of this show was seeing established food trucks compete for superiority. Why unleash a bunch of novices into the game when they've only done two seasons with a total of 15 food trucks? Also, isn't the whole idea of the modern food truck based on doing one thing and doing it really well? They didn't even give these people the tools or resources to necessarily do what they do best. Why are the sausage guys selling hamburgers? The supposed "barbecue" team weren't barbecuing anything.

I'm gonna keep watching, but so far this is a big disappointment.

[Adult Ed]

Maybe the problem was that connections were overwhelming the food in the end-of-day tallies. Connected trucks got food faster, found better locations, got themselves local press, etc. This format doesn't necessarily eliminate those issues but it comes closer.

[isoS]

Yeah, this is a whiff. I'm not sure the first-timer thing is the root of the problem, but it has the effect of making the competition all about who sucks the least (or makes the fewest mistakes) instead of who's best. If you're going to go the first-timer route, maybe don't sadistically stack more hardships on them (like the budget, the empty trucks -- some of which seem to be in need of servicing -- the list of required items, etc) when just running a food truck for the first time is challenge enough. I was hoping they would forgo an elimination on the first episode, and chalk the LA challenge up to a test-run, but instead they delivered the biggest bummer in reality TV since that Top Chef Masters wedding episode with the couple whose maid of honor died and the deposit on their wedding venue was stolen.

I do like that they're competing to keep their truck, but it really feels like they should've been given a crash course in food truckin' prior to the first challenge (that in and of itself could've been entertaining), because it's really not going to be fun watching amateurs struggle with rudimentary problems like lighting a grill or parking in a tight spot when the food should be the star of the show. (if Bravo gets this, why doesn't the network with "food" in their name?)

[Adult Ed]

EDIT