It was the pretzel that left all others in a pile of stale dust. Light glinted off the golden brown crust, its curves radiant with a light sheen. Tiny nodes of salt littered the surface. It was perfectly chewy, with crunchy pops of salt giving way to a warm, soft center.
The twisty masterpiece was the culmination of a week of training with a chef in Salzburg, Austria, followed by six months of development in the United States. It was a level of dedication and care to detail one might expect from a Michelin-starred restaurant. All the airline miles and effort were spent so that there will be fresh pretzels waiting for you at the food concession stands at the new Intuit Dome in Inglewood.
“Very few arenas have taken this approach to move forward with doing a handmade product like this until now,” said Steven Maak, senior vice president for 310 Provisions, the group behind the food at Intuit Dome.
Maak, along with CEO of Halo Sports and Entertainment Gillian Zucker, 310 Provisions executive chef Hagan Whelchel and senior executive chef Adam Brown recently walked me through the food items at the new stadium, scheduled to open on Aug. 15.
A dedicated team of 10 people is responsible for mixing, rolling, shaping, proofing, baking and topping the pretzels by hand. Every detail at the stadium, from the pretzel rolling to the maximum amount of time it takes to travel the route from your seat to the bathroom to the snack bar and return (it’s 123 seconds, according to pedestrian modeling) has been studied and debated.
When the Intuit Dome opens its doors, there will be 21 food and beverage markets; 31 kitchens; 26 pizza ovens; 140 fryers; six clubs with individual menus; 24 food entrees (excluding packaged food); 14,000 square feet of completely electric prep kitchen space and a food and beverage staff of 850 people.
All the concession stands will feature a touch-less payment system. You download an app on your phone, walk into any stand and walk out with whatever you want.
“The goal for the dome from a food and beverage perspective is to focus on speed, quality and consistency, so we prided our selves on every single detail,” said Jessica Cesta, 310 Provisions vice president of hospitality strategy . “Every sauce. The packaging. It’s all for the ultimate, best experience for every fan in the building.”
The following is a breakdown of the food items at the new venue, in addition to the stellar pretzel mentioned above:
Buttered popcorn and butter toffee popcorn
When it came time to choose a popcorn, Zucker reached out to Golden State point guard and popcorn expert Steph Curry for help.
“Steph Curry has actually ranked every single facility for their popcorn,“ Zucker said. “And we’re like we want our popcorn to be the best so maybe he’d come and try it. We asked him and he said he would.”
She presented him with 10 varieties. Curry chose a butterfly popcorn from Nebraska. It’s crunchy, butterfly in shape and with a texture that melts on your tongue.
The flavored popcorn went through an even more rigorous selection process, incorporating feedback from the entire Halo Sports and Entertainment organization, which includes Clippers basketball operations crews, Intuit Dome, Kia Forum and San Diego Clippers (the G league team). The group decided on a butter toffee popcorn with a sweet, crunchy coating that’s as addictive as your favorite potato chip.
Hot dog and street dog
Zucker and Clippers owner Steve Ballmer attended a tasting of 11 different hot dogs before deciding on the right one.
“Then before we’re leaving, the chef who put together the tasting said, ‘Hey, before you go, I just want you to try my favorite hot dog.’ ”
The chef presented a sausage from Niman Ranch, one of the most well known meat purveyors for high-end restaurants around the country. It was an all-beef frank smoked over hickory wood with no added nitrates or nitrites.
“I was like, ‘Oh, my God, that’s a really good hot dog,’” Zucker said. “Steve Ballmer gets up to leave and he says, ‘You make the decision. Whatever you want is fine with me.’ And he starts walking out the door yelling, ‘Niman! Niman!’ ”
The dogs will come plain to dress as you like, or as an iteration of the late-night dogs you find outside concert venues and nightclubs. The latter is wrapped in bacon, overflowing with sautéed peppers and onions and zigzags of garlic aioli. Even buried under all the toppings, there’s a distinguishable snap.