Menus (and midriffs) widening
Even as Super Bowl fans steel themselves for the inevitable smorgasbord of pound-packing fare served with the big game, local caterers are widening their menu options beyond the standard platters of wings, heroes and pulled pork ”“ with some caterers large and small using the game as an excuse to experiment with potential new offerings.
Debra Panzek recently solicited Super Bowl ideas for unusual catering fare and beverages from clients of her Aux Délices, which runs its catering operation from Stamford.
“I”™m always on the lookout, though, for something new to wow my guests,” Panzek said.
In Ridgefield, the Cutting Board offers upscale offerings on its Super Bowl menu such as shrimp cocktail and roast potatoes with pancetta and herb-cheese spread and scallions.
Owner Brian Bender said some of the business he generates is due to the organic and natural food ingredients in The Cutting Board”™s dishes.
“That”™s why a lot of people come here,” Bender said.
For last year”™s Super Bowl, The Cutting Board served up fare for 40 guests of a well-known baseball name, who Bender declined to identify publicly.
The Super Bowl is not the biggest event on the calendar for his company ”“ Jewish holidays are big business, among others ”“ but Bender expects a good day, if not at the same level had the New York Jets made it to the big game.
“If a local team is not in it, it is not the same,” Bender said.
Still, the company did a big business for the 2009 Super Bowl, which was won by the Pittsburgh Steelers. Three years on the horizon, of course, is Super Bowl XLVIII, scheduled for the new home of the Jets and Giants in East Rutherford, N.J. The event is expected to result in a bonanza of business for Tri-state area companies, from caterers to corporations hosting visitors in town for the game.
According to a report by the Dallas Morning News, restaurants and caterers servicing Super Bowl XLV expect to break the single-day record for food and drink at the event ”“ with Stamford-based Centerplate Inc. filling the role of “hospitality host” at the NFL Experience exhibition at the Dallas Convention Center, the 13th time the company has been involved in a Super Bowl event. The NFL Experience is expected to draw more than 200,000 guests by the time its nine-day run concludes in Dallas; Centerplate is playing the same role at the following two super bowls in Indianapolis and New Orleans; the NFL has yet to assign a caterer for Super Bowl XLVIII in New Jersey.
For this year”™s Sugar Bowl NCAA football game in New Orleans, Centerplate crafted a menu that it said reflected the Big Easy”™s rich culinary heritage.
In Dallas, Centerplate offerings will include “the NFLX Superdog” rolled in a chipotle tortilla and topped with smoked pulled pork, pepper jack cheese, peach habanero barbeque sauce and cucumber lime relish.
Of course, Centerplate will also be running a “healthy zone” throughout the week ”“ and is donating a healthy luncheon to 1,200 children participating in the NFL Kids Day on Feb. 2.
For now, all eyes are on the menu requirements for Feb. 6.
“Obviously given our motto that ”˜the customer is always right,”™ if there was anything quirky in terms of a request we would do our best to fill it,” said Meghan Bell, a spokeswoman for Norwalk-based Stew Leonard”™s Markets Inc. whose catering business expects hefty business that day.