Super Bowl Sunday
I love that time of year when the Super Bowl rolls around. The NFL has had its share of ups and downs this season, for me a particular down was that my team the Seahawks didn't make it into the playoffs
this year, but I still love watching the game and I will always remember my time at Super Bowl XLVIII (in 2014).
It was my first year as Executive Chef at Century Link Field (now Lumen Field) in Seattle. Amazingly enough, the position brought me to Met Life Stadium in NJ for Super Bowl XLVIII. At the time, Century Link and Met Life Stadiums were managed by the same company and so it was truly a stroke of good fortune that I was invited to go with the Seattle Seahawks team to the Super Bowl.
When I was a kid I always dreamed of going to the Super Bowl as a player--I was co-captain of my High School Football team and entertained playing college football--but alas, that dream quickly faded! So I
was very thrilled when I realized that my Super Bowl dreams would come true just not as I had originally envisioned.
As Executive Chef my goal was to raise the bar of stadium food. At Century Link I created the "Beast Burger" which was the first of its kind that made national news (ESPN). For those of you who don't know the "Beast Burger" involves two grass feed beef patties (sorry vegetarians!), two slices of swiss cheese, two slices of ham, bacon, onion rings, lettuce, tomato, and a side of fries and bag of skittles candy.
Other stadiums followed suit in raising the culinary stakes (pun intended) and it was no different at Super Bowl XLVIII. In the suites they had culinary greats Thomas Keller and Daniel Boulud, I also saw Jean-Georges by his stand earlier in the day. I was stationed in the Tiffany Room (yes, as in those little blue boxes) and so I got to hear QuestLove spin and Spike Lee (who was supporting the Seahawks that day! Go Hawks!) was there enjoying my food! Unconfirmed but I heard Shaq got kicked out of the party, drama follows these kinds of events. It was a great night.
The Chefs I was cooking with all knew that I came from Seattle with the Seahawks and excitedly informed me when my team made a defensive touchdown! After that I was able to watch most of the game and the rest is history! The Seahawks won by a landslide and we returned to Century Link with our heads held high
The story of the victory party we'll save for another time.
Enjoy this year's Super Bowl!
Chef Seis, signing off
