Top Chef Voltaggio Adds Twist to Ballpark Food
It’s rare I get to write about my two favorite things in tandem. Baseball and Food.
Today, as Top Chef runner-up Bryan Voltaggio offered his unique twist on ballpark food at a Frederick Key’s game, I made the two-hour drive in traffic from Arlington Virginia up to Frederick Maryland to check out his creations.
I got to Harry Grove Stadium at 6:00pm sharp – the time the gates opened – and was greeted by a mostly full parking lot and a line of people that started at the gate and made its way well into the parking lot. Apparently I was not the only one eager to see what chef Voltaggio had in store.
Inside the ballpark, the chef had taken over one of the standard concession stands and turned it into a “Volt” concession stand for the night. He was orchestrating the whole thing in person, and throughout the ballpark his family and friends could be seen wearing Fredrick Key’s shirts with Volt 21 printed on the back. The number “21″ represents the 21 course tasting menu offered at his restaurant Volt in Fredrick, for which there is nearly a full year’s wait to make a reservation.
Once in line, Volt’s staff took your order before you made it to the counter to speed things up and keep the line moving. After originally ordering one of everything so I could write up a thorough report, I soon realized that there was no way on earth I could eat or carry all that food – 16 items! I ended up pairing down considerably to just five smaller items.
I apologized for changing my order so drastically, paid and received my food. I carefully balanced all my food and went off to a nearby corner of the ballpark to start tasting.
For me the highlight was the Gazpacho “Dipping Dots” Rock Shrimp Ceviche. These really were just like Dippin’ Dots, but instead of chocolate and vanilla, it was small frozen spheres of heirloom tomatoes. Quite refreshing on a hot day and an interesting twist on something I do not usually get at the ballpark. Am I alone in failing to understand how Dippin’ Dots still exist?
The other dishes I tried were the Coriander Crusted Yellow Fin Tuna (not my favorite), a Soft Shell Crab Sandwich with Pickled Fennel-Cucumber Slaw (pretty good) and a Chocolate Covered Banana which was a great way to finish things off. I also snagged some Summer Truffle Pop Corn to eat while watching the game.
I had meant to try the Lamb Hot Dogs but in my haste to change my order, I forgot, and I had no plans on waiting in a line wrapped around the entire stadium. However, the people I talked to seemed to enjoy them.
Overall it was a lot of fun and a seemingly huge success for the Frederick Keys and chef Voltaggio. On average the Keys said they have an attendance of about 4,500 and with chef Voltaggio they managed to draw a crowd of 7,135.
WHAG-TV reports that Bryan’s business partner says “there will be another ‘Volt night’ sometime in the near future.”
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Best SABRmetrics article I’ve eaten in ages
Dip’n Dots are still around only thanks to an unsustainbly high BABIP. Once we see the regression we expect, they’ll likely see a hit in their popularity.
Dip’n Dots has been the future of ice cream for at least 15 years.
Veteran grit. Clutch down the stretch.
“Veteran grit. Clutch down the stretch.”
Always comes through when I need it most.
What no WHIPcream?
No, you are not alone in failing to understand the success of dipping dots. They have somehow managed to make ice cream bad. As a proof of concept that such a thing is possible, fine. As food? No.
Bryan does some incredible food. If I had the attention span required to make reservations a year in advance, I’d do it.
While there are obviously unique circumstances for this event, I hope more teams try this. There is definitely a market for better food (and beer! better beer!) options at the ballpark.
I should clarify and note that to just eat at Volt and taste Bryan’s food there is not a full year’s wait (you could eat there this week if you wanted to eat early/late), but there is a very long wait if you’d like his unique 21 course tasting menu, which used to only seat 8 a night, but looks like it’s been upped to 16 recently.
This event I think seriously proved there is a rather large market for better ballpark food. Even at Nationals Stadium, the line for 5 Guys can get a bit absurd, which in and of itself is also a bit absurd in my opinion.
The Shake Shack line at Citi Field is another example – it’s huge and all the other food places barely have anyone in line.
Citi also has pretty good craft beer stands. They never change the selection over the last 2 seasons though.
Generally speaking, food and sports stadiums don’t mix–especially in Flordia: http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/eticket/story?page=100725/stadiumconcessions
What I’ve learned today:
teams offer Coriander Crusted Yellow Fin Tuna in the minors, and dirty hot dogs with rat droppings in the majors.
Don’t forget the Krispy Kreme burger out in the Frontier League: http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=2362369
That ceviche doesn’t look very ceviche-y.
As a foodie and a baseball nerd, I appreciate when the two mingle together. I guess it’s why I follow Keith Law around the internets.
I am clearly not a foodie. I thought it was going to be an umpire with a BBQ grill
I’m really surprised that attendance popped 3K for a second tier celebrity chef. Not saying he’s not great, just he’s not Bobby Flay or Tom Colicchio.
But if he’s popular in the area, as the 21 course waitlist would suggest, that’s different than national standing.
I’d like to address Franco’s IGNORANT statement. Brian is not a top tier CELEBRITY chef but he is a top tier chef. Volt is an hour drive from my house and my husband and I make the drive and feel it is an honor to eat in the kitchen. Secondly, unlike Bobby and Tom , Bryan is cooking at his restaurant Wed-Sun! Mesa Grill, both NYC & Vegas are very good but they are not FINE DINING. Craft Steak is also good both in Vegas and NYC but doesn’t compare to Volt. Bryan made the Charlie Palmer Restaurant a cut above all the other steak house in the DC area when he was there. He is a major league chef.
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