To celebrate the season 11 premiere of "Top Chef: New Orleans" Bravo has teamed up with Grub Street to send out a food truck giving away free beignets and po' boys for lunch in New York City.
According to the New York Daily News, "Top Chef" judges Tom Colicchio, Padma Lakshmi and Gail Simmons were at selected locations serving up Southern specialties. The menu also featured fried shrimp po' boys, roast beef po' boys, jambalaya and red beans with rice.
"We were throwing around ideas and said, 'What's the one thing New Yorkers can't get here? And we thought, po'boys from Domilise's," Grubstreet editor Alan Sytsma told the Daily News of the delicious collaboration.
Dedicated "Top Chef" fans reportedly waited up to two and a half hours to get a taste of the Big Easy. The truck made stops outside the New York Times Building, Columbus Circle, Time Inc. and Union Square, where hungry foodies were willing to wait up to two and a half hours.
"I'm a Louisiana native so I've been following the food truck all morning!" Zac Denham of Astoria told the Daily News. The 26-year-old said he waited up to two hours on his day off to get his hands on a shrimp po'boy .
"I'm just ready to eat!" Denham said.
Chelsea native Lisa Ganguzza, 28 said she did not mind taking a half hour lunch break to wait in line.
"I went to school in New Orleans so I think it's really cool that they're bringing actual po' boys to New York for everyone to try," Ganguzza said. "It's definitely just as spicy and delicious as it is in New Orleans."
For customers who wanted to get free lunch, they followed @BravoTopChef on Twitter and the Facebook page, where times and locations were announced throughout the day.
Hello, Union Square! We're here with your favorite #NOLA cuisine from the #TopChef Food Truck! Get it while it lasts!
— BravoTopChef (@BravoTopChef) October 1, 2013
Po Boys, Jambalaya and Red Beans and Rice... the flavors of #NOLA in NYC! Stop by Union Square to grab some grub from the #TopChefFoodTruck! — BravoTopChef (@BravoTopChef) October 1, 2013
For every meal served, donations were made to the New Orleans Center for Creative Arts.
