Show 219, April 15, 2017: 4th Annual The Big Cheese Festival & Competition: “People’s Choice” Winner

The Big Cheese Grilled Cheese CompetitionThe “SoCal Restaurant Show” was honored to be part of the Judges’ Panel for the 4th Annual “The Big Cheese” Grilled Cheese Festival & Competition on National Grilled Cheese Day at Orange’s Provisions Market.

We’ll chat with the winner of the People’s Choice recognition, Lisa Gilmore, and recap the winning sandwich from the Judges’ Panel (The Water Brewery with Chefs Carli Savedra and Raya Belna.)

Show 158, February 6, 2016: Chef Andrew Gruel, Slapfish Restaurant Group

Andrew Gruel and his son WilliamSlapfish started life as a popular food truck with a very loyal following developed via clever use of Social Media. As soon as Chef Andrew had a firm base with the truck he was on the hunt for an affordable brick-and-mortar location which resulted in the original Huntington Beach location.

The food truck business in Los Angeles and Orange County is not as lucrative as it once was. Competition is intense and there is a lot of duplication of successful concepts. Competition is fierce for the best stops at lunch on weekdays.

Chef Andrew suggests it’s a good way to test a food concept without breaking the bank. Understand it’s really hard work with very long hours. It’s not glamorous…

Taco Maria at SoCo, the darling of food critics, started as a food truck.