The Ultimate Battle of The Food Trucks

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The Art Institutes (Ai) Food Truck Tour coincides with the third season of Food Network’s hit reality competition series The Great Food Truck Race, which can be seen Sunday nights at 9pm through the September 30^th finale.  Culinary Arts students from The International Culinary Schools at The Art Institutes will be asked to battle local food truck favorites. The trucks will each be challenged to create a dish that includes the same ingredients.  Celebrity chefs, including James Beard Award-nominees Jon Shook and Vinny Dotolo, plus contestants from previous seasons of The Great Food Truck Race, The Lime Truck and Sky’s Gourmet Tacos, will be on-site to judge the matchups.  

The tour will provide guests and aspiring student chefs with the ability to watch the competitions live, taste diverse cuisine from participating local food trucks and to take photos on-site with local celebrity chefs–a total food experience.  A portion of each participating trucks sales will benefit the local Art Institutes’ culinary scholarships.

“The food truck phenomenon is certainly a culinary industry trend we want to expose our students to as another way to pursue a fulfilling career in the industry,” said Chef Michael Nenes, assistant vice president of Culinary Arts for The International Culinary Schools at The Art Institutes.  “This tour will allow our students to put their skills to work beyond the classroom and showcase their knowledge of world cuisines in a once unconventional environment of a food truck, all while having fun with the local community.”

The tour will also showcase talented graduates from The International Culinary Schools at The Art Institutes who have garnered national recognition including Jesse Brockman, a 2009 alumnus of The Art Institute of California – Orange County, a campus of Argosy University, with an Associate of Science degree in Culinary Arts, who was a member of The Great Food Truck Race winning team last year with the Lime Truck.

The Ai Food Truck Tour – Event Information

The community is invited to enjoy the Ai Food Truck Tour experience at several venues. The Ai Food Truck will make its debut at the LA County Fair on September 3^rd and make an additional community appearance on the Huntington Beach Pier on September 15^th.

The cooking battles will be held at Art Institutes’ campuses at the following locations at no cost to attend:

Cooking Battle - September 5, 2012

4:00 – 8:00 p.m.

The Art Institute of California - Inland Empire, a campus of Argosy University

674 East Brier Drive, San Bernardino, CA 92408

Cooking Battle - September 8, 2012

1:00 – 5:00 p.m.

The Art Institute of California - Los Angeles, a campus of Argosy University

2900 31^st Street, Santa Monica, CA 90405

Cooking Battle - September 13, 2012

4:00 – 8:00 p.m.

The Art Institute of California - Orange County, a campus of Argosy University

3601 W. Sunflower Avenue, Santa Ana, CA 92704

Cooking Battle - September 22, 2012

1:00 – 5:00 p.m.

The Art Institute of California- San Diego, a campus of Argosy University

7650 Mission Valley Road, San Diego, CA 92108

Follow the tour on Facebook at www.facebook.com/artinstitutes and Twitter at #AiFoodTruck.