Chef Aaron Crumbaugh Interview
November 26, 2012
•Le Cordon Bleu
•Le Cordon Bleu
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Success Stories
Aaron Crumbaugh
Graduate: 2009, Le Cordon Bleu College of Culinary Arts in Los Angeles
Degree: Associate of Applied Science in Le Cordon Bleu Culinary Arts
Current Position: Owner and Operator of the Wagyu Wagon in Chicago
From actor to chef to food truck owner, Chef Aaron Crumbaugh and his Wagyu Wagon lead the Chicago food truck scene.
Graduate of Le Cordon Bleu College of Culinary Arts in Los Angeles, Chef Aaron Crumbaugh is no stranger to the kitchen, both high-end restaurant kitchens and mobile kitchens found on food trucks. Prior to putting his food truck, the Wagyu Wagon, on the streets of Chicago, Chef Crumbaugh worked as the executive chef at the Lobby Restaurant in the Chicago Peninsula Hotel and as the chef at his own catering company, Home Cooked Catering.
First, I mastered making Chef Boyardee.
As a child, Chef Crumbaugh’s mother expected him to make dinner at least once a week. As a result, he learned to cook at a very young age, even if it was Chef Boyardee that he learned to make first. Cooking simply became engrained in him.
But Chef Crumbaugh didn’t pursue the culinary world right away. Out of high school he obtained a degree in advertising and then moved to Los Angeles where he worked as a model and actor. All throughout his schooling and acting career he continued to cook for fun, but it wasn’t until one particularly disappointing week of auditions that he thought hard about his next career move.
“I had to look at my life and decide on the one thing I loved to do,” he said. “The answer was easy: I loved to cook.”
He explained that he always knew he wanted to be in business for himself, but he didn’t imagine himself at a restaurant or on a food truck, at least not until he enrolled at Le Cordon Bleu. Chef Crumbaugh credits Le Cordon Bleu for helping him transition into the culinary field as a result of the numerous networking opportunities provided.
“Networking has been huge for my career,” he said. “While competing in a Fire Chefs event in Los Angeles, I met Chef Sean Hardy, the executive chef at the Belvedere in the Peninsula Hotel in Beverly Hills. As a result, I ended up at the Lobby Restaurant in the Peninsula Hotel in Chicago. You can’t underestimate the networking possibilities in culinary school or in any other environment.”
Deciding on the Wagyu Wagon
The Wagyu Wagon hit the Chicago streets in August 2011, but the idea came to Chef Crumbaugh almost a year before.
“So many of my catering clients were asking for Kobe and Wagyu beef dinners, so it just came to me,” he said. “Gourmet burgers from a truck could work well, and it does.”
Now that Chef Crumbaugh has established the Wagyu Wagon business he is looking to franchise the truck “from North Dakota to Mexico.” He explained that for him building a truck was incredibly challenging, but now he would like to lend a hand to someone interested in the business model.
The Pros and Cons of Food Truck Ownership
Chef Crumbaugh prefers working in a food truck over a restaurant for a few reasons: the freedom to travel the city, the flexible schedule, and the instant feedback from customers.
“In a restaurant you only hear that you overcooked the steak,” he said. “I’d rather get the compliments.”
But, of course, with the advantages come the disadvantages. One difficulty for Chicago food truck owners is the exhaustive list of rules put in place by the city, which includes the restriction of not setting up within 200 feet of an establishment that serves food, whether it’s open or not.
“In Chicago the biggest challenge, even bigger than the city’s rules, has to be the weather,” Chef Crumbaugh said. “This isn’t Southern California. We get a cold fall, six months of winter, a rainy spring, and two months of a very hot summer. There are a lot of days where I just can’t go out, including those summer days when its 105 degrees in the truck.”
Despite the challenges, Chef Crumbaugh enjoys what he does to the fullest. He still caters many private events and sets up on the street regularly. You can find his current location by following his Twitter account at @thewagyuwagon.
Career success will depend largely on the effort put into studies, job search efforts, experience and attitude. Le Cordon Bleu does not and cannot guarantee employment, and the experience of the alumni is not representative of all students.