Grilled cheese with icing or cinnamon bun with cheese? (Courtesy Centerplate)
As NHL teams freeze ice for 41 regular-season home dates and NBA arenas lay the hard maple floors (except in Boston, where you find red oak) for the same number of games, concessionaires must cook up something new, something that entices fans to explore the concourses fresh for the season night in and night out.
We’ve combed the menus across the 50 arenas hosting NHL and NBA action — nine arenas host both, and Los Angeles’ Staples Center has a second NBA team — to find five new in-arena concession items worth exploring. We’re admiring from afar at the moment, but they’d certainly make for a fine food tour.
Olilo, $14
Capital One Arena,
Washington, D.C.
Aramark
Aramark has played up celebrity in the revamped concessions at Capital One Arena. From David Chang’s Fuku spicy fried chicken sandwich to Maria Menounos’ Maria’s Greek Kitchen Falafel Waffle all the way to Alex McCoy’s Lucky Buns and Cat Cora’s Olilo. And that’s where we stop, with Cora’s create-your-own greens and grains bowls (right) and gourmet flatbreads, allowing fans to have plenty of say in how the Iron Chef’s signature Mediterranean flavors fill their plate.
Loaded Spicy Buffalo Fries, $10
Fiserv Forum, Milwaukee
Levy
The new Fiserv Forum gives us a beer-infused sausage with cheese curds served in a toasted buttered split-top roll and a mixture of nacho offerings (we say yes to the mac and cheese nachos or chicharrones nachos, especially). You can find spicy tuna poke or a brat burger slathered in beer mustard, caramelized onions and wild arugula, but what we most want to taste from Levy are the loaded spicy buffalo fries. This option dusts fries with buffalo seasoning and adds blue cheese fondue, smoked bacon, blue cheese crumbles and scallions.
Grilled Cheese Cinnamon Bun, $8.50
MTS Place, Winnipeg
Centerplate
Sure, Centerplate offered up new Jet Dog options, adding toppings from bacon bits to pierogi pieces for this season, but what about that grilled cheese cinnamon bun? Chefs worked up something a bit uncommon for the folks in Winnipeg. Taking a cinnamon bun, they cut it open and filled it with medium cheddar cheese, grilling it up for a new perspective on grilled cheese.
Penguin Roll, $8
PPG Paints Arena, Pittsburgh
Aramark
Aramark has been getting creative in Pittsburgh this offseason, from a Dahntahn Dog that takes a Smith’s hot dog and tops it with braised short rib, bourbon barbecue sauce, smoked onions and pickled jalapenos all the way to the new buffalo turkey sandwich and Firebird, which mixes buffalo chicken dip with toasted panko chicken tenders, blue cheese and hot sauce all draped across waffle fries. But we’re most interested in dessert, where the Penguin Roll maneuvers chocolate ice cream, white chocolate sauce, chocolate chips, whipped cream and even gold flakes into one sweet treat.
Chef Joe’s Chicken and Beignets, $14
State Farm Arena, Atlanta
Levy
The remake of State Farm Arena extends to Levy’s work with the concessions. Sure, you have B’s Cracklin’ Ribs, Chef Rusty’s Fried Shrimp Po-Boy and Old Lady Gang’s Soul Sandwich with fried chicken, collard greens and mac and cheese on a brioche bun, but we’d like to focus on Chef Joe’s Chicken and Beignets. The hand-breaded Spring Mountain Farms fried chicken includes beignets topped with powdered sugar and cayenne honey.
If the list were longer, we’d also include Talking Stick Resort Arena’s Colossal Loaded Fries and Rings from Levy, which mix fries with beer cheese sauce, bacon, chives, sour cream and beer-battered onion rings for what should become a Phoenix favorite; Salt Lake City’s specialty hot dog contest from Levy at Vivint Smart Home Arena, which includes fan voting during the preseason for a new specialty hot dog; Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia offering up a Vegetarian Poke Bowl from Aramark with red quinoa, roasted peppers, red onion, broccoli, carrots and cherry tomatoes; Cleveland’s Quicken Loans Arena and Aramark creating The 216 Dog with mini pierogies, sauerkraut, shredded cheese and jalapeno peppers; and Gila River Arena in Glendale, Ariz., and Levy with their new cantina bowl with either chicken tinga, beef brisket or pork carnitas served atop Spanish rice, black beans, cabbage salad and pico de gallo.
