Eating With Bloggers: A Citi Field Food Tour

Monday night I, and many of your other favorite bloggers, was invited out to Citi Field for a Mets game, and a pre-game tour of Mets concessions and clubs with Scott Kleckner, Resident District Manager, Sports & Entertainment for Aramark.  It did not disappoint.  We ate.  A lot.

 

Obviously the Keith’s Burger that I wrote about earlier in the season was included.  We learned that it’s doing very well, and will likely become a permanent fixture in the future much like the Pastrami sandwich (which we also sampled) was tested last year.   I love that the Mets and Aramark are trying out new things and never satisfied with the status quo.  At Shea the most exciting change you could look forward to was if they changed burger suppliers.

 

Here’s a shot of the bloggers enjoying a slice of Margherita style pizza at Cascarino’s.

Cascarino’s was chosen in part because it’s local.  It’s right there on College Point Blvd and so local that if you could get pizza delivered to Citi Field, Cascarino’s is close enough to do so.

 

Speaking of local fare, I brought up the departed Brooklyn Brewery beers.  Without getting anything explicitly confirmed, it was made pretty clear that Budweiser can exert a ton of pressure financially over what beers are available.  It was also suggested that Brooklyn Brewery may not be gone forever. (besides the cans of lager that remain) Right now the only true local beer available to the masses is Blue Point Toasted Lager at Catch of the Day.  There’s also a tap of Sixpoint Sweet Action (and some Ommegang. Honestly, given it’s Cooperstown affiliation, EVERY ballpark should have some of it) in the Delta Sky Club, but that’s obviously a limited access area.

 

Perhaps the best thing we ate all night: An eggplant parmigiana sandwich.  It was delicious: perfectly breaded with tasty sauce and excellent bread.  I highly recommend it if you have a chance to be in the Delta Sky Club, or if they end up offering it elsewhere.

 

We also sampled the new fried chicken sandwich from Blue Smoke, which was my second favorite taste of the day.  I’m not a big seafood eater, so I passed on the Po’Boy and Flounder at Catch of the Day, but everyone else liked it.  I did have a handful of popcorn shrimp, which were definitely tasty but I’ll second Rob Castellano of Amazin’ Avenue in wishing there was some dipping sauces with them.  The final thing we tasted was a new appetizer in the Delta Sky Club.  It was some hot dog bites, basically a small hot dog dipped in panko breading.  It was good, but nothing to really write home about.

 

Check out some of these other write ups while you’re at it, and don’t forget to follow me on Twitter.

http://www.ontheblack.com/2011/05/17/video-diary-citi-field-food-beverage-operations/

http://www.amazinavenue.com/2011/5/17/2174894/citi-field-food-mets-eat

http://www.kranepoolsociety.com/2011/05/17/a-great-night-of-food-tasting-at-citi-field-and-a-seat-in-the-press-box-for-desert/

MLB At Bat 2011

Initial impressions of the 2011 MLB At Bat app that was released today. ($15 from your applicable App Market) This is only the initial reaction, since more features will be released for Opening Day.

I had the iPod version last year, this year I’ve got the Android version.  First thing I did was set my favorite team to the Mets.

First thought was that I like the rosters being included on each team.  Sortable by name, or by position, which is great for depth charts and when you’re sitting in the stands trying to figure out which Cardinal pitcher in the bullpen wears 54 (Jaime Garcia).  It’s also great for setting up a scorecard if you like to keep score at the game.

There’s a link to tickets and promotions on each game and team page, and I suspect this is for the ability to purchase tickets on the phone, and use it as a barcode to get into a stadium.  Neat.

All the normal features from last year and the basics like scoreboard, standings, video highlights, and game preview screens are included. The #1 reason most people buy the app is obviously included as well: The on-the-go access to gameday audio of all the teams, and the ability to track, pitch by pitch, the progress of any game. 

Something else to keep an eye on is ordering food in the ballpark via this app.  The Phillies and Aramark debuted something late last year to allow you to do this.   The app allows you to check into a ballpark, and it verifies your location, allowing access to features such as this one.  Currently the check-in and ordering food parts of the app do not seem to be there, so I suspect this is one of those things maybe destined for the Opening Day update.

Also not featured yet that will be added, is Twitter integration.  The app will likely contain a twitter feed for each of the 30 teams’ hashtags, allowing you to follow along with the buzz of the team beyond your normal timeline.