With the food truck business attracting restaurants right and left, from large chains to the smallest independent, a real pro in the category — Michael Vaughn, the chef on the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey circus train — has astute advice to offer.
The circus has been providing a moveable feast on trains since 1872, when the P.T. Barnum Circus first put its entertainment on the rails. Ringling Bros. has two rail-based shows, the Red Tour and the Blue Tour, each running a mile-long train with about 40 passenger cars and 20 freight cars.
The kitchen-dining area, called the Pie Car, has spawned its own food truck, Pie Car Jr., that moves to the tent for staff foodservice before, during and after shows.
The Pie Car Sr. provides foodservice for between 270 and 350 crew members from a 9.5-by-87-foot car, half of which is diner-style seating and the rest refrigeration, storage and kitchen. The Pie Car Jr. is only 22 feet long and provides a limited menu. When the train is moving, meals are served 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
Vaughn, chef on one of Ringling’s Pie Cars, helped design the new aluminum marine-quality kitchen on his Red Tour train. He serves 2,500 to 3,000 meals a week, including homey fare for entertainers from areas as widespread as China and Morocco.
A food truck, “is a lot work,” Vaughn said. “There are a lot of hours involved.”
Staffing a food truck requires owners and employees to be personable, flexible, talented and even mechanically apt. “You may find yourself changing a tire,” Vaughn advised.
Watch Michael Vaughn’s advice on food truck hiring
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