It beat all the other pretzels into a pile of stale dust. The light caught its golden crust, giving its curves a soft sheen. Tiny grains of salt were sprinkled on top. It was the perfect bite, with crunchy salt grains giving way to a warm, soft center.
This twisted masterpiece is the result of a week of training with chefs in Salzburg, Austria, followed by six months of development in the U.S. It's the level of dedication and attention to detail you'd expect from a Michelin-starred restaurant, with all the air miles and effort expended to bring the pretzels fresh to customers at the food stand at the new Intuit Dome in Inglewood.
The pretzels will be sold at the Intuit Dome.
(Katherine Zilensky/The Times)
“Few arenas have taken this approach to start producing handcrafted products like this before,” said Steven Mark, senior vice president of 310 Provisions, the group that provides food for the Intuit Dome.
Mack recently sat down with Halo Sports & Entertainment CEO Jillian Zucker, 310 Provisions executive chef Hagan Whelchel and senior executive chef Adam Brown to walk through the food menu at the new stadium, which is scheduled to open on August 15.
A dedicated team of 10 people mixes, stretches, forms, rises, bakes and tops the pretzels by hand. Every detail of the stadium has been studied and discussed, from how the pretzels are stretched to the maximum time it takes to go from your seat to the restroom to the snack bar and back (123 seconds, according to a pedestrian model).
Jillian Zucker leads a tour of the new Intuit Dome, with one of the concession stands behind her.
(Katherine Zilensky/The Times)
When the Intuit Dome opens, it will have 21 food and beverage markets, 31 kitchens, 26 pizza ovens, 140 fryers, six clubs with individual menus, 24 entrees (excluding packaged foods), 14,000 square feet of fully electric prep kitchen space and 850 food and beverage staff.
All shops will have contactless payment systems. Simply download the app onto your smartphone, pop into a shop, buy what you want and leave.
“The goal at the Dome from a food and beverage standpoint is to focus on speed, quality and consistency, so we take pride in every detail,” said Jessica Cesta, vice president of hospitality strategy for 310 Provisions. “Every source. Every package. All to provide the ultimate premium experience for every fan in the venue.”
In addition to the amazing pretzels mentioned above, here's a breakdown of the food offerings at the new venue:
Butter Popcorn and Butter Toffee Popcorn
Stephen Curry helped pick out the popcorn for the new Intuit Dome.
(Katherine Zilensky/The Times)
When it came time to choose the popcorn, Zucker turned to Golden State point guard and popcorn expert Stephen Curry for help.
“Stephen Curry actually ranks all the popcorn places,” Zucker said. “We want our popcorn to be the best, so we wanted him to try it. We asked him, and he said he'd love to do it.”
She gifted him 10 different kinds of popcorn, and Callie chose butterfly popcorn from Nebraska, which is crunchy, shaped like a butterfly, and melts in your mouth.
The flavored popcorn was chosen after a rigorous selection process that included feedback from the entire Halo Sports & Entertainment organization, including the Clippers basketball operations team, the Intuit Dome, Kia Forum and the San Diego Clippers (G League team). The group chose Buttery Toffee Popcorn, with a sweet, crunchy coating that's as addictive as your favorite potato chips.
Hot dogs and street dogs
The new Intuit Dome will serve hot dogs and street dogs made with Niman Ranch franks.
(Katherine Zilensky/The Times)
Zucker and Clippers owner Steve Ballmer participated in a tasting of 11 different hot dogs before deciding on the best one.
“And before I left, the chef who organized the tasting said, 'Before you leave, I want you to try my favorite hot dog.'”
The chef presented a sausage from Niman Ranch, one of the most well-known meat suppliers to fine dining restaurants across the U.S.: hickory-smoked beef franks with no added nitrates or nitrites.
“I thought, 'Oh my God, that's a really good hot dog,'” Zucker said. “Steve Ballmer turned to walk away and said, 'You decide. Whatever you want,' and he walked out the door yelling, 'Niman! Niman!'”
