PUEBLO • Stoke Pizza successfully defended its title on Tuesday when it was crowned the winner of the Colorado State Fair’s Governor’s Plate competition.

The Pueblo-based food truck took on four competitors during the fifth annual competition, with its wood-fired pizza — made with local meat, Colorado honey and green chile to give it a little kick — coming out on top.

“I’m speechless,” said Bre Latka, who runs the food truck with her husband, Wes. “It never crossed my mind that we could win the Governor’s Plate two years in a row. This is amazing.”

In addition to winning the Governor’s Plate two years in a row, Stoke Pizza has garnered the 2023 People’s Choice Award, which is voted on by the event’s attendees.

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“(Bre Latka) gets extra points for doing the competition with a baby on her chest,” said Colorado Springs-based celebrity chef Brother Luck, referring to the couple’s 3-month-old son.

Created in 2021 to highlight Colorado’s agricultural products and the chefs who turn them into delicious meals, the Governor’s Plate rules dictate that competing trucks register as Colorado Proud, meaning that they use food and produce that has been raised, grown or processed in the Centennial State.

Gov. Jared Polis was unable to attend this year’s competition, so Luck stood in as the head judge, happy to serve as “interim governor for an hour,” he said.

“The pizza was phenomenal, but all the food was amazing,” said Luck, owner of Four by Brother Luck in Colorado Springs.

“Everyone had their own personality and stayed true to who they were as a food truck. I think it’s so important when you’re cooking a dish to be authentic to who you are.”

This year’s People’s Choice Award went to Arvada-based MC² Ice Cream Truck for its honey-cheesecake ice cream served in a honey cornbread cone.

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Here’s a list of this year’s participants, along with their competition entries:

Mother Smothers (Pueblo): Pueblo green chile cheesy and creamy corn dip served with corn chips.

Stoke Pizza (Pueblo): Wood-fired pizza made with ingredients from local Colorado farmers, including Colorado Proud honey. 

MunchKings (Pueblo): Enchilada featuring corn tortillas topped with local green chile. 

Mollie & Co (Pueblo): Honey-sweetened green chile and peach ice cream served with dark chocolate. 

MC² Ice Cream Truck (Arvada): Honey-goat cheese cheesecake ice cream swirled with freeze-dried corn streusel, served in a honey cornbread cone and finished with shattered Pine Nut brittle and Bing cherry pearls. 

Despite a late rain shower that temporarily drove the competitors and attendees under a tent for shelter, the event was a resounding success, according to Kate Greenberg, Colorado’s Commissioner of Agriculture.

“The imagination and creativity of food truck chefs from across Colorado never ceases to amaze me,” Greenberg said. “This year we were treated to amazing showcases of the sweet and savory options that could only be produced here in Colorado.”

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