New Jersey chefs to compete on Food Network’s ‘Great Food Truck Race’
Talented chefs from New Jersey seem to pop up on every televised cooking competition; just a couple of weeks ago, New Jersey baker Jaleesa Mason won the Food Network’s “Spring Baking Championship.”
Now, a trio of skilled chefs from Morristown will be competing in the “Great Food Truck Race”, also on Food Network. The chefs are from ESO Artisanal Pasta in Morristown, which is a stationary, brick-and-mortar restaurant, not a food truck. ESO's team features chefs AJ Sankofa, Kristina Gambarian and Matt McFadden.
It’s quite a comeback story for ESO; as reported by Patch.com, the owners of the restaurant had to close their business due to a lack of capital, but, helped by a $10,000 cash infusion by the New York Jets, and Visa (part of their effort to support black-owned businesses) they persevered and were able to reopen.
In the show, nine teams compete against each other. In this season all the trucks’ stops will be in California. According to the Food Network website:
Just like the pioneers, they'll be using some of the West's most distinct ingredients in challenges that test their culinary skills. Each week, they'll race across the desert landscape to a new town where they'll face new challenges, cook incredible dishes and, as always, try to outsell the competition.
The contestants don’t even see their trucks until the first episode. The teams are judged not only on their cooking skill, but on their ability to market and sell their food. Every episode sees on team go home until there are just two left for the season finale on July 24. The winning team gets $50,000.
The season premiere is on June 5.
The show is hosted by celebrity chef Tyler Florence.
The three chefs who will be competing: Matt McFadden, AJ Sankofa, and Kristina Gambarian.
One of their specialties is tiramisu
Chef AJ studied at the Italian Culinary Institute for Foreigners.
Opinions expressed in the post above are those of New Jersey 101.5 talk show host Bill Doyle only.
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