Her wedding would be Saturday. The ‘20’s themed gala at the Vox Theater was seamless, all she needed was to find the perfect dessert to top it off. Meghan “Meggo” Viers considered having food trucks cater, until a nostalgic wave hit her and her craving for Belgian waffles kicked in.
Immediately she called her dad, Russell Viers, explaining that all she wanted were the famous waffles they ate together in the central train station each time they visited Belgium.
His little girl had made a waffle request, nonetheless for her wedding day. Naturally, there was an obligation to perfect the recipe he had tried many times before. She knew her dad was both proactive and determined, but how possible was it to find and make waffles worth serving to everyone she knew? After tweaking and testing and tasting, then tweaking some more, he squandered her doubts.
“Meggo,” Russell said. “I waffle, I waffle well.”
“Oh, are you ‘The Waffler’ now?” Meghan responded.
And then it stuck.
Russell and his family used to be satisfied with popping a frozen Eggo in the toaster, but ever since their first trip to Belgium, their taste has been refined.
It took Russell ten years to finally carry out his plans of bringing Belgium waffles home to KC. He had always thought about it, even attempted it a number of times when he was especially inspired after a business trip to Belgium. But in the end it was Meggo’s request that would make him put waffles on the iron
In honor of her request – the waffles are no longer called waffles. They are Meggo’s. Meggo is to waffles as Big Mac is to burgers; not your average cheeseburger, not your average waffle.
Ten hours of preparing dough goes into the waffles before they are kneaded in a tub of special bead-like “pearl sugars.” After tearing the thick dough and rolling them into balls, they are placed on a scale to be measured so that each one weighs the same. The Belgian pearl sugars cement the thick fluffy golden waffle and caramelize over the outside while cooking on the griddle.
Even though the gem-like sugars sprinkled throughout each waffle are key ingredients, passion is the most important component according to Russell.
“You don’t spend ten hours making dough for the money, even our tip jar goes to charity… It’s about sharing our love of the waffles. It’s what makes our food truck different,” Russell said.
Junior Oscar Meth enjoys a bite of a freshly-made waffle
Junior Oscar Meth, known as ‘Son of The Waffler’, places each fresh masterpiece in a paper pocket. He hands it to the customer anticipating the same question they get from all first time visitors to the truck: “What about the syrup?”
Syrup. It’s a Meggo’s biggest enemy and most unwanted company. Oscar shades his eyes and whimpers through clenched teeth at the sight of a woman dousing her fresh Meggo in maple syrup.
“The waffles don’t need any syrup or toppings,” said regular customer, junior Lars Troutwine. “They have so much flavor by themselves.”
However, instead of dwelling on Aunt Jemima’s devilish appearance, they just await the wide eyes and pleased hum after the customer’s first bite. The satisfied reaction is the reason they return to the corner of Gregory and Wornall every weekend.
“Every waffle counts,”said junior Brooklyn Walters, Oscar’s girlfriend and a fellow truck worker. “If we slightly burn or undercook any of the waffles, we throw them out right away or eat them. Because a customer’s first bite of the waffle is when they realize how different they are.”
Steaming up in the small truck space, they press and roll the dough while simultaneously chatting with first-time customers and regulars from inside the metal base of the truck.
Since three months ago when the food truck got started, weekends have been nothing but family, Meggos and good vibes for Russell and Oscar. They spend time creating new flavors, setting up to sell and talking over ways to improve and expand the business. Sharing their love for waffles has rekindled Russell and Oscar’s relationship. Russell found a new trust in Oscar allowing him to make dough for the waffles on his own and run the setup while Russell leaves the truck to hit it off with customers.
Although the whole family and a few very close friends work on the truck, those two are always there. Together they create new flavors like maple bacon–their top seller– and come up with new ideas for the business.
“We meet in the labs, aka the kitchen, and think over new ways to make our truck even more personal,” Oscar explained.
They added a new item to the menu, Oscar’s idea of– waffle ice cream sandwiches. Through their recent partnership with Foo’s in Brookside, they will be able to add a dollop of ice cream between two thick waffles on sweltering hot summer days. And because Oscar had the idea, the ice cream sandwich will be called The Oscar.