Centerplate's beef tenderloin sandwich at Belmont Park, Elmont, N.Y.
Crowds descended on Belmont Park in Elmont, N.Y., on June 6 for a historic Belmont Stakes. The number of attendees didn’t fully reflect the excitement of the race, however, as attendance was capped at 90,000.
“It was obviously a smaller crowd this year,” said Peter Matra, Centerplate regional vice president. “NYRA capped the attendance at 90,000, so I don’t think there was that mass of humanity that there was last year or years past when a Triple Crown chance was there. I think the flow of the crowd and people’s ability to put a bet in, get a hot dog, get a beer [or] go to the bathroom was a lot better on both our and NYRA’s parts. Eliminating the crowd was the best thing that NYRA did, and I think that vastly improved the guest experience from Triple Crown years past.”
That isn’t to say that food service wasn’t a challenge. Centerplate operates at less than 5-percent capacity for normal race days throughout the year, according to Matra. “When you go from less than 5-percent capacity to 150-percent capacity … it’s treated as its own entity, and there’s a lot of special planning. … There’s nothing ordinary about what we do in Belmont Park.”
Planning for the race began immediately after last year’s event in June. Management and staff met weekly, for sometimes three or four hours each week. About 80 visiting managers and chefs were brought in for the event itself, while approximately 1,300 employees made up the Centerplate staff at the Belmont Stakes. “It was a large undertaking,” Matra said.
That undertaking encompassed service throughout the park, for the entire day on Saturday. While crowds may have been smaller, Centerplate increased points of sale for food, beverage and retail merchandise by more than 30 percent, had 250 percent more hawkers selling beer and water, and increased managers, supervisors and wait staff by over 60 percent.
“It went extremely well,” Matra said. “We met all of our goals and executed a great event. I think everyone who came walked away happy, obviously seeing history, and enjoyed a good experience.”
The Belmont Jewel.
Sales from the event even bled into the next day, when the track was open. “People were still asking for [Belmont Jewels] on Sunday,” Matra added. The Belmont Jewel, the event’s signature cocktail, sold for $15 each and $20 with a commemorative glass. While the Kentucky Derby’s mint julep continues to be the most famous Triple Crown drink, the Belmont Stakes has been pushing its creation since its debut in 2011. Official sales numbers were not available at press time, but 7,200 commemorative glasses for the cocktail were made available. “We put a lot of time and effort into marketing them and doing the right point of sale merchandising.”
Beyond drinks, Centerplate’s food and drink service spanned more than 100 locations including the Clubhouse, Grandstand and Backyard. Featured items in premium spaces included hand-carved sandwiches, artisanal flatbread pizzas, beef tenderloin, arepas and manja pasta.
Centerplate Executive Chef Bel Miller placed special focus on local ingredients, such as cheese sourced from East Coast dairy producers Grafton Village Cheese and R&G Cheese Makers, bread from Brick City Baking in Jamaica (Queens), and alcohol from local companies like Brooklyn Brewery, Sanarac and New York Distilling Co. Food trucks were also on hand in the Backyard area and near the top of the stretch, with about 30 local vendors.
Of course, the most popular items were the classics, “old reliable staples—hot dogs,” Matra said. “Soft pretzels were another big item and, obviously, beer.” Centerplate sold a mix of craft beer and big labels.
“I think that all the major things that we wanted to improve from last year we did,” Matra concluded. One challenge the Centerplate team faced was the volume of staff, getting staff members checked in and at their proper locations. “It’s really difficult to get 1,300 people, for one day a year, and get them in the building, get them checked in, get them to their locations.” Matra said that they will continue to work on improving that aspect of service moving forward.
He added, “Any challenges we may have faced in years past, we worked really hard to improve upon those and we accomplished our goals of making sure those challenges were fixed.”
Interviewed for this story: Peter Matra – contacted via conference call with Paul Pettas (ppettas@kwittken.com)