Taste NY Food Truck Competition Expands at New York State Fair

From the state Department of Agriculture and Markets:

The Great New York State Fair today (Feb. 15) announced that its Taste NY Food Truck Competition will expand to two days for the 2017 Fair.  

The competition to find the best entrée, served by food truck chefs and made with New York state grown and produced ingredients, will take place Saturday and Sunday, Sept. 2 and 3.  Food trucks entered in the competition will be located around Chevy Court.

 

“Taste NY represents the very best of New York agriculture and having our food truck chefs cook up exciting, new dishes for our panel of judges and for fairgoers is a great way to promote New York grown and produced foods," said Ag and Markets Commissioner Richard Ball. "With the competition expanded to two days, we look forward to seeing every region of New York state represented.”
 

“The 2016 competition featured some amazing food and big crowds of people waiting patiently to buy a sample," said Acting State Fair Director Troy Waffner. "We’re expanding the competition to a second day so more people can participate and enjoy some of the best foods grown and made in New York state.”

To take part in the competition, food truck operators design signature entrées using primarily New York state products. A panel of judges made up of food industry experts and enthusiasts will sample the entrees to select a Judges’ Choice winner on both Saturday and Sunday.  

Truck vendors can then sell sample-sized portions of their entrée for $3 to fairgoers, who can cast one vote for the entrée they liked best. Those votes will then be tallied to declare the People’s Choice winners.  

Each daily winner of the Judges’ Choice and People’s Choice will receive a $750 gift card to Maines Food and Party Warehouse, while the People’s Choice runner-up will receive a portable generator on each day.

 

Registration is now underway for food truck operators who would like to take part in the competition.  Visit http://nysfair.ny.gov/competitions/food-truck-competition/ for details and an entry form.

 

In 2016, Silo Food Truck of Ovid won the Judges’ Choice award for its Telekinetic Fried Chicken, a fried drumstick over a slaw flavored with peach and raspberry and purple sticky rice, while The Meatball Cup from The Meatball Truck of Rochester won the People’s Choice.  

More than 2,500 fairgoers voted in the competition.

Food Trucks to Compete at New York State Fair

This is way coooool.

News from the New York State Fair:

The first-ever Taste NY Food Truck Competition will premiere Sunday, Sept. 6 at the Great New York State Fair in Geddes.

This first-of-its-kind competition will see as many as 20 chefs from across the state surrounding Chevy Court with their trucks and offering samples of their most creative and tastiest offerings for fairgoers and judges.

Entrants will be required to use foods primarily grown and produced in New York state. Judges will sample each truck’s signature entrée to determine a winner of the judged portion of the competition and to rank each competitor.  

Fairgoers also will help pick a winner in a separate competition.  Samples of the competition entree will be available at each truck for $2 per sample for fairgoers.  

The entrée receiving the most votes from fairgoers, who will receive a ballot with each $2 sample they purchase, will be crowned the People’s Choice winner. 

Each winner will receive a trophy and a gift card for $750 from a New York State food supplier or distributor.  The second place finisher in the People’s Choice category will receive a trophy and a portable 3500-watt generator.

Entries will be accepted until all 20 slots have been filled.  The application form is available only on the Fair website, at http://www.nysfair.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/2015-NYSF-Food-Truck-Competition-Application-and-Rules.pdf.  Food trucks will not be serving food to the general public beyond the entrée samples.

The day of competition will conclude with each truck taking part in the fair’s daily 6 p.m. parade.

The Fair Hits the Road

In the meantime, the fair will soon roll out a truck of its own. A mobile vending truck with the fair logo will spread the word of the fair at public events around the Central New York region this spring and summer, offering information about advance sale tickets to the fair along with information about the fair itself.  

At selected events, Acting Director Troy Waffner plans to drive the truck himself so the fair’s many fans can give him their suggestions personally. Fair mascots Pop and Candy will also be on hand at selected events to pose for photos and greet the fair’s youngest fans.

Appearances by the truck will be announced as they are confirmed.