Ballpark’s extreme food out of left field
Every year, the minor-league Akron RubberDucks strive for home runs in outrageous cuisine.
This year, the double-A affiliate of the Cleveland Indians is going way beyond bread, adding two gut-busting sandwiches with unusual buns to its menu at Canal Park stadium in downtown Akron.
The Notorious P.I.G. uses two fried pork tenderloins to enclose pulled pork, smoked shoulder bacon and sauerkraut slaw made with maple honey mustard.
The Yardbird boasts two warm apple fritters as the bun, filled with turkey, bacon, apples, arugula and honey cream cheese.
The two sandwiches, part of an Extreme Foods menu that dates to 2011, were dreamed up during the offseason. James Phillips, the team’s new executive chef, was “seeing what the trends are, but also looking to do something different,” said Brian Manning, food and beverage director for the RubberDucks.
The Notorious P.I.G. is a largerthan-life sandwich. It starts with two fried pork tenderloins as the bun, filled with a stack of pulled pork, pecanwood smoked shoulder bacon, and maple honey mustard sauerkraut slaw. It came about from Phillips “looking at different ways you can do pork … and how can we be creative,” Manning said.
He said of the Yardbird: “We’ve seen a lot of ballparks doing the doughnut burger, and we thought, how can we do it differently?”
Phillips, a University of Akron graduate, previously was head chef at a lunch place in Cleveland.
The new sandwiches join fan favorites such as the Nice 2 Meat U Burger, which has two 10-ounce patties topped with two all-beef hot dogs, bacon, cheddar cheese and onions; and the Screamer, a 21-scoop ice cream sundae over a giant brownie.
The Squealer is back from last year: a half-pound, footlong hot dog stuffed with pulled pork and cheddar cheese.
The new items have prices to match their size. The Yardbird is $12 and available only at the stadium’s Game Grill + Bar. The Notorious P.I.G. is $15 and is available at the Bier Garten concession stand as well as the Game Grill & Bar. (RubberDucks officials like to point out that the sandwiches can be shared.)
The team’s tradition of big portions of food out of left field began when then-chef Jason Kerton introduced the Nice 2 Meat U Burger and the Three Dog Night, a hot dog stuffed in a bratwurst wrapped in a kielbasa. (Both are still on the menu.)
Comedian Lewis Black mentioned the Nice 2 Meat U on Comedy Central’s “The Daily Show,” “and things Canal Park executive chef James Phillips shows some of his creations at a tasting event for the Akron RubberDucks’ Extreme Menu items.
really took off,” said Adam Liberman, the RubberDucks’ director of public and media relations.
New items include the Cleveland Polish Boy ($10), which is a toasted sub roll with beef kielbasa, french fries, coleslaw and barbecue sauce, and Mega Fries ($12), which are Cajun fries topped with barbecue brisket, cheddar and asiago cheeses, roasted red peppers, scallions and garlic aioli.