Yesterday we drove to Costa Mesa to see the Farm to Food Truck Challenge, hosted by the SoCo Certified Farmers’ Market. On the drive over, Big T, Grandma G and I had a serious talk with Little T. We said, “listen, Little T. Just because they’re going to have lots of amazing gourmet food trucks, that doesn’t mean we’re going to be able to try everything.” Little T just smiled, knowing that Momma J and Big T are defenseless against good food. Let me just say that being proven wrong by Little T tasted mighty delicious.

From their website:

A farmers’ market inspired cooking competition. Top gourmet food truck chefs will compete against each other to create the best dish using locally grown farm fresh ingredients.

If you’re a foodie, you have to go to this event. I’d suggest getting there a little before the challenge starts so you have time to browse the food trucks and purchase some tasty treats while you wait for the chefs to cook their meals for the competition. When we first arrived, we were happy to see that Seabirds was there. They’re a vegan gourmet food truck that made an appearance on the Food Network in season 2 of The Great Food Truck Race.

I asked what they recommended, and they said we had to try their macaroni and cheese. Um, yeah. It was the best mac and cheese I’ve ever had. In my life.

We also tried out their Tempeh Tacos and Beer Battered Avocado Tacos, because we couldn’t just try one! Big T said it was like his tongue was riding a flavor train, all the way to yumsville.

We were too full to eat anything else after that…Okay, okay, so we found room for three of Seabird’s cupcakes.

Our non veg fellow foodie friends had a freshly made waffle with ice cream from the Waffles de Liege food cart.

While we waited for the competition to start, Little T listened to the music from The Tyler Steel Co. We purchased two of their CD’s (they let us choose the price of their CD’s because they’re awesome like Radiohead) and we listened to their CD for the rest of the day. Little T was especially mesmerized by the drummer.

Little T also had a handmade strawberry lemonade pop.

For the competition, they gave the food truck chefs a list of ingredients they had to use. Once they got the list, they lined up, had to shop for the food at the Farmer’s Market, and then had 60 minutes to prepare their dish.

It was fun to watch the Chefs run around the market and quickly pick out the food they needed for their dishes.

While the chefs cooked, Little T said he had something he needed to do. Next thing we knew, we found him hanging out with all the cheerleaders. He kept trying to run off with their pom poms.

He also tried out some new shades:

It was awesome when the competition began. We loved seeing all of the entries as they were presented to the judges.

Little T clapped along as they announced the winners!

First Place:

Slapfish
-Lobster doughnut with leek and apple
-Seared Scallop with lemon almond butter and brussel leaf salad
-Santa Barbara Black Cod with a beet-pomegranate slaw

Second Place: Seabirds Food Truck

Third Place:

Taco Maria

Once the competition was over, we decided we needed some more food (hah). So we drove to The Camp and ate at Native Foods.

Little T shook his head at us and said we were ridiculous, while the rest of us patted our full bellies. Mmmmm, what a tasty day it was.