Take me out to the ball game. Take me out with the crowd. Buy me some peanuts and Cracker Jack Chicken & Waffles.
Sounds right. That’s today’s ballpark food scene. For that matter, all types of sports and entertainment venues have upped the ante to keep the crowds coming. What will get them off the couch? Good food, great concepts and sustainable initiatives.
It’s always the food, which is why Venues Today instituted the annual Silver Spoon Awards. Our 2015 winners, listed on the right and profiled in the following pages, are another impressive, innovative group.
Winners are selected by a panel of judges enlisted by Venues Today, including our Venues Today Women of Influence and Generation Next winners over the past decade, all of whom were chosen by our readers as visionaries and leaders, and our VT staff.
Several of our venerable judges complained again that there is no taste test in a food contest. We’re working on that.
The competition was tough, as always. Robyn Williams, Portland’5 Centers for the Arts, Portland, Ore., a Venues Today Woman of Influence, was among several that declared the voting “fun.” Wesley Cullen, Coliseo de Puerto Rico, San Juan, wrote: “Now I want Indian food served on a compostable frisbee.”
There were more than 20 nominations this year and it was a very close race in the Best New Concept category in particular. Be assured the nominees that did not make the final round will be a deep and valued source of future stories in Venues Today and our weekly e-newsletter, VT Pulse.
Disclaimer: Do not read any further without having supper first. — Linda Deckard, Publisher
BEST NEW CONCEPT
Shaun Beard, Senior Vice President, SMG Savor, The University of Nebraska Omaha (UNO) Athletics
Nineteen | 08: The University of Nebraska Omaha (UNO) Athletics selected Savor to provide food and beverage service in the Baxter Arena, the new on-campus home of the UNO hockey, basketball and volleyball. Savor will provide fans and guests a taste they can customize to their own cravings. Permanent locations include “Nineteen | 08” named for the year that UNO was founded, and Omaha’s 67th Street Kitchen. “The Crease” celebrates the Mavs’ Hockey program and their recent appearance in the NCAA Frozen Four with the all-beef hot dog, chicken tender & fry basket, and fresh popped popcorn. The “Blue Line Bar” is named after Blue Liners, booster club members who have supported the hockey team since inception. It will be Omaha, wall to wall.
BEST SUSTAINABLE INITIATIVE
Tampa Bay Lightning and Amalie Arena, Tampa, Fla.
Hydroponic garden: Amalie Arena went vertical and built a deck over the cooling pipes on the east side of their downtown Tampa arena, just outside the loading dock door. The garden now produces the equivalent of an acre of fresh vegetables and plants due to 125 towers of stacked planting pots. There are more than 3,000 growing spaces among the 125 towers of planting pots. The hydroponic garden, which cost approximately $30,000, has a ROI of less than a year. The closed system captures the unused water and nutrients at the bottom of the tower and drains back into the 900-gallon tank below the deck. This method makes the garden 90 percent more water efficient compared to an open water system. In the gardens early stages, Amalie Arena sought help from a local hydroponic farm, Urban Oasis, to help grow the finest produce. The garden now grows lettuce, tomatoes, cucumbers and herbs.
BEST NEW MENU ITEM
Affonso Jefferson, Spectra Food Services & Hospitality General Manager at Blue Wahoo Stadium, Pensacola, Fla.
Cracker Jack Chicken and Waffles: Spectra Food Services & Hospitality at Pensacola Bayfront Stadium created a new home stand special for games against the Mississippi Braves. This unique dish is a delicious blend of sweet and savory. Chicken tenderloins are crusted in Cracker Jacks and fried to golden perfection, then served over vanilla butter brushed waffles and topped with maple honey mustard syrup. The Portside Grille stand serves this decadent dish for $10 and it is worth every penny.