Aramark brought in local Chefs Bryan Caswell and Ronnie Killen’s latest venture, Texas Smokehouse, as part of a $1.8-million renovation to the main concourse at Minute Maid Park.
REPORTING FROM KANSAS CITY, MO. — Panelists at the Association of Luxury Suite Directors’ conference and tradeshow here, July 6-9, have found their culinary match. It’s a concept that doesn’t just apply to premium areas. In order to reintroduce excitement to traditional food and beverage options, venues are bringing in celebrity chefs to revamp the menus and experience.
“Chef collaboration is huge right now,” said Bill Wilson of Food Service Matters. He added that collaborations are especially successful when the chef “has some skin in the game or has some local credibility. If it’s just a chef throwing his name on a menu, it’s just marketing dollars you’re throwing away.”
With chef partnerships showing signs of increasing success, it all comes down to one ever-important question: How do you pick the right celebrity chef for your venue?
A local background can go a long way.
Levy Restaurants has brought in 55 local vendors at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, N.Y., to showcase the best of the borough with unique items nestled among fan favorites. Some of the most successful partnerships include Brooklyn Burger, which has outlets at six sections throughout the arena, and Brooklyn Bangers & Dogs with locations in three sections. At Safeco Field in Seattle, Centerplate tapped local Chef Ethan Stowell to create a menu that pairs well with regional craft beers, reinventing traditional pub items to boost both food and beer sales.
Chefs who have received national renown can be a great fit, especially if they got their start locally. Delaware North Companies Sportservice brought on celebrity chef Andrew Zimmern and his AZ Canteen to Target Field in Minneapolis in 2013. Though now he’s most well known for his Travel Channel show, “Bizzare Foods with Andrew Zimmern,” the chef started his career in the Twin Cities.
“Regional brands make perfect sense in most of our properties because they mean something to the fans,” said Richard Hamilton of Delaware North Companies Sportservice. Instead of bringing in many national brands, he said the company will create their own branded concepts and introduce them nationally.
McKenzie Rowley, premium seating & suite sales manager at SMG NRG Park in Houston said that a partnership with local chef and owner of Underbelly Chef Chris Shepherd has been so successful that it’s expanding.
“Last year it was mainly in the suites, but this season his influence is touching the menu at club levels, too,” said Rowley. Chef Shepherd’s signature menu items — including braised goat and dumplings, butter-braised bratwurst and caramelized onions on a pretzel bun, and slow roasted pork belly on an Asian steam bun with pickle garnish — are served at unique action stations on the club level.
Chef Bryan Caswell stepped up to the plate at Minute Maid Park in Houston.
Aramark, the exclusive F&B provider at NRG Park, has also worked with Texas-based Chef Grady Spears for the past three seasons.
“We’ve done some great chef partnerships with local-sourced food and local chefs that will then actually prepare those items fresh in front of fans,” said Aramark’s Alison Birdwell, who added that the Houston partnerships featuring local sausage have been very successful. With such success at NRG Park, the company extended the idea to one of its other Houston properties. Aramark brought in local Chefs Bryan Caswell and Ronnie Killen’s latest venture, Texas Smokehouse as part of a $1.8-million renovation to the main concourse at Minute Maid Park.
Michael Plutino of Food Service Matters said that bringing in local chef partners drives revenue, with guests willing to pay up to 20 percent more for an authentic experience.
“Smart companies out there are quickly realizing there’s a tremendous added value to bringing in restaurateurs that the community is familiar with,” Plutino added.
Just because a chef makes good food, it doesn’t mean he or she will be a good fit for every venue.
“We’ve met with a lot of chefs and the match just isn’t there,” said Birdwell, who added that the signature item and the chef's background has to appeal to the community.
Though a pedigree such as a James Beard Award can be prestigious, Birdwell cautioned to not be blinded by certifications. Aramark has also had tremendous success bringing in local food trucks to static locations at facilities connected to colleges. The trend has also paid off at venues such as convention centers, with Aramark doubling the number of food trucks at the 2014 iteration of NAMM at Anaheim (Calif.) Convention Center in 2014 over the year before. When done correctly, it’s a win-win. Aramark arranges a revenue split with the food trucks, and patrons enjoy having unique options and a plethora of cuisines, thereby spending more money.
In addition to food trucks, another way to incorporate celebrity or local chefs without committing to any particular one is to set up a guest chef program.
“Guest chefs can set up tables in premium suite and club areas and introduce a food of the day and do tastings,” said Hamilton. After all the talk about innovation and celebrity, Hamilton brought the room back down to earth when he broke the culinary experience down to its simplest concept.
“Our group continually tries to define what innovation means, but at the end of the day, food and beverage is what we eat, how we eat it and where,” he said.
Interviewed for this story: Alison Birdwell, (215) 409-7403; Richard Hamilton, (716) 858-5588; Michael Plutino and Bill Wilson, (404) 941-2271; McKenzie Rowley, (832) 667-1400