From dealing blackjack in Arizona to flipping pancakes in Kildare

From being a casino pit boss — or floor manager — in Arizona to selling American-style food from a converted horse-box in Kilcullen seems a bit of a journey, but Samantha Morton made that trip for a very understandable reason. She met and fell in love with an Irishman. They married around five years ago, but it wasn't a quick decision.

"We had been going back and forth for twelve years, and then Covid came, and after being separated for a year, he said I should really come here," she told me, sitting in Arizona-like heat at Kilcullen's Community Centre last week, beside her bright blue Fun Foods food truck. 

"I told him that had been my end plan anyway, and we got married." 

That also meant a shift from her background of dealing blackjack and poker and keeping tabs on the customer activities in her casino job, which she loved — "It never felt like work, you know." 

There are not exactly many openings like that in Co Kildare.

"But I also come from a wider hospitality trade. My father was an entertainer and had bars and clubs, and a B&B with a restaurant. When I came here, I started going to craft markets with a friend, and saw all these people selling food and crafts. I was, like, yes, I could do that." 

Starting small, with crepes and waffles, Samantha gradually extended her offerings to include savouries. American in style, the Fun Foods offerings include proper hot dogs ("they're jumbo, really for a treat more than a snack"), homemade pizzas with her own family secret sauce, nachos with optional toppings, and breakfast baps and bagels that are very popular all day. 

"We do protein balls too, healthy energy food that I make myself." 

Specials can include her own special take on a burger, or a barbecue special of pulled pork, beef or chicken.

The current Kilcullen location started about three years ago when Samantha hooked up with Kilcullen Community Centre to provide food to Sunday events like dancing competitions. 

"That was really successful, and we'd be rocking all day, with up to 1,000 dancers involved. This year, Enda O'Neill, manager of the centre, suggested we locate here through the weekend, complementing the centre's own Coffee Hatch. So we're trying to work out what the hours are with the most demand."

Samantha also offers a party service, where she sets up at a customer's home with a bespoke menu. 

"I can set up in the back yard, with the truck or a canopy, and the customer doesn't have to do anything. I provide the customised menu, and clean up everything afterwards. That's become very popular."

Living in Prosperous, Samantha likes the drive to Kilcullen. It's not remotely as far as it was for her to come from the Arizona casino world of gambling hustle to a somewhat less frantic working life in a "village grown bigger".