Food! Glorious food!

There's a story from MinnPost last week that talks about the food that will be served in the new Twins ballpark. Delaware North, the company contracted to run the concession stands, states they want to seek out local food favorites to serve alongside the traditional hot dogs and peanuts. The article brings up suggestions such as Jucy Lucys from Matt's Bar, walleye sandwiches from Tavern on Grand, Sweet Martha's Cookies, Kramarczuk's sausage, Dixie's barbecue, and Punch Neopolitan Pizza.

I thought I'd give my take on the ideas above before offering a few more of my own.

Jucy Lucys - Yes, yes, yes! Why wouldn't you want this at the new ballpark? I still can't believe this item is considered uniquely Minnesotan. Why haven't people in other cities and regions figured out that stuffing melted cheese inside a burger is fucking delicious? Maybe they have and I just don't know it yet.

Walleye Sandwiches - If you want an item that represents our state, than it doesn't get better than deep frying, grilling, or blackening our official state fish before slapping it on a bun.

Sweet Martha's Cookies - Amazing idea. People could order them up in the plastic buckets like they do at the fair, only these buckets would have the Twins logo and design on it. You'd get a little souvenir and a whole lot of cookies to take home.

Kramarczuk's sausage - This is an interesting suggestion. I've never eaten at this place, but I've driven by it plenty of times. They are an Eastern European deli and bakery. I would think this would be a cool idea to have a specialty stand in the ballpark that has their unique flavored sausages. However, I'm guessing one of the local meat packaging giants like Hormel or Schweigart will continue to provide the dogs for the majority of the stands.

Dixie's barbecue - This one is debatable. While it is a local restaurant, they specialize in a food item that isn't really correlated with our region. That doesn't mean it shouldn't be served at the ballpark, though. There's already a Famous Dave's stand in the Metrodome. This is where the debate comes with multiple local barbecue joints in the area (Dixie's, Famous Dave's, Rudolph's, and Market BBQ). If they do serve barbecue in the new ballpark, I hope they offer more items than just pulled pork sandwiches. How about some brisket or ribs?

Punch Pizza - Another debatable idea, mostly again because of other established local chains in the area: Pizza Luce and Davanni's. Whoever is selected to be the pizza vendor, I only have one suggestion/demand: serve it by the slice! There's only one thing I truly hate that is pizza related, and that is personal pan pizzas.

Davanni's is the vendor in the Xcel Energy Center, and they serve it both ways. However, you can only get it by the slice on the elitist, gated community they call "Club Level." The sports fans in this fine state need to rise up and demand that fans of all socio-economic backgrounds are able to purchase a delicious slice of pizza and not be forced to eat those personal pan pizzas that are the size of a bagel and may be laced with soylent green (trust me, I used to work there and make those very pizzas).


Here are some other items that I think are essential to rounding out the menu:

Cheese curds - Another thing that I'm finding out from watching cable food shows like Bizarre Foods and Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives is that this is another uniquely Midwestern food. Why hasn't the rest of the country figured out that deep frying battered chunks of cheese is the greatest idea this country has had since abolishing slavery.

And I want fresh battered cheese curds like they have at the State Fair. None of those pre-made cheese curds that you just pull out of the freezer and drop in the deep fryer.

Pronto Pups - Staying with the State Fair foods theme, I want to see some corn dogs at the park. I don't know why they're not serving them at the Metrodome already. It's delicious and convenient. You have your dog served on a stick with ketchup and mustard already slathered on with a paintbrush. What could be better?

Local beers - At pro sports venues, almost every concession stand cashier is equipped with a beer tap next to them that typically pours American style lagers. I would like to see a Grain Belt Premium and Pabst Blue Ribbon tap for every Budweiser and Miller Lite.

On top of that, I would like to see a couple beer stands in the park that only have local brews on tap. No food or sodas would be sold at this stand; just beer in the bottle and on tap. This would be similar to the Harbor Bar stand in the Xcel Energy Center. Sure, I don't mind them selling the standard imports and micros like Corona, Guinness, Sam Adams, and Heineken, but I only want to see them in the bottle. Save the tap space for all of the varieties of Summit, Schell's, Leinie's, and Surly.


Those are my additions to the suggestion box. If anybody else has ideas or input, I'd love to hear it. I guess now the question is how many of these items and local companies will be selected to sell their products in the new ballpark, and how big will their role be? Will they supply their own staff to operate these stands? Will they just supply the items and the brand names? Will they be available in multiple stands throughout the ballpark, or only in single specialty stands? I can't wait to find out. Don't disappoint me, Delaware North.