By Nan Kavanaugh
Photography by Felipe Cuevas
Charred octopus. Bucatini with lamb ragu. Roasted duck. Pear salad. The list reads more like a five-star restaurant’s menu than the offerings at an ice hockey arena. Teams across the nation are pumping up their game when it comes to stadium fare, but the Florida Panthers have taken food to new heights with the new Guest Chef Program at BB&T Center, which was introduced to the club level during the 2015-16 season. The program is more than just the latest example of a professional sports team making an innovative move toward creating the total fan experience; it is strengthening the overall tricounty culinary community by giving chefs the opportunity to market their restaurants to packed stadiums. Even better, the program is giving fans a shot at expanding their palates and learning more about the diversity of the South Florida dining scene.
“It’s all about the food,” says Richard Adler, executive vice president of the Florida Panthers. “It is great when we have restaurants that have cache and a following; but take Nicole Votano, [her restaurant] Dirt, is brand new. We try to keep things different.”
With 41 home games, several of which are just one day apart, keeping the menu fresh for club-level clientele can be a challenge, says Anthony Casacci, a founding member of Club Lexus and longtime Panthers fan. But the eclectic range of menu items offered by the guest chefs in Club Lexus and Club 93 throughout the Panthers’ season has gotten people’s attention.
“You would not believe how many comments we get about the high quality and array of food offered,” says Casacci, who also notes that several past season ticket holders have renewed their tickets after experiencing the Guest Chef Program.
While club-level ticket holders have the opportunity to try the specialty menus, the entire stadium is introduced to the chef and restaurant via the Jumbotron. The exposure is extraordinary, allowing chefs to market their restaurants to a captivated audience of thousands of residents from across the region.
“As a new restaurant, any opportunity you get like this is going to be beneficial,” Votano says. “The food scene is changing so much right now, and including new restaurants [in the program] shows what is going on and allows people to learn more about it. It is great marketing for restaurants in Miami, because you can reach more people in the northern areas.”
The Guest Chef Program is the brainchild of Aaron Michaels, owner of Culinary Convenience, a Fort Lauderdale-based professional chef supply and restaurant equipment company. As someone who works with chefs across the region and is an advocate for the culinary community, Michaels pitched the Guest Chef Program concept to Adler, who credits Michaels as “the driving force behind the program.”
The other key player in the success of this new venture is Centerplate Executive Chef Orlando Morales, who heads the arena’s dining operations.
It normally isn’t easy for a chef to surrender his or her recipes to another kitchen to execute, but the team at Centerplate has made the process seamless. Participating chefs provide Morales with their recipes, walking him and his team through the menus the week before the game.
“I didn’t know what to expect,” says Chef Louie Bossi of Louie Bossi’s Ristorante Bar and Pizzeria, adding that his menu for the program emulated his restaurant’s cuisine—which is known for its in-house, homemade items—and included a range of dishes such as charred octopus salad, porchetta, and meatballs with black pasta. “I made all the pasta and donated it, and Centerplate did an excellent job executing my recipes.”
DOWN AND DIRT-Y: Nicole Votano, chef and director of operations at Dirt, has a proclivity for community outreach, which has helped put her brand-new farm-to-counter restaurant on the map.
Two separate menus with four items each are designed for both Club Lexus and Club 93 and are served buffet-style, giving fans the opportunity to dine at their leisure throughout the game. While Centerplate prepares the menu, the featured chef has the luxury of sitting back and enjoying the game while connecting with patrons.
“You get one-on-one time with the customers,” says Chef Laurent Tasic of Sage French Cafe & Wine Bar and Qbar Burgers & Blues. “You get to meet people and talk with them. It is more personal. Customers would come by my restaurant the next day or the next week and say, ‘Hi, I saw you at the Panthers game.’”
The club-level ticket holders are the type of clientele restaurateurs want in their dining rooms: They are willing to invest in entertainment and demand a high-quality experience. Both Tasic and Chef Andres Teran of Margaritaville Hollywood Beach Resort agree that with the rise of foodie culture, venues have to meet a different level of expectations when it comes to the food and beverage experience.
“I think that with the invention of Food Network, people are more educated about food. We have to evolve with that. Entertainment venues with sophisticated club-level clientele demand better food.”
– Chef Andres Teran
The Florida Panthers are up for the challenge. “We can’t control the wins. We can’t control the losses,”
Adler says. “But we can control the fan experience—from the parking lot to the time they walk out the doors of BB&T Center. When Chairman Peter Luukko and I talk about the vision for the Panthers, we just go do it. We are creators. We are leaders. But at the end of the day, the team’s performance is what helps the most because winning is the best marketing we can do.”
“It seems that the Florida Panthers are not only winning on the ice, but off the ice as well,” Casacci says. For loyal sports fans, the new Guest Chef Program is giving loyal followers the best of both worlds.
Originally appeared in the Summer 2016 Issue.
