Ever dreamed of running off to join the circus? You still can. Tucked in the Northeast Kingdom of Vermont, a little over six hours from New York City, is a one of a kind summer camp and the base of the only touring tented youth circus company: Circus Smirkus. Over 100 campers and staff are on their campus at a given moment between mid June to August, busy mastering their ability to juggle multiple bowling pins or their gravity defying act on the trapeze. Naturally these campers work up an appetite. Luckily they have two Hot Bread Kitchen alum there to feed them three meals a day, like chicken and rice with lemon kale or spaghetti and meatballs, all made with locally sourced ingredients from nearby farms.
“Sometimes you don’t realize it’s good to get out of New York until you’re out of New York,” sous chef and Hot Bread Kitchen alum Hannah (they/them) reflected. They graduated from Hot Bread Kitchen in 2019 and got a job at Made Nice, an upscale fast casual concept by the team at Eleven Madison Park. But after a Stage 3 breast cancer diagnosis, Hannah decided to move back to their home state of Vermont to be near family. After going into remission, they found a variety of seasonal work, cooking at a school and a nursing home. When Hannah saw a job post for Circus Smirkus, a camp they themselves visited as a child, they were immediately interested and applied.
The first year they joined the team, Hannah realized that most kitchen staff were more invested in the end of year staff talent show than cooking. That first summer was a challenge. They recounted, “We are literally at the circus, but I do not want the circus in the kitchen.” When it came time to staff up for this summer Hannah knew they wanted to hire other Hot Bread Kitchen alums to make sure the kitchen ran smoothly.
“It’s great because we are from the same program so we have the same standards and expectations and everything we’ve been taught.” Hannah Gilbert, ‘19
After Hot Bread Alum Amber joined the staff, those shared standards helped the kitchen receive almost a perfect score on their food inspection this year. “Last year I got a 93 and I told them this year that we were only going to hire kitchen professionals,” Hannah proudly shared. “So they came, they worked very hard and we got a 99.”
Camp Director Jeff Mandell has been elated with the positive change their kitchen has seen since hiring Hot Bread Kitchen alums. “When you bring people from outside the circus community it’s always nice because it provides diversity of ideas and thoughts,” Jeff told us. “We’re super grateful for Hot Bread Kitchen.” When asked if he will be hiring other alums for next summer he replied, “Absolutely!”
Now with several weeks under their wings, the new kitchen team is already off to a great start. Together they feed an average of 100 campers and staff three meals a day and do it all out of a catering trailer they call the “Pie Car.” For Amber, ’23 (she/her), the fast paced work at Circus Smirkus is the ideal training ground for having her own food truck one day, her dream. In fact, when asked what her favorite moment of the program has been so far, she glowed about the day she cooked for all the staff by herself, “Cuz I got to do it by myself, they left me in charge and trusted me to get the job done.”
That trust and experience are what Amber is hoping will help her get to the next level when she returns to her job at Yankee Stadium after the summer ends. She, along with Hannah, balance different seasonal work to round out their year, making Circus Smirkus and the ecosystem that comes with it an appealing choice for the summer.
Outside of the kitchen, staff are provided with full room and board as well as enrichment activities throughout the summer. Circus Smirkus offers composting lessons, field trips to town, ice cream runs, and swim visits to the nearby lake. Circus Smirkus also helps coordinate all transportation, so members can get to campus without needing a car. For Amber, working at Circus Smirkus was the first time she left New York City. But Hannah’s favorite part of the summer? The talent show. “We finally get to go to the tent so we get to see all the kids that we’ve been feeding for the [summer] and we get to see all the things they’ve been training for or practicing while we’re in the food truck every day,” Hannah beamed, “I always feel satisfied, like I fed them enough. I did my job!”
