After a health food venture left him out of business and in debt, a Little Rock chef is seeking redemption on The Great Food Truck Race.
The cooking show’s eighth season premiered on the Food Network on Sunday night, and by the end of the first episode, Donnie Ferneau Jr. was back on top — or at least somewhere in the middle.
Tasked with making a beignet worthy of New Orleans, seven food trucks produced flavors ranging from a standard strawberry to shrimp and grits.
Ferneau’s own entry, a chocolate cheesecake beignet topped with strawberries and powdered sugar, landed his food truck, The Southern Frenchie, in fifth place. Also competing with Ferneau are his wife, Meaghan, and sous chef Amanda Ivy.
The chef came to the capital city more than 15 years ago and has since won the Diamond Chef Arkansas competition multiple times, the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette previously reported.
The show’s second episode airs at 8 p.m. Sunday.