Meet Cirque du Soleil chef Chris Pierce

Chef Pierce with Chef Ruff(see more in slideshow below)

To get ready to see Kooza, not as in the show, but the Kooza kitchen I got in Cirque du Soleil mode with a little help from makeup artist Laura Bisio over at MAC in the Cherry Creek mall.

As Cirque du Soleil’s writer and director, David Shiner says about Kooza, the latest production now on tour at the Pepsi Center Grounds, “The tone is funny, light, and open.”

And after meeting with Chef Chris Pierce who travels across country to keep the performers and crew well nourished, I’d say the same thing about him. Pierce is funny, he keeps their meals light, and he openly welcomed me into their large mobile kitchen to share what is on the healthy menu.

Chef Pierce’s response to how many calories a day the artists need, “It varies for each performer, but they do eat a lot.” And looking across the prep tables, I’d say he was right. Yet the quantity equals quality. Tables were lined with salad stations, fresh fish, and lean cuts of organic meat. He said they go through 15 pounds of fish a day and 20 pounds of red meat a day. When asked if they can have dessert? “Yes, they can. They mostly crave heart healthy dark chocolates.”

Pierce, previously a chef in Boulder’s Q's restaurant is glad to be back working in Colorado due to the abundance of farmer’s markets and organic farms. Next stop, Santa Monica where he already is planning to have a man on foot scouting ahead before they get there for the freshest of produce, fish, and meat.

I asked if he had any special secret foods that would allow us Kooza fans to contort into such limber positions. His response, “No, that’s hard work and genetics.”
Come taste for yourself, as the show runs through September 27. Bon appétit to the chef of the acrobats!