Halinka’s Polish Eatery is celebrating its first anniversary in Memphis. Yet some people are still not aware there’s a local place to get Polish fare, including pierogis and kielbasa aka Polish sausage.
“I’m the first and only,” says the food truck owner Magda Dutkiewicz Vaughan. “That’s what I say in my advertising.”
“Halinka” is the “term of endearment” for her mother, Halina Dutkiewicz. Her mother’s likeness “with her blonde hair and beautiful blue eyes” is the business logo. Her father, Jacek K. Dutkiewicz, drew the caricature.
Born in Poland, Vaughan and her parents, both chemical engineers, moved in 1998 to Memphis, where her dad got a job at Buckeye Technologies. Her mother worked, but she was also a homemaker. “Since I can remember, I was always cooking with her in the kitchen,” says Vaughan. “My very first memory was making the soft cookies that were stuffed with nuts and raisins. Something that became my specialty.”
About 14 years ago, Vaughan was doing consumer behavior research and market analysis in Nashville when she was diagnosed with cancer. “I just had this inkling that I needed to step away from the corporate world. I was no longer getting fulfilled,” she says. She had considered opening some type of food-related job one day, and this seemed like the right time. “If I’m going to do this, I’m going to do this now.”
Instead of a brick-and-mortar restaurant, Vaughan wanted a “mobile eatery” so she could bring her food “to the people.” And she knew whatever food business she opened would be named after her mother. “My mom’s my muse. She taught me everything I know.”
Using her market analysis skills, Vaughan researched and discovered that the Memphis food truck industry basically consists of “three key categories: comfort food, barbecue, and Mexican or Latin American.” She felt she could introduce people to a different culture with cuisine they might never have tried before.
Vaughan opened her food truck last April at Wiseacre Brewing Company OG on Broad Avenue. They sold out of everything that day.
Her menu is simple: pierogis and kielbasa. Pierogis “came over to Poland from Asia in the 1200s. They are these delicious dumplings stuffed with basically anything seasonal. What I make for my truck is the mushroom kraut cabbage, the minced meat (triple-ground meat) and potato and cheese pierogis.”
Her kielbasa is a “double-smoked sausage that is incredibly juicy. It has this snap.” She imports her sausage from Chicago. “Anything I don’t make myself, I import.”
Instead of French fries, her sides are cabbage and beets. “That delicious smoked savory cabbage. And not pickled beets. These are boiled and grated and have a sweet and sour punch to them.”
For dessert, Vaughan sells her Polish crepes, which are made with “soft, delicate, and creamy” farmer’s cheese. “I add hazelnut chocolate. I love Nutella. Or apples and cinnamon.”
She prepares her food at a commercial kitchen, Memphis Kitchen Co-Op. She also teaches, having held her first Polish cooking class in Memphis at Fawn restaurant.
Since they moved to Memphis, Vaughan and her family have been involved with the Polish American Society, and she also founded the non-profit Vaughan Family Foundation two years ago. Their first fundraiser was “Beat the Heat For the Homeless,” and raised money to buy water bottles and misting fans for the underprivileged during the summer. That in turn inspired Vaughan’s plans to have a Polish festival in Memphis one day.
Her food truck bears the colors of the Polish flag. “Heavy on the white and red. If you look closely, you’ll see the outline of sausages and pierogis on it.” Vaughan is assisted on her truck by her husband, Victor, and her son, Charlie. When they hand out the dishes, they say, “Smacznego,” which means, “Enjoy the taste.”
Vaughan, who is now cancer-free, believes food “unites people.” It “makes people sit down at the table together and smile.” And, she adds, “I want more people around me to smile. And it’s happening. It’s exciting.”
To find Halinka’s Polish Eatery, visit halinkaspolisheatery.com or follow the business on social media.
