It started with anticipation and ended with regret. C5 judges at Charlotte Food Fight

When John DeMario asked if CharlotteFive wanted to help judge Saturday’s Charlotte Food Fight food truck competition, my answer came quickly: Absolutely.

My C5 co-editor Katie Toussaint, writers Lauren Levine, Richard Brooke and Vanessa Infanzon and I huddled around a picnic table Saturday at Stumptown Park in downtown Matthews on a surprisingly beautiful afternoon as one of four preliminary judging tables for the fourth-annual Charlotte Food Fight. (My wife, Courtney, filled in for Katie on the non-veggie dishes … which was pretty much all of them.)

The event benefits Relay for Life Charlotte and works like this:

– Each of the food trucks makes food with a predetermined ingredient. This year it was Cloister Honey.

– Each of the four judging tables samples food from a handful of food trucks.

– The highest-rated food truck from each table goes to the final round, which is judged by one representative from each table.

– There’s a winner for best overall, best use of honey and people’s choice.

Over nearly three hours of judging, I went through what I’m calling the Five Stages of Food Truck Competition Judging.

(1) Anticipation.

Free food! Free food from all of my favorite food trucks! How could this day get any better?

So many thoughts raced through my head: Which trucks would our table get? I hope they bring enough of the food. I’m hungry. Let’s get this thing started!

(2) Bliss.

THE FOOD WAS SO GOOD. Our table got dishes from:

– Hart’s Soda Shop: Watermelon lemon honey soda.

– JJ’s Red Hots: “Buzzed City,” a hot dog topped with chili, slaw, bacon, caramelized bourbon honey onions and bourbon honey sauce. (They brought us half of a dog.)

– Street Spice: Korean fried chicken (“KFC”) sandwich.

– Wingz on Wheelz: Chicken wings (a wing and a drumette) with homemade blue cheese and buttermilk ranch dressings, and hand-cut potato chips.

Yes please. I’d like some more.

(3) Inner turmoil.

We were provided with judging sheets to rate each dish on presentation, taste, creativity and memorability, and also on the use of the special ingredient.

But how do I pick a favorite? It was all so good, and so different. I struggled to compare a nice, refreshing soda with a loaded hot dog. Eating delicious food shouldn’t be this stressful.

(4) Fear.

The hot dog from JJ’s Red Hots won the CharlotteFive table, but I enjoyed every dish we received. I ate every bite, with the exception of a handful of chips. I was fat and happy.

Then it dawned on me: I have to judge the final round. Four more dishes. And the longer I sat at the table, the more full I got. Oh no. I had made a terrible mistake.

(5) Regret.

The food at the final table.

– King of Pops: A blackberry chipotle honey popsicle.

– The TIN Kitchen: Cloister chipotle honey-glazed scallop taco with peach ginger salsa and Thai Orchid petals. (Yes, the flowers are edible.)

– What the Fries: Pork belly and short rib burgers seared and basted with bourbon and honey. (They gave us a quarter of the burger.)

– That same delicious dog from JJ’s Red Hots.

And, with the exception of the popsicle (only because it was huge and I had to start judging other things) I ate all of it. How could I say no to that food? You can’t expect me to eat one bite of that scallop taco or that burger. I’m only human.

Then I sat there, staring at my empty plates, full of regret. That’s too much food, too quickly. I had a food baby. I made a terrible mistake, again. I probably should have done like some of my fellow judges, who just ate a bite or two from everything.

Oh well. Might as well wash it down with another beer from D9 Brewing.

The winners

The TIN Kitchen won best overall and best use of honey, winning the Charlotte Food Fight for the fourth straight year. King of Pops won people’s choice. (My scorecard had What the Fries and JJ’s Red Hots tying for first, with The TIN Kitchen one point behind.)

But the real winners were the judges, who got to gorge themselves on delicious food. I’d be more than happy to go through all five steps again next year.

Photos: Richard Brooke; Katie Toussaint; Corey Inscoe

This story was originally published May 23, 2016 at 12:00 AM.