The Great Food Truck Race Season 12 winner: A sweet bite of victory

While Hollywood might be filled with dreams, the Great Food Truck Race Season 12 winner earned their sweet victory in a flamboyant fashion.

Making a full circle in this Food Network competition, The Great Food Truck Race Season 12 winner found that Hollywood can be the place where dreams come true. With two very good days, one food truck surged to victory. Did you correctly predict who was victorious?

Going into The Great Food Truck Race finale, the Lunch Ladies and Mystikka Masala were fairly even. Looking back at the Food Network show’s weekly competition, the Lunch Ladies won three weeks. Mystikka Masala won a week, too. In most cases, these two food trucks were often the top two teams.

Since the food trucks were heading back to where it all began this season, Los Angeles, it was a full circle moment that these food trucks who were battling for the title. In episode one, the Lunch Ladies edged out Mystikka Masala for the first victory of the season. Could the same result happen again for the finale?

To kick off this episode, the two food trucks had to create a two-course lunch that incorporated two wines. With the winery in the background, the dishes needed to include a chardonnay and a cab franc. Thinking about these two wines, the flavor profiles could work well in a variety of dishes. It was slightly interesting that both teams choose the same wine for the same courses.

The challenge was broken into a savory/sweet two-course meal. The winner of each course would get an extra $200 towards the total. Going into the challenge, it seemed likely that the Lunch Ladies could pull out a lead, but nothing is ever predictable in a Food Network show.

The Lunch Ladies presented first. Their savory course was a white wine lobster beurre blanc over halibut with a succotash. In many ways, this idea was a restaurant, plated dinner. It was elevated in both presentation and flavors.

Unfortunately, the chardonnay was a little lost in the beurre blanc. Since there was no mention of the chardonnay’s flavor profile, maybe the richness of the beurre blanc overpowered the chardonnay. Depending on the butteriness of the chardonnay, the sauce might have been too butter forward.

As for the Lunch Ladies dessert, they did a version of poached pears with the Cab Franc. This idea is a classic dessert. The use of the Barbados cream was a nice nod to their food truck style. Unfortunately, that big piece of star anise was overpowering. Still, their dessert was elevated and showed their food knowledge and cooking talent.

Mystikka Masala stayed true to their style. They used the chardonnay in a curry glazed chicken, which was served over a rice. The chardonnay was used in the glaze and in re-hydrating raisins for the rice. Using chardonnay twice was smart. Anyone who watches Food Network knows the more that you use a secret ingredient it increases the chances to win.

For their dessert dish, Mystikka Masala created a triple berry fried angel food cake. Looking at this dessert, it is a little confusing. The wine was used with the berries, but the touch of jalapeno in the sauce was confusing (although no one mentioned it). Also, why was there marshmallow in this dessert?

As the Tyler Florence commented about the dishes, it seemed that one team had a definite edge. In a unlikely twist, Mystikka Masala won both the sweet and savory challenge. Just looking at the visuals, the Lunch Ladies pushed themselves in these dishes. Maybe because they were too far removed from their food truck vibe that it didn’t earn them the win.

With a $400 lead, Mystikka Masala was riding high. Thinking back to previous The Great Food Truck Race finales, the challenges often predict the overall winner. Could the same scenario happen again?

Of course, Tyler has more twists and turns for these food trucks. For their next challenge, the food trucks must make each other’s signature dish. The team who sells the most signature dishes will earn an advantage.

Taking a page from the Bachelor Kitchen notebook, Mystikka Masala only sells the Lunch Ladies’ dish. That decision clearly wins them the advantage. Unless they had sold nothing, they were guaranteed the win. Sometimes smart game play is the way to earn a victory.

By earning another win, Mystikka Masala was able to pick their selling location on day two. They chose the south side of LA (aka Hollywood Blvd) and the Lunch Ladies got the north side of LA. Since selling is often the key to victory, it seems that Mystikka Masala was definitely on a roll.

With only one day left to sell, The Great Food Truck Race Season 12 winner seemed to be almost pre-determined. Still, another challenge awaited the food trucks. Since there is a little sweet with every victory, the food trucks had to create two desserts based on the flavors in a tiramisu.

One dessert was going to be a low cost dessert and the other one would be an upscale dessert. Similar to the first challenge, $200 per dessert could be earned. Would doughnut be the key to another The Great Food Truck Race title?

It was clear that the Lunch Ladies were going to make doughnut holes. This dish has earned them many victories. In some ways, the food truck who makes doughnuts wins. Has anyone ever determined why doughnuts and food trucks are such a winning combination?

Throughout the second day of selling, it doesn’t appear that people are buying the upscale desserts. Even the sales in general seem to be a little slow. While this food truck competition is about being a good food truck business, the competition plays a large role. All those challenges can add up to a victory.

With two plates sitting in front of Tyler, the food trucks are ready to reveal who won the $50,000 prize. For the tiramisu challenge, the Lunch Ladies won with their doughnuts and Mystikka Masala won the upscale, which made that challenge a wash.

Still, Mystikka Masala was up $400. Even with a slow second day, that dollar advantage was large. While the Lunch Ladies hustled and sold everything on the truck, it might not be enough to win the title.

With their golden spoons in hand, Mystikka Masala revealed that they are The Great Food Truck Race Season 12 winner.

In the end, only $259 was the difference in totals. That number shows that the differences in the two food trucks was slight. Like previous seasons, the game impacts the outcome.

As another The Great Food Truck Race season ends, many people are wondering if the show will have some different twists and turns for future seasons. While people enjoy the entertainment factor, is there a way to make this competition a little more engaging? Although a virtual The Great Food Truck Race seems unlikely, much Food Network programming is going in that direction. Maybe it could happen.

Where or when will Tyler say let’s get rolling? Everyone will have to wait to see.

Did you agree with The Great Food Truck Race Season 12 winner? What do you think of the challenges impacting the competition?