Four of the seven food trucks competing in the 2024 Governor’s Plate competition – including last year’s winner – are from Pueblo, according to a joint press release from the Colorado State Fair, Colorado Department of Agriculture and Governor Jared Polis.
The event will take place on Tuesday, August 27th at 5 p.m. at the State Fairgrounds in Pueblo.
“The Governor’s Plate is a delicious event that I look forward to every year and a great celebration of Colorado’s world-class agriculture and the talented chefs who call our state home. I look forward to trying all of the dishes this year,” Polis said in the press release.
Returning champion Stoke Pizza will join six newcomers and hope to impress Polis and event attendees with sample dishes made with Colorado Proud ingredients, the press release said.
This year, contestants had to use either Palisade peaches or San Luis Valley potatoes in their culinary creations. Polis will award the Golden Plate to his favorite truck, while the audience will choose the winner of the People’s Choice Award.
“The Governor’s Plate competition celebrates the best of Colorado agriculture, creatively interpreted by talented local chefs,” state fair officials said in the press release.
Participating food trucks must be registered members of Colorado Proud. Colorado Proud was developed in 1999 by the Colorado Department of Agriculture as a free program to help consumers, restaurants and retailers identify and purchase Colorado-grown food and agricultural products.
This membership ensures that the trucks involved “use locally grown, raised and processed foods and agricultural products, thereby promoting Colorado’s economy by supporting local farmers, ranchers, greenhouses, manufacturers and processors,” the press release states.
The following food trucks are competing for the Governor’s Plate and People’s Choice awards:
Mother Smothers, a Pueblo-based food truck specializing in making “all of Pueblo’s favorites,” including sloppers, tacos, fries, burgers and sandwiches, serves San Luis Valley mashed potatoes topped with award-winning green chile.
SmithGrubs Food Truck and Catering is another Pueblo-based food truck that serves a variety of dishes from barbecue to tacos and steak to General Tsao’s chicken and egg rolls, according to its website. For the competition, the restaurant will bake a cinnamon roll with Palisade peaches.
Returning champion Stoke Pizza, another food truck from Pueblo, will use its mobile wood-fired oven to bake a rich baked potato pizza using potatoes from the San Luis Valley. Last year, owners Bre and Wes Latka’s food truck won the Governor’s Plate competition with a wood-fired pizza with chorizo, elote and green chiles.
Wings on Wheels, a Pueblo-based food truck that serves wings, nachos, smash burgers, mac and cheese, sloppers and green chile fries, offers a burger slider with Palisade peach compote. This popular food truck was voted the best in the Steel City by Chieftain readers earlier this year.
Lady In the Wild, based in Wheat Ridge, Colorado, offers a rotating seasonal menu, “featuring seasonal ingredients used at their peak and prepared in a way that highlights their unique flavor,” according to the food truck’s website. For the competition, Lady In the Wild will offer a Moroccan-spiced lamb meatball dish with pickled onions, Green Goddess hummus, Palisade peach jam and chimichurri.
MC2 Arvada-based Ice Cream Truck is best known for winning the Guinness World Record for most flavors on display at one time, with 985 flavors. For the Governor’s Plate, it makes a gluten-free Palisade peach and whiskey pecan ice cream with Stranahan’s Whiskey flavor.
Proto Taste, a food truck rental company, will compete with a thinly sliced grilled steak drizzled with Palisade peach steak sauce and topped with grilled onions, grilled peaches and melted Brie cheese, tucked into a hoagie bun from City Bakery in Colorado.
More about the Colorado State Fair: The Colorado State Fair is just a few weeks away. Find tickets, concerts and more here
Tickets for the Governor’s Plate are available at etix.com. Other fair tickets, including general admission, concert and rodeo tickets, can be purchased at ColoradoStateFair.com or etix.com, by phone at 1-800-514-3849 and in person at the Colorado State Fair box office. Concert tickets purchased through August 22, 2024 include general admission to the fair. Deals and discounts are also available.
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