“I’m not a pastry chef by any stretch of the imagination,” explained Joe Ditri, Delaware North Sportservice executive chef at Nationwide Arena, Columbus, Ohio. “I can make desserts, but it’s not my strong suit.” Even so, the Hockey Puck—a chocolate cake shaped like its namesake—has become one of the arena’s signature menu items. According to the chef, the venue sells an average of 120 of the treats per game.
It’s a simple item that Ditri and his team use a chocolate cake mix for, but the process is surprisingly time-consuming. The cake is baked on sheets for 20 to 30 minutes and then covered in frosting. After wrapping the cakes in parchment, the team then freezes them before cutting them into their round shape. Ganache is made in-house, then used to glaze the pucks, which are allowed to set for a half hour. They get one more coat of ganache and set for four hours and, finally, are ready to serve with a variety of sweet sauces and whipped cream. To top it all off, he adorns them with a white chocolate disk with the National Hockey League Columbus Blue Jackets’ logo.
The dish was obviously inspired by the game, of which Ditri explained he’s always been a fan. “I’ve been into sports ever since I was little, so there’s nothing like getting to watch a baseball or hockey game for free every day while you work,” he said. “Yeah, there’s a lot of stress, but there’s nothing like being in an arena with 15,000 or 18,000 people.”
“The volume is crazy. It feels like the concrete’s shaking,” he added. “It’s an electrifying experience, being here.”
Contact: Joe Ditri, (614) 246-3685
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Delaware North Sportservice
Executive Chef Joe Ditri
Nationwide Arena, Columbus, Ohio
Delaware North SportserviceExecutive Chef Joe Ditri admits that he “didn’t know anything” when he started his culinary career at a restaurant called Fox & Hounds in Michigan.
“I learned my love of cooking from my parents,” he said. His parents owned a catering business and, he added, their large family made it feel like every meal was a large party. He joined Sportservice in March 2004 at Detroit’s Comerica Park. In 2007, he moved to Columbus to helm the culinary team at Nationwide Arena, where he’s been ever since.
“We’re competitive by nature, as chefs,” he said of working at the arena, explaining that he aims to challenge his chefs every day. “We want to compete with the other chefs in the company, the chefs in the area—we just strive to do everything to the best of our ability and the freshest we can do it.”