Sacramento Food Truck Chef Wins First Annual Top Street Chef Award by Food Network Correspondent

Chris Ford, Co-Founder at Stitches ‘n Dishes awarded the inaugural Top Street Chef title to Joseph Looza, Chef / Owner of the El Matador Mobile Mex food truck from Sacramento, CA in a competition held in Penn Valley at the Foods4Thought.org annual fundraiser on June 30, 2012.

Ford is a Media Correspondent for Food Network’s Eat St television show which airs on the Cooking Channel, and he is the co-founder of Stitches ‘n Dishes in Santa Barbara, CA.

“I’m humbled, because this award is a people’s choice; the attendees who tasted our food, not just a panel of judges,” said Looza.

More than 3,000 people attended the Foods4Thought.org annual fundraiser, and voted for the Top Street Chef over the course of a six-hour voting period. Looza amassed more than 30% of the votes in the competition.

“I was so pleased for Chef Joe,” said Patti Smith, Founder of Foods4Thought.org. “It was an honor to have a chef of his caliber at our event, and the guests were talking about his food all day.”

Looza claims the Top Street Chef title, a plaque, along with a $1,000 cash prize, and a commemorative chef’s apron. Food Network’s Eat St was at the event, and announced the winners on its blog site.

Terry Jeske, owner of VolksWaffle was announced as second place winner during the event, and claimed a $500 cash prize.

Jeremy Lopez, Chef / Owner at FuzionEatz in Sacramento, claimed third place and a $250 cash prize.

Ford recently spoke with Looza in an exclusive interview for Food Network’s Eat St blog site. Read the story here.

About Stitches n Dishes

Stitches n Dishes is a full service social media marketing and public relations company specializing in the mobile foods industry. A Food Network, Eat St blog partner, Stitches n Dishes knows street food, food trucks, county fairs, events and mobile apps. Consumers visit our food blog for mobile food news, reviews, high quality food photography, and videos. Stitches n Dishes also provides useful street food nutrition and wellness information, and recipes in our weekly blog series.

Food truck and food stand operators, and caterers trust Stitches \’n Dishes with their social media marketing, advertising and PR campaigns. Stitches n Dishes is a leader in integrated marketing, advertising and PR strategies for street food vendors, and specializes in SEO, social network, marketing, advertising and press release services.