2012 OC Fair to feature series of Chowdown Cooking Competitions

Orange County Fair Press Release
Media/Press Contact: Robin Wachner, Communications Department (714) 708-1543

2012 OC Fair to Feature Series of Chowdown Cooking Competitions

Chowdown Competitions will include Food Truck Chefs, Restaurant Chefs and Home Cooks

Costa Mesa, Calif. (July 13, 2012) – The culinary competition is hot at this year’s 2012 OC Fair (July 13 – August 12), which will put the talents of food truck chefs, home cooks and professional chefs to the test every Thursday in a series of OC Fair Chowdown competitions. Participants will compete for culinary glory as well as a prize.

This year’s OC Fair Chowdown lineup offers four exciting competitions, including:

• Food Truck Chef vs. Restaurant Chef – July 19, 3:30 p.m. (Exhibit Promenade).  The Burnt Truck, a regular at the OC Fair’s Food Truck Fare, will kick off this year’s Chowdown series and compete against renowned chef Pascal Olhats, whose French-inspired cuisine has become a staple at several of his OC restaurants.
• Food Truck vs. Food Truck – July 26, 7:30 p.m. (Food Truck Arena).  On July 26, two popular Food Truck Fares will race to the title in this year’s Food Truck vs. Food Truck Chowdown, featuring chefs from Fairgoer favorites Baconmania and Dogzilla Hot Dogs.
• Pro Chef vs. Home Cook – August 2 and August 9, 5 p.m. (Exhibit Promenade).  For the last two Thursdays of the Fair, The Lime Truck’s Jason Quinn, whose culinary success led to the opening of OC’s The Playground, will compete against OC home cooks James Boyd (August 2) and OC Weekly’s Dave Lieberman (August 9) in the OC Fair’s first-ever Pro Chef vs. Home Cook Chowdown. Both competitions begin at 5 p.m.

Food Truck Fare will also be returning to the OC Fair this year every Thursday from Noon-10 p.m. in the Livestock area. This year’s Food Truck Fare will feature the cuisine of Fairgoer favorites The Grilled Cheese Truck,, Chunk N Chip, Seabirds, Dogzilla, Baconmania, Grill Em All and more! Food Truck Fare is free with Fair admission and prices vary per truck.Food Truck Fare at the 2012 OC Fair will feature:

• Thursday, July 19: Grill ‘Em All, The Grilled Cheese Truck, The Burnt Truck, Baconmania, TJ’s Woodfire Pizza, Piaggio On Wheels, Chunk N Chip, Seabirds
• Thursday, July 26: Baconmania, The Burnt Truck, Lobsta Truck, Komodo, Piaggio On Wheels, Waffles de Liege, The Lime Truck, Dogzilla
• Thursday, August 2: Dogzilla, The Burnt Truck, Baconmania, Piaggio On Wheels, Komodo, White Rabbit, The Bakery Truck
• Thursday, August 9: Grill ‘Em All, Ragin Cajun, Crepes Bonaparte, The Lime Truck

Food trucks are subject to change without notice.

The 2012 OC Fair, themed Home Sweet Home, is July 13 – August 12 and will bring 23 days of food, rides, exhibits, animals, music, action sports and fun, as well as the Super Pass, Toyota Summer Concert Series at the Pacific Amphitheatre, The Hangar and Action Sports Arena. The Fair is open Wednesday-Sunday. Concert tickets, action sports reserved seats and single-day general admission are available for purchase online at ticketmaster.com or from the on-site Box Office. The popular Super Pass, which offers the passholder 23 days of admission, is available for purchase from any onsite box office or ticket booth.

The OC Fair & Event Center is located off the 405 and 55 freeways at 88 Fair Drive in Costa Mesa. For more information, please visit ocfair.com, become a fan at Facebook.com/OCFair, follow us at twitter.com/ocfair or call (714) 708-1500. Also, download the the free OC Fair iPhone and Android apps. Get excited for the 2012 Fair! Watch our new commercial on YouTube.