Barclays bringing in rotating cast of food vendors
BY BEN BRACHFELD
It’s basketball season again,
and (vaccinated) fans are once
more fi lling the stands of the
Barclays Center to watch their
beloved Brooklyn Nets — and
then frequent the many concessions
the arena has to offer.
This season, Barclays Center
is trying to keep things
fresh with a new approach to
food an beverages by bringing
in local vendors to run stalls
for a limited engagement, as
a means of demonstrating
Brooklyn’s culinary and cultural
diversity.
Barclays Center honchos
compared their new food stall
section, Brooklyn Market, to
Williamsburg’s Smorgasburg
and DeKalb Market — essentially
an experiment where
they’ll be rotating out different
local vendors every six-toeight
weeks throughout the
season, showcasing the best of
Kings County’s food options.
“Every month-and-a-half
to two months, we’re gonna
rotate somebody else in,” said
Chris Giacalone, vice president
of hospitality at Barclays’
concession provider Levy Restaurants.
“To prevent food fatigue
from the guests, but also
just add variety. It’s like food
trucks in the arena.”
Current installations at
Brooklyn Market include lobster
COURIER L 34 IFE, NOVEMBER 5-11, 2021
roll favorites BK Lobster,
handmade dumpling caterers
Destination Dumplings, and
Ghanaian plantain impresarios
Kelewele. Also stationed
at Brooklyn Market is School
Grounds, a stall operated entirely
by students from the
Food & Finance High School;
the students are responsible
for developing branding and
menus, sourcing ingredients,
and preparing and serving
food during games.
Local restaurants have
featured at Barclays since
it opened in 2012, and various
Brooklyn favorites have
passed through the arena.
Along with Brooklyn icons
like Nathan’s, the arena is
showcasing popular haunts
like Gowanus BBQ joint Pig
Beach, Nene’s Taqueria of
Bushwick, and Franklin Avenue’s
Crabby Shack. Concession
gurus say that they are
looking to represent the entire
borough and all the diversity
that entails, and have
launched a “Supplier Diversity
Program” aiming to bring
minority-and-women-owned
businesses into the vendor
fold.
“We’ve been trying to be
a little more inclusive in how
we’re going about choosing
vendors, and making sure
we’re giving everyone an opportunity,”
said Livio Velardo,
Barclays’ executive chef.
“Brooklyn is very diverse, and
we want to showcase everybody,
not just a certain few.”
Similarly to the basketball
team, Barclays has “scouts”
running across Brooklyn
trying all sorts of grub to determine
who might get a coveted
concession stand for hungry
fans to patronize during
games.
“We’ve just had people
scour the neighborhoods and
try to fi nd things they really
like,” said Velardo, currently
in his second season as executive
chef at Barclays after a
tenure at Balthazar, a French
brasserie in SoHo.
The Nets, seen as a title
contender the past two years,
are sitting on a 2-3 record
as of Oct. 29, and lost a game
against the Miami Heat on
Wednesday which Brooklyn
Paper attended.
Though it has two superstars,
Kevin Durant and
James Harden, on the court,
and a roster of both young and
experienced role players, the
team is unquestionably missing
the presence of Kyrie Irving,
who is ineligible to play
home games because his unvaccinated
status violates
New York City’s rules around
entering indoor public places.
BY LEOCCIANO CALLAO
Brooklyn’s home team unveiled
their new threads on
Monday, as the Nets presented
fans with their ‘City Edition’
jerseys for the 2021-22 NBA
season.
This year marks the 75th
anniversary of the NBA, and
Monday aligned with the anniversary
of the fi rst-ever
NBA game, which prompted
the Nets and other franchises
to pay homage with brand new
on-court looks.
The new Nets jerseys were
designed to incorporate the
different eras of the franchise
— from the New Jersey Americans
of 1967, to the Brooklyn
Nets fans know today (the New
Jersey Nets moved to Brooklyn
in 2012).
This year’s jerseys contrast
the Nets classic blackand
white look, instead featuring
the team’s origins with the
red, white, and blue that were
formerly worn by the Americans
of yesteryear.
Other features were also
included to pay tribute to previous
eras and milestones. The
fi rst is the stars and stripes design
— paying tribute to the
iconic 1972 jersey that defi ned
the team’s look for nearly two
decades. The jersey also features
the classic Nets chest
panel wordmark.
The inspiration from this
year’s City Edition jersey
came from the navy-blue away
jersey worn by the New York
Nets in the American Basketball
Association.
The side panel of the new
jerseys, though, carry the logo
from the New Jersey Nets era
that went to two straight NBA
Finals (2002 and 2003) and won
four division titles.
A red side panel with a herringbone
pattern was inspired
by the hardwood fl oors in the
Barclays Center, paying tribute
to their current home of
Brooklyn.
“Like many of today’s
Brooklynites, the Nets grew
up in the suburbs and eventually
transitioned to the big city
in search of a bright future,”
said John Abbamondi, CEO of
BSE Global, parent company
of the Brooklyn Nets and Barclays
Center. “The looks of our
past will forever shape who we
have become and we are proud
to honor our history with this
season’s City Edition collection.”
Courtside eats!
Nets unveil new ‘City Edition’ jerseys
BROOKLYN
Nets turn blue
Nets star Kevin Durant poses in the
new jerseys. The Brooklyn Nets
(Above) Part of the new Brooklyn Market at Barclays Center. (Left) Pork,
beef, and edamame dumplings from Destination Dumplings.
Photos by Ben Brachfeld