Detroit Lakes Food Truck Craze Doesn’t Shock Celebrity Chef Tyler Florence

(KDLM) – Food trucks have captured the hearts and taste buds of people around the world by offering unique, convenient, and flavorful culinary experiences, coupled with a sense of community and entrepreneurial spirit. From coast-to-coast, people will line up down the block at festivals, ball games and other events for the street food experience or to support one of their favorite local food trucks.

The same can be said for Detroit Lakes and the surrounding communities, where food trucks have taken off over the past couple of years. Community events like Trucks and Tunes, Food Truck Friday, and Food Truck Alley during Detroit Lakes Ligers games

Celebrity chef Tyler Florence, the host of Food Network’s ‘Great Food Truck Race’ joined Zeke and Mandy on KDLM last Friday, June 16th to talk about the upcoming season of the show, and says he isn’t surprised that food trucks have taken off in a community like Detroit Lakes.

“Isn’t that wild?” asked Florence. “Back when we started the Great Food Truck Race in 2010, we had a hard time gaining traction on the idea because food trucks weren’t nearly as popular ten years ago as they are today. And now, cities across the country really celebrate the street food culture that has come out of food trucks. We get four or five of them together and it really feels like a carnival. It’s a lot of fun…especially at baseball games, especially downtown, or in a park on the weekend. And that’s what’s fun about this: I feel like programs like Food Truck Race have really contributed to the success of what was once a niche but is now a whole genre of the restaurant industry.”

Chef Tyler adds that another part of the food truck experience is the adventure of hunting down your favorite food trucks and trying new things for a reasonable price.

“I think that turning the food truck adventure that you want to go hunt down for dinner with your family is a fun thing to do. We do it all the time with the crew of Food Truck Race. And the food truck culture flips around so often that there are always new start-ups, always new trucks to try. There are always so many new things to go explore and go check out.”

LISTEN TO ZEKE AND MANDY’S FULL CONVERSATION WITH CHEF TYLER FLORENCE HERE: