Philly Eats Magazine Second Edition 2017

FESTIVAL
The Art Behind
THE CONCESSIONS
[ By Bob LePage ]
We have all heard Take Me Out to the Ball Game …….
“Buy me some peanuts and cracker jacks and I don’t care if I ever……”
add some beer, the full face pretzel and an English gentleman named
Harry M Stevens creation, man credited for the invention of the concession
hot dog, and that was all we had for years in Philadelphia to eat at a Phillies game.
Like everything else the
food environment has
changed as well at the
good ole ballpark. Unless
you want too, the days of
brining in the convenience
store hoagie and a couple bags of
chips because you were afraid of
what was behind door number 3
boiled hot dog are over. On the contrary,
eating at Citizen Bank Park is an
event and one that not only the well
know brands that are there but also
Aramark and the Phillies are extremely
proud to present. It is to the point
that you should get to the ballpark
early to enjoy a meal.
For this article I had the honor of
meeting and touring with Bruce Leith
Manager of Concession Development,
Kevin Tedesco General Manager
of Citizens Bank Park for Aramark
and Anthony Campagna Executive
Sous Chef for Citizens Bank Park. I
wanted to get an understanding of
the processes behind development
of the brands as well as the concepts
throughout the stadium. Citizen’s
Bank Park is Home to the Phillies obviously
but their kitchen/ hospitality
staff did over 170 events outside of
baseball last year including a 10,000
person event for the DNC.
The processes of what went into
the way the concessions at Citizens
Bank Park are really intriguing and well
thought out. During the development
Kevin, Bruce and the team they work
with visited ballparks and restaurants
all around the country to take pieces
that they could use here. “Coming
from the Vet, we knew we had to have
10
Philly Eats Magazine July 2017