Chef Jon Cowan Shares His Menu-making Tips at America’s high Venues

When you assume again to the final sporting occasion you attended. You will most certainly bear in mind the part you sat in, who gained or loss and even a memorable spotlight that you simply nonetheless discuss to today. However, whereas these reminiscences stick with us, some of the necessary points of any fan expertise is the least mentioned once we look again and that’s the meals and drinks we eat whereas having fun with these moments.

Jon Cowan is Sodexo Live!’s government chef at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami and has over 25 years of expertise within the lodge, nation membership, restaurant, and now sports activities and leisure trade. From Dolphins and Hurricanes soccer to the Formula 1 Miami Grand Prix, Rolling Loud and several other occasions, he goals to make it possible for followers are having fun with what’s on their plate simply as a lot because the leisure.

Cowan was one of many chef’s chosen by Sodexo Live! to supervise the meals and beverage operations on the French Open in the course of the event. He spoke with Muscle & Fitness on the expertise, how the meals and beverage trade has modified and what goes into ensuring that your eating wants are met while you go to Hard Rock Stadium.

Food is a Big Deal

The meals and beverage part is a giant issue particularly right here in Miami and a variety of the Sodexo Live operations. Here in Miami, a variety of the folks come for simply the present and meals and beverage expertise. They come for soccer first, however the meals is a large a part of it. That’s why us cooks and the those who work for Sodexo Live need them to return and have a very nice expertise at Hard Rock Stadium or some other venue that we function.

Menu Selection is a Year-Round Process

We’re redoing all of the suites menus at present. So, we’ll do tastings, prep within the kitchen, transfer it as much as the suites, ensure that the structure is sweet, ensure that all of the meals matches within the correct locations. We’ll have our friends style them. We’ll usher in some Dolphins workers to do a tasting for them as properly. It’s a year-round course of simply to ensure now we have the perfect merchandise and finest visitor expertise within the stadium. For our golf equipment and concession stands, it’s the identical factor. We do tastings, speak to purveyors to seek out the correct merchandise we wish to use. We work with a produce firm to get native, contemporary, and as many Florida-grown merchandise as we are able to. Sourcing regionally and sustainability is a large a part of Sodexo Live!

In my earlier stops, I labored for giant inns, nation golf equipment and I labored in a couple of eating places. The distinction between that and that is simply the huge enterprise it takes to place the whole lot collectively so far as the logistics, planning, staffing, menu writing, assembly with shoppers — simply to have the ability to pull off the perfect meals attainable. We work with purveyors who present native substances. There is nothing like the push main as much as the soccer sport. Just just like the gamers, us as cooks we wish the identical factor and that’s to win the sport. You wish to have a profitable service and profitable sport. Even if the soccer staff doesn’t win, no less than on the culinary and meals and beverage aspect, we do.

I stroll the whole stadium in the course of the sport. I’ll stroll with different cooks, speak to visitors to get as a lot suggestions as attainable. Walking by way of The 72 Club, The Nine, greeting visitors — lots of people will flag us down as a result of they’ll see us within the humorous, white chef jackets. Most of the suggestions is absolutely optimistic. Some folks wish to know the place the upper finish issues are, or they’ll give recommendations on what they wish to see on the menu subsequent time. We additionally fulfill particular requests for visitor as properly. If there’s a strictly vegan individual or somebody on a more healthy food plan, now we have so many choices within the stadium that we are able to at all times discover them one thing to eat.

Signature Dishes

If you’re in considered one of our premium areas, The 72 Club is the place to be or The Nine, which could be very unique. In the 72 Club, we serve a giant chef’s desk buffet with a carving station. Everything from sushi to ceviche, hen wings sliders, full contemporary pizzas, and prime rib. We put that out for about 800 folks each sport. I feel for the folks in that membership, they arrive for the eating expertise as properly. For the concession aspect, something Latin base. We have some nice empanadas and Cuban sandwiches.

Food Prep For Different Events

We should work with our shoppers. We have conferences beforehand on what sort of menu we’re attempting to construct. I work with my staff, the meals and beverage director, and our company cooks and we come to an settlement on what type of service we’re going to do. Whether it’s for a premium buffet. We additionally have a look at if we’re serving in air situation, can it maintain up within the warmth. All of these elements go into writing a menu. We need the visitors to return in and be wowed. They all our very completely different occasions. You have those who come to the sport to observe soccer and a few individuals who simply need the meals.

Tackling Food Allergies

We work with an organization referred to as FARE. We opened a non-allergen kitchen within the stadium. Only I and two different folks on the culinary staff are licensed to cook dinner in there. We get inspected by FARE and it’s identical to a well being inspection, the place they’re ensuring we’re sourcing the correct product from the correct purveyors. If you’re getting a barista oat milk, you’re ensuring that oat milk is definitely gluten free. It’s contacting the manufacture of it as properly. Most of the time, not all of the substances are listed on a variety of the merchandise. It’s a very particular venture that we’ve labored on that I received licensed in. Numerous youngsters have peanut allergy symptoms and that’s an enormous one. There’s additionally shellfish and eggs. They can truly pre-order off of the menu once they’re arriving to the stadium. Lots of people which have these meals intolerances, they type of learn about this system now.

Bringing Back a Piece of Paris

It was actually good from a private {and professional} Sodexo Live expertise. It was phenomenal. It’s actually the primary time that Sodexo Live! is constructing this relationship to work with the French nationwide staff and Sodexo France. From the start once they requested me to go, I used to be tremendous excited. That was proper after the Miami Open. I received by way of F1 after which took the journey to France. I had a very nice expertise so far as working with the restaurant, it was a bit of bit completely different as a result of in being an government chef at Hard Rock stadium, I’m type of the controller of the culinary staff. Walking into a unique venue, not talking the language was an adjustment. I simply listened to them and the way we may take tidbits of what they do there and convey it to Sodexo in North America.

There are solely 4 grand slams and I received to go to 1. French delicacies is clearly a bit of bit completely different than American delicacies. They use a variety of contemporary merchandise, and so they combine substances collectively to take advantage of flavorful dishes. With it being a tennis event, there have been a variety of wholesome choices. There was a pleasant natural carrot soup that we served. It had a bit of sprint of cream and a few roasted hazelnuts. We served casserole sea bream with some tarragon, cherry tomatoes, completed with some olive oil and sea salt. Croque monsieur is served nearly all over the place in Paris and France. They made an avocado croque monsieur with a bit of little bit of pistachio cream, mint, coriander, topped it off with a bit of layer of cheese on high, served good and heat with a summer season salad. For dessert, there was a carpaccio with some pineapple that was marinated. A little bit little bit of cilantro and we served it with some agave, ice cream and roasted nuts.