That smiling fellow, he's John Sergi, watching the open kitchen high above third base with a father's pride. On the left, wearing a Mariners cap, that's Ethan Stowell, who's got a dozen restaurants scattered around Seattle. Next to him, in spotless whites, exec chef David Dekker, who commands the farflung kitchens of Safeco Field. Along with a platoon of sous-chefs, they're busy building crab rolls, frying oysters, dishing up smoked salmon chowder, plating fish & chips.
Sergi is the chief design officer of Centerplate Stir. His job: "Strategic Hospitality Design." His challenge (he'd say "opportunity") is to feed (he'd say "engage") every one of the 54,097 sports fans who might attend one of the season's 81 Mariners home games, not to mention the thousands more who attend private and corporate events.
We're a decade past the Mariners' Ichiro-Griffey-Randy Johnson heyday, when attendance at home games peaked at an average of 43,710 per game; it was just half that number in 2013. Still, close to two million tickets makes for a vast number of opportunities to engage hungry and thristy fans. That's Sergi's job, one which he approaches with relish (as it were). Centerplate manages the food concession at over 250 sports, entertainment and convention venues around the country, including racetracks (Saratoga), airports (Dulles), ten NFL football stadiums and four baseball parks, including the Safe. (The food concessions at CenturyLink are run by a rival company, Compass Group's Levy Restaurants.) For all of its nationwide reach, Centerplate's emphasis is on local food, since there's nothing as local as rooting for the home team, so Sergi brought in Stowell as his Seattle consultant two years ago.
Last season heralded the opening of the 'Pen (formerly the BullPen) with tacos, wings, "dirty tots" (topped with Beecher's cheese, Carlton Farms pork belly and Bay Valley peppers) and tequila cocktails. This season brings Sound Seafood, a newly reclaimed space on the Terrace level above third base, featuring not just fish & chips and local draughts but genuine cask beers from local breweries (hyper-local, as in Georgetown and Fremont) with great character. Bonache in Ballard provides hot sauces for the wings, and Hot Cakes chocolatier Autumn Martin is on hand as well with desserts like a chocolate salted caramel tart.
It's about food, sure. For example, Po-Boys in New Orleans. At the Safe, Sergi created Edgar's Cantina; in Colorado, Blue Bear Farms; in Liverpool, Mersey Eats. But it's more like Zappos, "a hospitality company that sells shoes," or Warby Parker, online eyeglasses. Give people a reason, says Sergi, to go to the ballgame. You might get better camera angles on the flat-screen in your man-cave, but nothing beats the food at the park. Batter up!
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