I have mentioned on a
few occasions that I live in a small city, pretty much in the “middle of
nowhere.” It is a pretty area nature-wise. But there is
rarely any excitement or fun things to do here. For that, we have to
drive 90 miles to the nearest “real” city.
I learned that
something that many think is exciting is going to happen this
week in our sleep city! We have a small mall here, with about twenty
stores and a very small food court (five restaurants). Have you heard of the TV
show “Food Court Wars?” I guess you’d call it a “reality” show, but my husband
and I enjoy cooking shows, so we have seen it a couple times. “Food Court Wars”
is a competition between two teams of would-be food entrepreneurs.
Whoever wins, receives a food court restaurant rent free for a year!
Well,
this week, “Food Court Wars” is being held in our local mall. It is a
weekly show and takes place in a different city each week. The “hosting”
mall wants to open a brand new "local" eatery in their food court
offering region-specific menu. In this city, I am curious what they would
call “region-specific.” We are very close to Mexico (7 miles as the crow
flies), so maybe Mexican food? Since we have a huge military base (the
only reason the city even exists), so those who live here come from all
over the country and even many foreign countries.
The three-day
competition tests not only the culinary skills, but how well the aspiring
restaurateurs can run a business, ordering food and other items, preparing a marketing
plan and determining whether their concept works in the area.
The
way the TV shows works is that on the first day, there is a food sampling
challenge. Day two is a marketing challenge and on the third day, the
competitors serve food from their space at the mall. Apparently the
customers are provided with tickets to spend like money. The team whose
restaurant earns the highest profit wins their space for free for a year.
One
of the two vacant spaces where the competition will take place was run by a
friend of ours. Since they were on a month-to-month contract, not a
lease, they were told to vacate the premises a couple weeks ago.
My
husband and I spoke with the mall manager today about the show. She told
us that today the show staff is going around the town taking pictures.
The public is invited to come on the third day to try the competitors’
food. She said they’ll begin “selling” the food (no cost to the customers
in reality) at 5 PM, but they expect a line of people to begin around noon!
So,
our town is jumping with excitement! If you are wondering, no I do not
plan to attend the food tasting. The idea of a TV show
filming here is fun. Having lived in Los Angeles most of my life, I have
seen shows being filmed many times. However, I find it interesting
that a city with a population of about 40,000 (mostly on the military base) was
chosen for The Food Court Wars.
========================
