MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) – When it comes to the Super Bowl of stadium food, the new home for the Minnesota Vikings already looks like a champion.
On Tuesday, U.S. Bank Stadium announced its culinary lineup, including cuisine from Andrew Zimmern and Gavin Kaysen, the fried chicken from Chef Thomas Boehmer at Revival and local restaurants like Ike’s and the Blue Plate Restaurant Company.
The team’s concession partner, Aramark, already announced that Twin Cities celebrity chef and cable T.V. host Andrew Zimmern would be creating concepts and helping guide the new stadium’s offerings. Zimmern will be selling porchetta, shredded chicken and lamb dishes at the latest version of his Andrew Zimmern’s Canteen.
AZ Canteen started as a food truck and has spread to concepts in stadiums around the country, including Target Field.
Gavin Kaysen is a Twin Cities native who returned to Minneapolis in 2014 to open Spoon and Stable. Kaysen won the Rising Star award from the James Beard Foundation in 2008 for his work in New York City’s Café Boulud.
In the stadium, he’ll team up with Zimmern to open another AZ Canteen. His outposts will sell savory meatballs and loaded hoagies.
Perhaps the biggest surprise at the stadium is Revival, the Minneapolis fried chicken hotspot that’s expanding quicker than the waistlines of frequent customers.
Revival opened in 2015 in south Minneapolis, featuring long lines during busy times of people hungry for Chef Boehmer’s fried chicken. On the heels of announcing an expansion to the Minneapolis location, and a new spot on Selby Avenue in St. Paul, Revival will bring its popular fried chicken, as well as some other southern specialties, to the stadium.
Blue Plate Restaurant Company won huge acclaim for its new Minnesota State Fair restaurant Blue Barn, and its North Loop neighborhood restaurant and brewpub The Freehouse. Blue Plate is expected to sell some of the greatest hits from those restaurants.
Ike’s Food & Cocktails has been a fixture in downtown Minneapolis for decades, now with locations at the Minneapolis/St. Paul International Airport, Minnetonka and Bloomington. Ike’s owner, and Bloomington mayor, Gene Winstead will offer their popular steak sandwich and the signature Bloody Mary.