From the stadium that has brought fans fried grasshoppers since 2017, Seattle’s T-Mobile Park and hospitality partner Sodexo Live! now take the national stage by hosting the 2023 MLB All-Star festivities. And there’s going to be plenty more than grasshoppers on the menu, with Seattle-centric culinary options expanded for the event.
With a focus on the Pacific Northwest, Meagan Murray, Sodexo Live! general manager of T-Mobile Park, says to expect “some of the country’s best seafood, culturally influenced cuisines, craft beers, wines and so much more.”
That all comes alive with the type of fare available at the Seattle stadium. The seafood-centric venue includes everything from a Dungeness crab pizza from MOTO Pizza, a local eatery with month-long waitlists outside the stadium, a footlong Dungeness crab roll topped with tobiko caviar and Ivar’s serving up a northwest wild Alaskan salmon chowder.
But seafood isn’t the only featured item on the menu at a stadium less than a mile from the saltwater of Puget Sound. The All-Star Stromboli from Ballard Pizza Company comes alive with coppa, finocchiona, bresaola, mozzarella and momma lil’s tomato gravy and the All-Star Tripleta Sandwich features house-smoked brisket, pork and ham. The furikake pretzel mix from Marination offers a sweet and spicy glazed pretzel with furikake and chili flakes.
For something even sweeter, popular Pacific Northwest ice cream maker Salt & Straw partnered with local Metier Brewing Company for a limited-edition Pale Stout and Cracker Jack Ice Cream.
“We’re thrilled to showcase a diverse roster of local vendors and one-of-a-kind cuisine to fans coming from around the globe,” says Catie Griggs, Seattle Mariners president of business operations. “This week is about highlighting the best of the Pacific Northwest.”
Prepping for back-to-back sellouts of 47,000 fans for the Home Run Derby and All-Star Game, along with events throughout the weekend, has been in the making for some time. “We’ve been preparing for this since the host city was announced two years ago,” Murray says. “Everything is just magnified.; it feels bigger. We’re prepared though.”
The local culinary team gets support from the national Sodexo Live! group, complete with chefs with experience at Super Bowls, Final Fours and Formula One events. They expect to have 1,500 workers on hand Monday and Tuesday, about double the amount for a typical Mariners home game.
When it comes to the menu, Murray says the key for updating the All-Star options requires looking at what they do best and then figuring out how to incorporate as many Seattle suppliers and ingredients as possible.
That also means stepping up the normal offerings. The Dungeness Crab Roll is typically a top-selling item, but for All-Star it gets the addition of tobiko caviar. Murray says the garlic fries serve as a popular Seattle item, but for All-Stary they have a limited-edition garlic fry burger from Lil Woody’s. The crab pizza from MOTO Pizza is special for the event and the Salt & Straw flavor is a limited-edition collaboration just for All-Star and found only at the stadium.
“We can never have enough garlic fries and Dungeness crab on hand, of course,” Murray says about the popularity of those items throughout the season. “It’s been a great year so far and the team is competitive, which always helps. Ivar’s, Marination, Catch by Just Poke, Din Tai Fung, these are some of the other popular partners that fans come to know and love. There’s truly something for every palate.”
Incorporating new special-edition offerings, Murray says, also provides a nice test run for Sodexo Live! as they plan for the NHL’s Winter Classic in January.
Murray says they aren’t sure how fans’ buying patterns will change between Monday and Tuesday evenings, especially compared to a typical Mariners game, but they are expecting people “will come excited to eat and drink with us, just as they do for Mariners games all season long.”
The event will keep the value menu alive for the cost-conscious fans and incorporate the specialty items for the fans looking to splurge. “We know that the gameday classics will sell well, and we also know that many fans are coming to Seattle for the first time, so they’ll look to explore and venture out of the norm a bit,” Murray says. “We’ve got something for everyone. This is what we do. We know what it takes and we’re ready.”
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