There’s nothing wrong with peanuts and Cracker Jacks, but how about something a little different at the ballpark? Your choices, in that case, would be nachos or pretzels, both swimming in that gummy "cheese." The Food Network has heard the call for more elegant eats at stadiums and airports and has struck a multiyear deal with hospitality/food service provider Delaware North Companies to create menu, restaurant and retail concepts at places like the New Meadowlands in New Jersey, Los Angeles International Airport, the Kennedy Space Center, Yosemite National Park and the Busch Stadium in St. Louis. Hotshot chefs who’ve become famous on the Food Network have already cracked the entertainment venue market as restauranteurs, but this deal is for the flagship brand, which gives it even broader exposure to diverse crowds. Expect to see its dishes popping up at Major League Baseball games this season. Seventh-inning stretch flambe! The two companies are already partnering on an Asian restaurant chain called Skewers, with Iron Chef Masaharu Morimoto, set to launch in 20 major U.S. airports. Not sure what that’ll do to the traffic at Chick-fil-A, but maybe there’s room for both?
—Posted by T.L. Stanley