Stadium concessions: A new playground for chefs

Forget bland hot dogs and watery beer, said Ratha Tep in TravelAndLeisure.com. Twenty years after sports stadiums began upgrading the options at their refreshment stands, every major league ballpark seems to have a celebrity chef or two represented in the food court. Basketball, hockey, and football have hardly been left behind, but summer’s the time to explore how baseball tastes are changing.

Turner Field Atlanta. The double-deck cheeseburgers that chef Linton Hopkins makes at Atlanta’s Holeman & Finch Public House gained national fame in part because the kitchen only serves 24 a night. At Turner Field’s new H&F Burger stands, the same $12 burger will be sold in vastly greater numbers each night, though only 24 “burger pass” ticket holders are guaranteed sandwiches before the supplies run out.

Target Field Minneapolis. This 3-year-old ballpark “prides itself on community eats.” An outpost of St. Paul’s Mac’s Fish and Chips sells crisp, breaded walleye. Kramarczuk’s Sausage Co. makes bratwursts fresh daily. And local celebrity Andrew Zimmern, the host of TV’s Bizarre Foods America, serves a lamb-and-goat burger at his AZ Canteen.

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Minute Maid Park Houston. Celebrity chef and die-hard Astros fan Bryan Caswell has built a mini empire at the team’s home field. At his El Real outpost, try the chorizo with tequila-braised onions wrapped in a corn tortilla. At his Little Bigs stand, order the half-pound cheeseburger topped with bacon, refried beans, corn chips, and avocado.