next Food
Greasy,
Humdrum
Ballpark Food?
Think Again.
By Margaret rhodes
We first noticed the spicy tuna roll in
New York. Then came the fine wine in
Chicago, the fresh Dungeness-crabmeat
sandwich in San Francisco, the cedar-planked salmon in Seattle. In the past
three years, the foodie movement has
invaded the most American of venues:
the baseball stadium. The average cost
of an outing to a Major League Baseball
game has nearly doubled since 2000,
to roughly $50, with concession stands
easily outpacing merchandise as the
No. 2 grab for revenue. Catering companies want to nudge that bill even
higher, relentlessly upgrading ballpark
menus. Here are four mouthwatering
items hitting concession stands in 2011.
locaVore crepes
Safeco Field, Seattle
“We definitely hear from purists who are like, ‘It’s a
hot-dog-and-beer game, what are you doing?’ ” says
chief design officer John Sergi of the new creperie.
To help make the Parisian staple feel authentically
local, his team tapped Seattle-based Zoe’s Meats
for humanely raised, grass-fed beef; Washington’s
Beecher’s Handmade Cheese for cheddar; and
nearby farmers for produce.
Belgian fries
Miller Park, Milwaukee
Food styling: Susan Ottaviano
These aren’t your parents’ flash-frozen spuds.
Potatoes are cut and twice-cooked in front
of customers, then served with dipping cups
of Asian barbecue sauce and chipotle-lime,
roasted-garlic, and Sriracha aiolis. “We’re frying
them fresh to order to keep them hot and crispy,”
says chef John DiMartini, who drew inspiration
from visits to boutique eateries like New York’s
Pommes Frites and Milwaukee’s Café Hollander.
Photographs by dan saelinger
Vietnamese hot dogs
chorizo corn dogs
Petco Park, San Diego
To appeal to a more regionalized palate, chef
Ambarish Lulay didn’t have to look far: “San
Diego is like 20 minutes from Mexico.” His team
picked chorizo, a spicy ground-pork sausage,
battered, deep-fried, and garnished with cilantro
and lime aioli. “The corn dog is a great vehicle to
introduce new flavors to baseball, because it’s
something everybody knows,” he says. “To have
a surprise inside, it’s like an adult corn dog.”
April 2011 fastcompany.COM 55
