Italian beefs, sushi hand-rolls, pop-rock potatoes: What to eat at Climate Pledge Arena

As the Seattle Kraken embark on their second season at Climate Pledge Arena, the team tasked with feeding 17,500 hungry fans has been up to their elbows in Impossible meat, vegan doughnuts and kimchi.

At an arena?

The new menu features several stadium favorites done up with plant-based Impossible proteins, including a quadrant of sandwiches (available at Bristol Bay Wild Market, Section 21): a Philly cheesesteak with cheese whiz made on-site; a sausage link covered in chili and Tillamook cheddar; a bratwurst with Seattle’s HERO giardiniera, a spicy condiment of pickled vegetables in olive oil; and a meatball sub with Mama Lil’s hot peppers.

Outside of traditional arena fare, you can also dig into a Korean barbecue bowl of jasmine rice with marinated Impossible “beef” (at the Impossible Market in Section 11) and sushi (club ticket required, Sections 1 and 14). Yes, sushi.

Just Poke, another Seattle company with almost 20 locations, has launched Sugo, which offers hand-rolls ready for quick consumption on the way back to your seat. The seaweed wrapper comes with two compostable plastic sleeves on either side, which you carefully pull off to enjoy the fresh tuna on top.

Always wanted to try a bubble waffle? That’s also on the menu at Climate Pledge Arena, served with sweet-and-sticky fried chicken with maple-laced hot sauce and cream. You can even snag Dough Joy’s vegan doughnuts (Local Lolli, AMEX Hall) without hightailing to one of the brand’s two Seattle brick-and-mortar shops.

At Sound Pizza (Section 19 and 117), try a Detroit-style square with salami, pepperoni and more cured meats from Coro Foods, a local woman-owned salumeria.

“Arena pizza is such a missed opportunity,” said Molly de Mers at a media preview Oct. 12.

What she really means: Forget frozen pizza, SuperPretzels and plain hot dogs. Let’s put bacon “pop rocks” on a hasselback potato and serve it with a housemade cheese sauce.

RETHINKING FOOD AT CLIMATE PLEDGE ARENA

As executive chef of the ambitious food experience at Climate Pledge Arena, de Mers and her team aim to outwit the constraints of typical arena fare, from both menu-item and sourcing perspectives. Concession manager One Delaware North calls it The Climate Collective, which, broadly, is a commitment to buy at least 75 percent of ingredients from within a 300-mile radius of downtown Seattle. The framework also focuses on drawing consumer attention to plant-based protein and meats free from antibiotics and hormones.

“It’s not a plug-and-play. It wasn’t a rinse-and-repeat,” de Mers told McClatchy in an interview ahead of the Kraken’s Oct. 15 home opener.

Together with One Delaware North, which manages dozens of stadiums, venues and catering operations around the world, arena owner Amazon and de Mers’ leadership team agreed: “We’ve gotta change things, from a sustainability standpoint, from a technology standpoint, and from a guest experience standpoint,” she explained this week.

Where everyone said, “It can’t be done,” they are out to prove it can.

De Mers leads a team of six chefs, six junior sous chefs, 20 team leads and 100 cooks. Add to that about 450 employees that staff the dozens of marketplaces.

The difference is evident upon entering the new arena, which opened in 2021. Aside from the obvious new-car-smell and shine, as an attendee of any event — whether it’s an NHL game or a concert — you can see a lot of what’s going on behind the counter.

During my first visit last season, where my hometown Pittsburgh Penguins slammed the Kraken 6-1, we embraced the Just Walk Out technology, in which you swipe a credit card or your Amazon Prime QR code to enter one of several marketplaces, grabbing what you want and letting the tech do the rest.

It’s confusing for first-timers — and assuredly there were many such people in the arena’s inaugural year — but the cashier-less transaction “allows guests to get back to their seat,” said de Mers.

You are, after all, here for the game.

We took (paid for!) a Li’l Woody’s burger on the main level and indeed returned promptly to our seats before the second-period puck drop.

NEW FOOD FOR 2022 KRAKEN SEASON

That burger joint has been replaced by one that, at least during the media tour, is a superior choice.

The chef has her own outfit, called Molly D Burgers (Section 9), where the patties are formed with Royal Ranch beef from Eastern Washington. Grab a quarter-pounder with Darigold cheddar, pickles, onions and secret sauce, or indulge in the double deluxe.

Another treat here is the peanut butter and jelly corn dog, which is battered and fried in-house and served with a super-dippable strawberry jam.

Other new dishes include loaded fries topped with not with cheese but cilantro crema and kimchi, as well as brisket, smoked on-site, doused in Richard’s Too Good Seattle BBQ sauce (Mercer Street Mac & BBQ, Section 24 and 107). Prefer your brisket or pulled pork over mac and cheese? Check.

Rolling over from last season, