Food Truck Face-Off brings food, fun to the community

For culinary students, the chance to run their own restaurant or food truck is a dream.

For the culinary arts students from Clay and Whitmer High Schools, it was a dream wrapped in a stressful package.

The 4th Annual Food Truck Face-Off was held Wednesday at Whitmer for the first time since the schools began competing,

The event featured three teams from each high school’s culinary arts program serving sample-sized portions from their respective food trucks. Teams competed for the Top Entrepreneur and People's Choice awards.

The competition and cash prizes were sponsored by Burkett Restaurant Equipment and Supplies out of Perrysburg.

The runner-up was Whitmer’s Desserts with a Twist.

The People’s Choice Award went to Cheezers Grill from Whitmer.

The runner-up was Sal’s Salads and Sliders from Oregon.

Chef Andi Lawrence, culinary arts instructor at Clay, said the idea for the competition came during the pandemic in 2020.

“During Covid, restaurants were shut down, and it was hard to find good content for our students,” Ms. Lawrence said. “There were no restaurant visits for our students. The restaurant and commercial kitchen world can be scary. So, we had food trucks come to the school. Our kids could look inside them and learn things from the owners, like how to cost food items and how to have quick service. The idea came from there.”

Ms. Lawrence said she received a grant from the Oregon City Schools Foundation to start the first year.

“It was just Clay students that first year,” she said. “The competition was created from the ground up. The students created everything about their trucks from the design of it, the menus, and the presentation. They also sourced their own foods for this. They were very excited since the local food truck scene began to grow that year.”

The “trucks” were built from plywood the first two years of the competition. The second year proved to be a challenge.

“It was raining hard that year, all day, “Ms. Lawrence said. “The trucks were a mess. The paint melted and the plywood swelled up.”

The event had become very popular with the community so the other career tech students jumped in to develop a new design for the trucks.

“The third year, our engineering students built aluminum frames,” she said. “The image of the food truck itself was created out of stretch vinyl, so it looks like a ‘truck.’ A temporary kitchen was built behind the truck where the food was prepared.”

This year, the food truck competition is being held at Whitmer for the first time. The very act of moving the trucks, students, and the food has proven to be a daunting task.

“It really was a ton of work, but the kids did great and got it done,” she said.

Ms. Lawrence said she has heard people say the school where the competition is held at is the one who will win the competition simply because the community around the school would vote for them.

“We have rules to ensure that people do not know what schools the trucks are from,” she said. “The trucks and the students’ chef coats can not have mascots, school colors, and no school names on the chef coats.”

The Top Entrepreneur award goes to the truck that made the most money. The People’s Choice Award is given to the truck with the most votes. Winners in both categories win $500.

“I originally thought that it would be great to add more schools and then move the competition from school to school eventually,” Ms. Lawrence said. “This is the first year we are traveling and it is a lot. We are going to have to try to figure this out for the future. For now, it will be back at Clay next year.”

Chef Michelle Pierce, culinary arts instructor at Whitmer, said she is hoping the competition being held at Whitmer will be a good omen.

“We have not won one yet, so we are hoping this is our year,” said Ms. Pierce. “For the first time, we are on the home field, so we hope that helps us.”

Ms. Pierce said the students have been actively planning everything for their trucks since Christmas.

“It really is nerve-racking,” she said. “There really is so much planning that goes into this. The students are using the skills they have learned in the last two years in order to do the food trucks.”

Ms. Pierce said her students were excited to compete with their own ideas and menus.

“The students get excited making their own food truck,” Ms. Pierce said. “They get to see what goes into it. They plan the theme, the logo, the menu, and they set the prices. They get to decide how the food looks, and the portion sizes. I think, in the end, they realize that they actually could open a truck or restaurant down the road.

Clay’s three trucks included The Breakfast Booth, which sold breakfast foods like a pancake taco with bacon and egg folded in three pancakes and drizzled with maple syrup.

A popular item was the Golden Goodness Potatoes which were crispy cheesy potato casserole topped with crispy Panko crumbs and green onions.

Justin Hayden, a senior, was not able to compete last year after injuring himself with hot oil prior to the competition.

“I am having fun this year and have made quite a few new friends in the process,” Justin said. “I was nervous, but this was pretty peaceful.”

Justin said he would recommend culinary arts to students who like to cook.

“If you have a passion for food, then it is a good career,” he said. “If you do not do well under pressure, this may not be for you.”

The Chariot of Cheese truck sold quesadillas like the Midwestern Dilla, which featured grilled chicken, bacon, cheddar, and house-made ranch in a toasty tortilla.

The truck also featured Choco Chips and Dip, a dessert of chocolate-covered tortilla chips and Oreo fluff for dipping.

Sal’s Salads and Sliders sold Berry Go Round Salad consisting of Chicken, avocado, bacon, provolone cheese, lettuce, tomato and red onion onfocaccia bread.

The truck also had a Trifflin Triffle complete with angel food cake, white chocolate fluff, blue raspberry fluff, and fresh strawberries and blueberries.

Junior Nolan Hissem, said this was the first year in the competition. He volunteered last year as a sophomore.

“I thought it was pretty easy,” Nolan said. “It was not too busy or too slow, so we had a rhythm going.”

Jacob Reinke, a junior, said he liked the competition.

“I would definitely do this again,” Jacob said. “It was kind of scary at first, but once we found our rhythm, it has been pretty smooth.”

Not to be outdone, Whitmer’s food trucks also had lines of customers.

Desserts with a Twist offered strawberry cream and lemon chiffon pies. Strawberry shortcake, lovely lemon cupcakes, and strawberry-lemonade cake pops were also available and seemed to be popular.

“This was fun but stressful,” Senior Aayleah Brummett said. “It was stressful getting everything prepped, baked, and plated, but it was fun as well.”

Aayleah said she will take a gap year and then go to either Owens Community College or the University of Toledo to study business.

“I want to own my own bakery someday,” she said.

Cheezers Grill offered grilled-to-order cheese sandwiches and tomato soup. Customers could choose from wheat or sourdough bread, and cheddar, American, colby jack or provolone cheeses.

Braiden Phillips, a junior, was busy making the grilled cheese sandwiches.

“It is fun, but a little hot,” Braiden said. “There was a lot of math involved with this. If you messed one part up, it all was messed up which did add some stress.”

Braiden is looking forward to working in a kitchen when he graduates.

“Look, cooking is fun,” he said. “There will always be jobs in the field. Everybody has to eat so chefs and cooks are not going to go anywhere.”

Meowba, went a totally surprising and seemingly popular direction on the warm day.

The truck offered strawberry lemonade with a choice of mango, strawberry, passion fruit, kiwi, pomegranate or blueberry boba. For dessert, cat face cookies were offered.

OJ and Judy Clem, a 1969 Whitmer graduate, said they came to support their grandson.

Mr. Clem tried the Golden Goodness Potatoes and strawberry pie. Judy had a grilled cheese and tomato soup with a piece of lemon chiffon pies.

“I would say it was all very delicious food,” Mrs. Clem said.

The Clem’s daughter, Judy Flaczinski, said she tried the grilled cheese and the soup as well a fajita from another team.

“My son, Travis, was on the Cheezers truck, but he told me to try from other trucks as well,” she said. “They all did a great job.”