8
BRONX TIMES REPORTER, APR. 15-21, 2022 BXR
Yankee Stadium’s game day culinary o erings
show the adaptation of ballpark food and fandom
Find you favorite milkshakes at Yankee Stadium
— Little Italy, Sunny Skies, Bronx Bomber and La
Dulce Vida. Photos Max Flatow
BY ROBBIE SEQUEIRA
Hours before the New York
Yankees took the fi eld Tuesday
— a 4-0 shutout win against AL
East foe, the Toronto Blue Jays
— Yankee fans fi ling outside the
stadium pregame mused about
their favorite ballpark food and
what they expected to eat during
last night’s game.
While Yonkers resident Paul
Jones, 38, is a traditional hot
dog and beer baseball fan, his
12-year-old daughter Olivia —
who is a vegan — was surprised
to fi nd out that she could have a
plant-based burger for her fi rst
father-daughter game on Tuesday.
“When I think of baseball, I
think of greasy burgers, nachos
and tons of beer,” Olivia told the
Bronx Times before Tuesday’s
7:05 p.m. start. “But it’s weird,
but also comforting to know I can
have my dietary need met here.”
On Tuesday, members of the
media were treated to the depth
of culinary offerings at Yankee
Stadium, which include new
partnerships such as NYC food
staple Halal guys in Section 321
and celebrity chef Marcus Samuelsson’s
Streetbird restaurant
in Section 112. For Samuelsson,
whose name and dishes have
been everywhere from Food Network
to PBS, there’s a certain
pride in having his restaurant in
Yankee Stadium.
“This is a lifelong dream, ”
Samuelsson told the Times. “Yankee
Stadium is one of those locations
where you don’t need an address
to know where it is. It’s that
iconic. And so, to have Streetbird,
which we started in Harlem
and turned national have a small
part to play in Yankee Stadium is
a dream come true.”
Samuelsson hopes that patrons
— whether longtime fans
or fi rst-timers — bring an open
appetite and rotate all of the stadium’s
offerings for those planning
to catch multiple Yankees
games this season.
“If you look at all the food offerings,
it’s all really great stuff
and I think it shows a lot about
the Yankees’ curiosity to highlight
the best of the city for their
fans who live in New York City
and elsewhere,” he said. “The
stadium should represent the
city, and whatever the city looks
like, should be brought into the
ballpark.”
On display in a private event
room of Yankee Stadium for sampling
on Tuesday were menu
items such as:
-Bacon Crunchburger from
Bobby’s Burgers: burger, bacon,
cheese, potato chips and Bobby’s
Sauce.
-Burrata Burger from City
Winery: Burratta cheese with
nut-free pesto, cabernet sauvigon
and balsamic reduction and arugula
on a toasted brioche bun.
-Beef Gyro Sandwich and
Chicken Platter from The Halal
Guys.
-Hot Bird Sandwich from
Streetbird: Boneless chicken
thigh with spicy chica shake,
slaw and pickles.
-Sumo Dog from Sumo Dog:
With Wasabi relish, pickled peppers,
spicy Mayo, Teriyaki sauce,
wasabi furikake, minced onion
and kizami nori.
These food options and their
vendors join a lineup of returning
partners that were new last
season including Applegate Naturals,
Chickie’s & Pete’s, Oatly,
Sumo Dog and Wings of New
York.
Before entering Gate 4, diehard
Yankee fan Monica Reyes
told the Times that one of her concerns
when it comes to ballpark
eating is the potential of spilling
sauces on her clean pinstripe
Aaron Judge jersey. She also said
that she used to struggle to fi nd
alternatives to red meat since becoming
a regular stadium-goer
since 2002, but has noticed how
the stadium has branched out in
recent years.
“I’ve noticed more things that
I think people who live around
here would like, because baseball’s
a long game and you need
some good food for all nine innings,”
the Claremont resident
said.