Executive chefs Tony Glitz (Real Sports Bar and Grill), Robert Bartley (Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment) and Chris Zielinski (Air Canada Centre) (Image: Renée Suen)
Toronto FC’s first home game of the season took place last Saturday against the Portland Timbers (Toronto won 2-0), but fans of the city’s Major League Soccer team have a different reason to cheer at BMO Field: a greater variety of food. The venue already has a reputation for serving some of the better concession choices in North America, but Robert Bartley, Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment’s culinary director and executive chef at BMO Field and the ACC, is adding 11 more options. The new items draw mainly from the ever-popular southern barbecue card, supplementing current selections like chip butty, scotch egg, souvlaki and a Montreal-style smoked meat sandwich. Bartley told us that the food underwent a rigorous development process that included a 40-member focus group and multiple one-handed eating-while-walking trials. We sample some of the new additions after the jump.
A 40 member focus group and “rigorous development” for 3 simple sandwiches that are basically the same? Wow. No wonder the hot dog is almost $10.
March 31, 2011 at 3:54 pm | by sickofcupcakes