Executive chef Robert Flowers shows off his All-Star Meatball Hero.
MLB All-Star Game, July 16 (All-Star events occurring at Citi Field July 14-16)
Citi Field, New York
Aramark
Attendance
Attendance is expected to be between 43,000 and 44,000 per day. The stadium holds 41,922, but Tom Funk, Aramark general manager at Citi Field, expects that the venue will be issuing standing-room only tickets. “They will be three of the busiest days Citi Field has seen in the last five years,” he said.
Staffing
Aramark will use 2,500 employees each day of the event, with about 800 of those being cooks, and 80-100 of them being visiting managers from other Aramark venues.
Menu
The Aramark Citi Field culinary team curated menus to both highlight local flavors and cater to diverse tastes, with New York favorites such as a Nathan’s hot dog ($6), pastrami sandwich ($11.50), pastrami dog ($7.75) and The New Yawkah sandwich available alongside items like a Greek gyro ($9), lobster roll and, debuting at the game, the All-Star Meatball Hero ($12). There will be 108 permanent food and beverage locations and Aramark will add 45 portable concession stands for All-Star Weekend. For popular concession items, Aramark expects to serve about 37,000 hot dogs, 1,700 orders of nachos and 12,500 burgers.
Executive chef Robert Flowers explained that the meatball hero recipe is a combination of his family’s meatball recipe and his wife’s family’s centuries-old tomato gravy recipe, and they are anticipating it will be a hit at the game. Meatballs are simmered in the gravy for three to four hours before being served. “I gained 10 pounds because of it,” Funk said.
Catch of the Day, the venue’s seafood location in partnership with Dave Pasternack of New York restaurant Esca, serves fish tacos, fish sandwiches, shrimp po’boys and lobster rolls, which Funk expects to do well. “[They] get overshadowed by some of the higher volume items like the hot dog, which is fantastic, but it’s one of those areas that once people have it … they fall in love with it.”
Suite items will include a trio of mac and cheeses (pancetta, lobster and three cheese), Long Island striped bass, a LaFrieda steak sandwich, Grandpa’s sweet Italian sausage, raspberry cheesecake doughnuts, fried chicken with warm pizzelle and maple butter, and more.
Preparation
The Aramark team at Citi Field began planning last year, “the day we heard … that we were going to be hosting the event,” according to Funk. Actual food preparation began about two weeks ago. “That’s going to be 24 hours a day until the actual event.”
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Pastrami dogs.
Aramark handled food and beverage service at last year’s All-Star Game, held at Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City, Mo., so the team at Citi Field flew out to take part in the event in order to glean experience and ideas. “It was definitely helpful and eye-opening,” said Funk. He added that they learned that traffic patterns and guest eating habits differed from those of a normal baseball game. “At the All-Star Game … [people] will come in earlier than we typically see … eat, drink and be merry earlier, and go to their seats. And they really don’t leave their seats until later on in the game.”
During the game, guests tend to stay in their seats. “I equate it to football,” Funk said. “ At the home run derby, however, he expects that there will be higher levels of business. “It’s a lot more relaxed. … It’s more of what we’re accustomed to seeing.”
Commemorative items
Aramark will have a full line of all-star logo packaging in food and beverage areas, including souvenir cups and popcorn buckets. In the suites, fans will have the opportunity to purchase wine glasses etched with the all-star logo, and an all-star branded bottle of wine. “Only 1,500 cases were created,” Funk said. The wine—the Mid-Summer Classic Red—is only available at Citi Field and a few local outlets. In concessions, guests can purchase wine in a to-go wine glass made of hard plastic. “[Wine] has grown over the last several years, to the point that we’ve added it to several concessions outlets because of the demand.”
On the retail merchandise side, Funk said they will provide “the biggest selection of all-star merchandise out of any venue there is … whether it’s local sporting goods stores or what have you.”
Special Event
Aramark will also provide food and beverage service for an exclusive, invitation-only event in coordination with Major League Baseball. They are expecting about 5,500 people to converge on the stadium’s parking lot three hours before the All-Star Game for a special, seasonal dinner and beer garden.
“To go from somewhere, where a week prior people were parking their cars to go to a Mets game, to the following week [where] we’re producing and preparing and serving food for 5,000 people, is pretty cool,” Funk said.
Interviewed for this story: Tom Funk, (718) 672-4032; Robert Flowers, (718) 507-3663