Just scanning the list of food items available at CityPark Stadium is guaranteed to make you hungry. BBQ pulled-pork sandwiches. Smashed hamburgers. Balkan beef wraps, which include onions, tomato, feta cheese, cabbage, and garlic and chili sauce. Chicken, pork or potato tacos. An Italian sandwich with ham, roast beef, salami, provolone, lettuce, tomato, pickle, onion “and a whole pepperoncini.” Mac and cheese with jalapeno cheddar crumbles, smoked Missouri bacon jam, and candied jalapeno drizzle. Fully loaded St. Louis or Chicago style hot dogs. And we’re not even close to being halfway through the menu!
At many stadiums across the country, there are usually at least one if not a few specialty or locally produced offerings. But by and large almost every stadium we know of relies mainly on big concessionaire companies to supply the balance of the game-day menu, with a heavy emphasis on the so-called “fan favorites” of hot dogs, nachos, pretzels and peanuts.
Many of these items are generic-type offerings, without much pizzazz. Some even tend to the bottom line of the desireable curve, like the pre-popped popcorn that you can see being brought into the stadium well ahead of game time in huge bags.
And then you have CityPark, and its all-local food lineup. According to the team there are 25 different providers staffing the 52 food or beverage outlets (a number that includes suite and club services), and they all come from in and around St. Louis, and all have some kind of special taste that most likely you’ve never encountered inside a stadium before. Especially not all at once.
On the night Stadium Tech Report visited CityPark, we were able to briefly speak with “Chief Flavor Officer” Gerard Craft, who owns and operates a range of restaurants in St. Louis and has a resume that includes awards like Food & Wine Best New Chef, Food & Wine Innovator of the Year, and 2015 James Beard Foundation Award-winning Best Chef: Midwest, among other accolades. But what’s his favorite thing to do these days?
“Being at the stadium is awesome,” Craft said, taking a brief break from supervising some of the stands. “This is more fun than running my restaurants.”
Craft, who said he contacted the ownership team about participating when he heard of CityPark’s plans, brought to the party local connections and a level of food savvy unusual for a stadium. Team execs said Craft’s presence also made it easier to recruit and sign up local food providers, who could speak with someone who knew their business language, as opposed to a stadium executive.
“Having a chef [leading things] provides a higher level of trust for restaurant people,” said Matt Sebek, chief experience officer for St. Louis City SC.
What Craft said he likes about his stadium post is the fact that the team isn’t in it solely for the profits, but is more about building an operation that truly improves the fan experience.
“The team’s owners were behind us [the restaurant providers] with every crazy idea we had,” Craft said. “Every [restaurant] owner who is in here is so dedicated — we all want to make this a legacy for St. Louis.”
So that’s why a stroll around the concourse at CityPark is a food voyage unlike that at any other venue. Where else can you find all of the above offerings, plus local ice cream, local craft brews, crab rangoon, empanadas, Filipino pork belly, bao sliders, pizza slices, fried samosas and vegetarian tofu wraps? All served by the owners who created the offerings? The answer for now, is nowhere else.
Next: Part 4: Provider close-up: Farmtruk
This post is one part of our seven-part report on the concessions operations at St. Louis City SC’s CityPark. To go to the start of the report, click this link. You can also download a PDF of the full report, with more photos.
