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Circus EatsA circus travels on its stomach, and Ringling Bros. Barnum & Bailey keeps rolling things to Pie Car chef Michael Vaughnby Staff on Aug 18, 2010THE OTHER DAY, I had lunch with the circus. The Ringling Bros. Barnum & Bailey folks are in town Aug. 18–22 at HP Pavilion, and they invited me to dine aboard the circus train in the historic dining car known as the Pie Car. No, an absurd number of clowns were not packed into the tiny car, nobody spun their dinner plates on sticks, and despite the name, no one threw any pies. But if there are any feats of incredible human strength and flexibility going on this car, it’s chef Michael Vaughn. He’s the man responsible for providing breakfast, lunch and dinner to a cast and crew of 350 people as they travel between shows from one end of the country to another in a car that seats 32. “It’s not a circus trick,” he says with a laugh. “It just flows better than you expect.” Vaughn grew up in Louisiana, and the Creole influence in his signature dishes is strong. Crawfish étouffée, jambalaya and gumbo are among his favorites to make, but good old-fashioned barbecue ranks high, too. For lunch that day, I was treated to Vaughn’s tomahawk steak, so named because the enormous rib bone attached to the equally massive steak makes it look like a weapon for He-Man. Vaughn wielded it expertly—spicy, juicy and tender, the steak’s only fault was that it was too big for me to finish. Ringmaster Jonathan Lee Iverson, who also joined us for lunch, says he doesn’t make it to the Pie Car much since he’s usually having meals with his family in their private living quarters, but when asked about his favorite dish, he doesn’t hesitate: “The French toast. I will get up for the French toast.” Although the train uses mainly commercial suppliers, Vaughn makes it his priority to shop locally whenever possible. He says he’s always happy to be in the San Jose area because that means that fresh produce in large quantities can’t be far. One of the greatest challenges—and pleasures—that a circus chef faces is creating a menu that is as diverse as the people on the train. He loves getting requests from performers for dishes from their hometown, such as chicken Stroganoff, moussaka and feijoada, and if they want to assist him in the kitchen to show him just how their mother used to make it, they can. One of Vaughn’s greatest concerns is for the people he feeds to be able to get a taste of home when they’re far away, and it’s this concern that makes the Pie Car more like a family dining room than a restaurant. There’s another Pie Car—Pie Car Jr.—that gets towed out to the venue site in order to feed the cast and crew while they’re working away from the train. Vaughn’s next project is to have this car revamped and better equipped to feed all of the people who perform every night from one city to the next. And although he’s no trapeze artist or lion tamer or motorcycle stuntman, in many ways, Vaughn is the man responsible for making the Greatest Show on Earth as great as it is. Barnum’s Funundrum! Aug. 18–22 HP Pavilion, San Jose by Staff on Aug 18, 2010 |
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