The hot dogs are served plain, as you prefer, or as a recreation of the late-night hot dogs you'd find outside a concert venue or nightclub, the latter of which is wrapped in bacon and loaded with sautéed peppers and onions and zigzags of garlic aioli, retaining a noticeable crunch even when buried beneath all the toppings.
Detroit-style pizza
The new Intuit Dome will add Detroit-style pizza to the menu.
(Katherine Zilensky/The Times)
This is a type of pizza commonly found in pizzerias across the city, rectangular with crispy cheese on all four sides, and the “meat” is filled with cheese and pepperoni, and the meat is wrapped in a blanket of protein and is so loaded with bacon, sausage and pepperoni that you can't see the cheese underneath.
Double Cheeseburger
The Intuit Dome Double Cheeseburger will feature a special meat blend of brisket, short rib and prime chuck.
(Katherine Zilensky/The Times)
The Double Cheeseburger is somewhere between a backyard smashburger and a more sophisticated burger you'd get at your favorite steakhouse. The patty is a blend of coarsely ground brisket, short rib and prime chuck. It's thin but not smashed and topped with melted New School American cheese. The burger is seasoned with Clippers sauce, a Thousand Island favorite, and topped with dill pickle chips on a Martin's potato bun.
Vegan Cauliflower Wrap
The Buffalo Cauliflower Wrap is a vegetarian and vegan option on the new Intuit Dome menu.
(Katherine Zilensky/The Times)
The stadium's main vegetarian and vegan menu item is a wrap made with crispy breaded fried cauliflower tossed in tangy buffalo sauce, romaine lettuce, kale, quinoa, tomato, red peppers and vegan ranch vinaigrette on a spinach tortilla, with ranch dressing for dipping. If they offered a basket of just fried cauliflower, I'd order that too.
Chicken tenders and waffle fries
The New Intuit Dome will be serving chicken tenders and waffle fries, with waffle fries being the only fries served on-site.
(Katherine Zilensky/The Times)
The tenders are lightly breaded and deep-fried until perfectly encased in a crispy, golden-brown crust. They're served with a pile of waffle fries, the only style of fries served at this establishment. The fries stay crispy even at room temperature. They're served with a small cup of barbecue sauce instead of ketchup or ranch dressing.
“It's a tribute to the South by way of California,” Chef Whelchel said.
It's slightly sweet, but has a strong mustard flavor.
“We needed a sauce that would have some cohesion but still maintain its quality,” Whelchel says, “so we chose a barbecue sauce base instead of a cream base.”
If you really want ranch dressing, ask a friend to order the vegan cauliflower wrap and steal the vegan ranch dressing.
Churro
At the new Intuit Dome in Englewood, churros will be served with caramel drizzle.
(Katherine Zilensky/The Times)
These churros rival those you'll find at your go-to spots in Los Angeles or Mexico City. They're small, snack-sized churros, about 4 to 5 inches long. An extruder creates sharp grooves that give them great texture and more surface area to seal in the cinnamon-sugar coating. The inside is soft, almost custard-like in texture, yet cooked to perfection. They come with a side of La Sagara dulce de leche, which is more like hot chunks of fresh caramel than a runny sauce. These are churros you'll remember long after you've left the parking lot.
Sushi dog
The new Intuit Dome will serve sushi dogs with spicy tuna and California rolls.
(Katherine Zilensky/The Times)
Think temaki sushi rolls that are nearly a foot long, wrapped in paper that you can peel off for each bite. There's a Crabstick California Roll and a Spicy Tuna Roll that actually packs a punch. The rice in both is well-seasoned and not too tough or overcooked. You can dip them in soy sauce, but the culinary team is working on a more effective condiment.
“Chef Hagan is developing custom soy sauce flakes,” Zucker said of the soy sauce seasoning sprinkled on hand-rolled sushi.
Of course, there's also the special soy sauce flakes to protect your Clippers jersey from stains, and with Stephen Curry-approved popcorn, gourmet hot dogs, and pretzels that have traveled nearly 12,000 miles to get there, you really can't ask for more.
