WINNING DISHES

Stadium food has long since upgraded from hot dogs, pretzels and sacks of salted peanuts lobbed at your head. The new SoFi Stadium in Inglewood will feature dishes crafted by two James Beard winners inspired by the streets of L.A. And as California reopen

The streets of L.A. served as the launching pad for a pair of James Beard Awardwinning chefs who have designed the food program at the new SoFi Stadium.

Expect offerings inspired by delis, pizza and burger joints and the city’s Mexican and Asian cuisine while you take in Rams and Chargers football games as well as concerts in the new 70,000-seat stadium.

“The food really reflects the food that we love to eat and what we think works in a stadium,” said Jon Shook, who teamed with SoFi Stadium to create a city-inspired menu with fellow chef and business partner Vinny Dotolo.

“We want to make sure people are happy with this, and doing something too avant-garde might turn people off in a stadium setting, so it was really about feeding the masses with the best quality,” Dotolo said.

The all-star chefs, who have been featured on the Food Network show “Two Dudes Catering,” are behind some of Los Angeles’ most respected restaurants, including meat lover’s paradise Animal, the seafood-centric Son of a Gun and Italian eatery Jon & Vinny’s.

For their partnership with the stadium, the chefs have created the LA Eats concession program based on four concepts, each named after a notable city street.

The concession stands are Olvera Street, Fairfax Avenue, Sawtelle Boulevard and San Vicente Boulevard.

“It’s everything from history to where we think food is going, but definitely driven toward stadium philosophy,” Shook said.

The four types have multiple locations throughout the stadium and serve the same menu, according to a stadium spokesperson.

Here, you can take a trip through some of the highlights of each street-inspired menu. Note that prices have not been announced.

Fairfax

The chefs describe this as a sub, deli and cheeseburger concept serving items such as chicken salad sandwiches, vegan chili, jalapeño cheddar sausage, chips and queso, a gooey chocolate chip cookie and fusions of cheeseburgers and subs.

The standouts:

CHEESEBURGER SUB » This is pretty much a long cheeseburger that’s simple and classic. American cheese tops a beef patty with pickles, ketchup and mustard in a potato bun. It can be split in two for those with lighter appetites,

or easily devoured by a hungry burger lover.

VEGGIE BURGER » This is the cheeseburger sub with a veggie patty instead of beef.

Olvera

The city’s Mexican cuisine is on display with offerings such as burritos, tacos and shrimp cocktails.

The standouts:

CHICKEN TINGA NACHOS » Forget the football game, because it will require all of your attention to tackle this big plate of spicy nachos. A ton of nachos (probably not the actual weight, but maybe) is topped with green onions, black olives, chopped tomatoes, sour cream, pickled jalapeños, queso and Salsa Macha, a brand from Veracruz, Mexico,

that’s made with a variety of dried peppers. Oh yeah, there’s also chicken tinga layered amid all of the goodness.

BEEF BARBACOA BURRITO » The chefs reached out to El Monte-born Burritos Las Palmas for its flour tortillas to wrap around their braised beef, rice and pinto beans. The slow-cooked shredded beef is tender, juicy and just slightly spicy, while the tortilla is delicate and buttery.

San Vicente

Menu items include pizza, meatballs and lighter fare such as a kale salad. There’s also a hot dog/pizza hybrid parked here.

The Standouts:

PEPPERONI PIZZA » This is a thick chunk dripping with

mozzarella, tomato sauce and thick pepperoni with perfectly burned edges.

STROMBOLI DOG » This hot dog-meets-Stromboli dish isn’t only the standout in the San Vicente menu, this may be the star of the entire LA Eats menu, just because it’s so weird. The hot dog is wrapped in capicola, mortadella, salami and provolone. Then, that’s all wrapped in pizza dough and baked. And forget ketchup; this is served with marinara sauce. The dough tastes like a warm cloud, which is fitting since the combo of the hot dog and the other ingredients is pretty much meat heaven.

Sawtelle

This is a nod to Asian fusion cuisine with options such

as sesame ginger salad, vegetables with miso dip and a unique take on tater tots.

The standouts:

CRISPY CHICKEN SANDWICH » This sandwich looks like a salad on a bun, since there’s a mountain of cabbage, cucumbers, carrots, onions, jalapeños and onions. But wait, there’s more. After a big bite through the greenery, you’ll get to the sweet soy sauce, the spicy Sriracha mayo and then the tender and juicy chicken strips.

TSUNAMI TOTS » These may look like regular tots, but the Asian influences pop out in flavor bursts in every bite. The tots are drizzled with eel sauce, Sriracha aioli, furikake and togarashi for a bit of a spicy kick.

PHOTO COURTESY OF LOS ANGELES DODGERS PHOTO COURTESY OF GROW WILD PHOTOGRAPHY Above: The burnt end nachos are among the new items being served this season at Dodger Stadium. Right: Legends Hospitality carefully tracks feedback from fans to cater to their tastes at restaurants and concession stands. It has already noticed that this season baseball fans crave comfort food like this Rotisserie Chicken Salad Sandwich.

PHOTO BY BRITTANY MURRAY — PRESS-TELEGRAM/SCNG John Brenning plates food at the SoFi Stadium tasting event June 2. Chefs Jon Shook and Vinny Dotolo designed a new menu at the stadium inspired by delis, pizza and burger joints and the city’s Mexican and Asian cuisine. The concession stands will be located throughout the venue as fans take in Rams and Chargers football games or a concert.

PHOTOS BY BRITTANY MURRAY — STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER SoFi Stadium held a tasting event for their LA Eats concept in Inglewood on June 2. The four concepts created in partnership with well known chefs Vinny Dotolo, left, and Jon Shook are available all over the stadium, and each concept is named after a city street.

The cheeseburger sub is pretty much a long cheeseburger that’s simple and classic. It features a buttered Martin’s potato bun, American cheese, pickles, ketchup and mustard.

The Crispy Chicken Sandwich is served with chicken strips, cabbage, cucumber, carrot, cilantro, sweet soy sauce, sriracha mayo, on a Martin’s potato bun.