Wine and Dine Hawaii
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Ono Grinds at the Ballgame
| Ono Grinds at the Ballgame |
Concession operators Sodexho |
One of the things that impresses me most about restaurants — and people in the food business in general — is a desire to be the best.
Many of the restaurants I visit on a regular basis will never reach the creative standards of say, Alan Wong, nor will they achieve the business success of someone like Roy Yamaguchi, who now owns more than 30 restaurants. But almost every week I meet someone who is trying just as hard to put out the best food they can.
I’ve noticed that all of these people have something in common. They listen to what customers say, they change things that need to be changed and they work within their organizations to improve everything they can.
I admire them tremendously and try to support all of their efforts.
Of course, here in Honolulu we have our share of bad restaurants manned by sloppy staff and misguided chefs, but for the most part, I’d say that the greater percentage is made up by those trying hard to improve.
One place where this philosophy is evident is at the UH baseball stadium.
Concession operators Sodexho, under the guidance of general manager Roger Reeves, have, for the past three years or so, been working on a plan to not only improve stadium food (both at the Stan Sheriff Center and Les Muarakami Stadium), but to do it while listening to what the public wants.
And that means taking complaints right on the chin.
“We do want to hear what people have to say, “ says Reeves, who is undoubtedly dedicated to putting out the best product he can.
“It’s not always easy, but we need to hear what our customers want so we can give it to them.”
The Sodexho approach of listening and then acting has resulted in tremendously improved concessions at the Stan Sheriff Center, with offerings that include fresh salad and garden wraps, high-quality coffee stands, Italian ices, daily plate lunches, bread bowls filled with hot soup, healthy sandwiches, daily roasts carved to order at a make-your-own sandwich stand, larger hot dogs and local favorites like edamame and saimin.
And over at Les Murakami Stadium baseball fans are in for similar treatment.
“We’ve introduced concession stands around the stadium so people don’t have to wait in line anymore. And we’re offering more choices,” says concessions manager Davy Murayama.
The stands include hot bowls of rice with a variety of toppings: stir-fried beef, chicken with veggies and garlic chicken, are a few.
“Roger and I went to a number of ball parks on the Mainland to do research, “ says Murayama, “and we noticed that as well as offering more choices, the lines were less when there were a higher number of concession stands.” It’s working already at Les Murakami Stadium where lines for food have all but disappeared and the kitchen crew (led by Murayama and operations manager Wendy Surac) is working on recipe and product development.
And Reeves’ commitment to getting the food right is paying off. Spending per person is up (from about $3.30 per person at baseball to around $7) and fans seem pleased at the attempts to introduce new foods.
“We’re introducing more items,” says Reeves, “and we’re always interested to hear what sports fans have to say.”
He means it.
I know, because I’m one of their biggest critics — and I mean that in the nicest possible way!
But it doesn’t really matter how fancy the food gets, how short the lines are or how hot the rice is, there’s one thing that never changes at the ball park and that’s the biggest food seller of all time.
Hot dogs.
“They outsell everything,” says Davy.
The “Warrior Dog” is so big, it must be seen — and eaten — to be believed.
Happy eating! |
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