Lobster rolls served with drawn butter. House-made short rib pastrami sandwiches. Ham and cheese sandwiches with Dearborn ham. New York-style pizza with mushrooms and goat cheese.
Those are just a few of the tasty new menu options that will be offered to fans when the Detroit Red Wings hit the ice Oct. 9 at Little Caesars Arena for the season opener against the Montreal Canadiens. This season, the Detroit Red Wings hockey organization celebrates 100 years of the franchise.
On Tuesday, Sept. 30, the hockey organization and Delaware North Sportservice, LCA’s food and beverage partner, invited the media for its first sneak peek at LCA food offerings this season.
Along with Helene St. James, the Free Press’ esteemed sports journalist, hockey writer and author, I had the tough assignment of tasting a selection of mighty tasty food samples.
While all the food was really great, we deemed a few standouts.
We both loved the lobster roll. Unless you’re not a seafood fan, there’s nothing not like about chunks of lobster meat mixed with lemon and tarragon and served with melted butter for dipping. Served in small portions, we went back for seconds.
Mike’s Pizza mushroom and goat cheese New York-style pizza was also a winner for us both. The pizza features a blend of meaty sauteed mushrooms. The mushrooms are nestled in creamy goat cheese, basil and a drizzle of white truffle oil. All the ingredients and flavors blend well together on top of an airy, but slightly chewy crust. The executive chef told me this pizza dough starts out using part of a 35+-year-old starter.
Other Helene St. James favorites were the short rib ravioli with wild mushrooms and pickled blackberry and the Ramen Bowl.
Favorites for me also included the gnoochi, tender pastrami sandwich, Beirut Bakery shawarma and chocolate chip cookie ice cream sandwich.
Delaware North’s executive chef Troy Michalkiewicz at LCA said new food options can be found at the street-facing restaurants, concessions, suites and all the food around in the clubs and those from local partners.
Some of the new items, Michalkiewicz said, are at Mike’s Pizza, Mixing Board and Bell’s Taphouse and include handmade pastas, such as the short rib ravioli and new pizzas.
Michalkiewicz said new drink options available include handcrafted margaritas and themed drinks with a focus on the season’s centennial vibe. New vegan options include a Spicy Shitake Bao Bun and Haloumi Mushroom Hash sandwich.
New local food partners at LCA include offerings from Slows Bar BQ and Redford’s longstanding Beirut Bakery, founded by the Hallis family.
“When you hear about Detroit, you think about that Middle Eastern culture, and this is some of the best representation of that food we could find,” Michalkiewicz said.
Sean Pattwell, Delaware North Sportservice general manager for LCA, believes they have a good feel for the City of Detroit and what people like to eat because they all “live here and grew up here and we dine out with our families here.”
“We have great relationships with a lot of the local restaurants that have become very well-known, like Beirut Bakery, Slows, and Green Dot Stables at the ballpark,” Pattwell said.
Beirut Bakery will serve chicken or beef shawarma sandwiches, chickpea salad, hummus and baklava.
“We are so excited because it’s such a nice community effort and we are all about community,” said Catherine Hallis at the event, along with her father, Milad Hallis, founder of Beirut Bakery, who was sporting a “Got Tabouli” T-shirt.
This season, fans will also find new merchandise with plenty geared toward the centennial celebrations, including new jerseys, hats and even items for pets.
Here’s a sampling of the new foods at LCA:
Contact Detroit Free Press food and restaurant writer Susan Selasky and send food and restaurant news and tips to: sselasky@freepress.com. Follow @SusanMariecooks on Twitter.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Little Caesars Arena has new food for Detroit Red Wings games: Our favorites
Reporting by Susan Selasky, Detroit Free Press / Detroit Free Press
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