New game grub. Pepsi Center has new food, drink vendor.
The Pepsi Center is now the home of Legends. More legends than just Joe Sakic.
Kroenke Sports & Entertainment announced Wednesday that it has signed a multiyear agreement with New York City-based hospitality company Legends to head up food and beverage service at the Pepsi Center. The news comes on the day contracts with the arena’s longtime vendors Aramark Sports & Entertainment Services and Levy Premium Foodservice came to an end.
Legends, co-founded by Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones, works with that NFL franchise, the Oakland Raiders, the Kroenke-owned Los Angeles Rams and the New York Yankees among other major American and international sports teams.
Where Aramark handled most basic food and drink stands around the Pepsi Center and Levy managed the higherend fare, Legends will be in charge of both. It will also dish up food and pour drinks at fellow Kroenke venues Dick’s Sporting Goods Park in Commerce City and the Paramount Theatre in downtown Denver.
“The ability to provide our patrons top-quality food and beverage service and selection at our venues is of utmost importance to both KSE and Legends,” Kroenke Sports & Entertainment COO Matt Hutchings said in a statement.
With Legends comes more upscale dining options at The Can, Kroenke officials say. A “Local Eats initiative” is being launched at the Pepsi Center that will emphasize Denver-area culinary luminaries via guest chef nights. Jennifer Jasinski, a James Beard Award-winning chef and owner of several notable restaurants in town including Rioja, Euclid Hall Bar & Kitchen and Stoic & Genuine, has been tapped to redesign the Pepsi Center’s premium food offerings alongside the arena’s executive chef, James Versfelt.
A master sommelier will curate rotating wines of the month. A hot dim sum cart will also be part of the new food mix, according to Wednesday’s announcement.
“We’re anxious to get started in Denver and offer fans a taste of our exceptional culinary acumen,” Dan Smith, president of Legends hospitality divi
sion, said in a statement.
With the end of their contracts at the Pepsi Center, Aramark and Levy informed state labor officials last month they would be laying off a combined 241 stadium workers. Becca Villanueva, director of marketing communications for Kroenke, said at the time it was expected those workers would be able to interview with the venue’s new concessions contractors once it was named.
Legends has 71 job openings in the Denver area posted on Indeed.com and 35 openings specifically listed on its website. Positions are open to qualified candidates including former Aramark and Levy employees, company spokeswoman Olivia Cheng said.
In December of last year, the Pepsi Center, Coors Field and what is now Empower Field at Mile High were dinged for food safety violations, in an ESPN “Outside the Lines” investigation covering 2016 and 2017. That story had nothing to do with Kroenke Sports & Entertainment going with a new food and beverage vendor this year, Villanueva said last month.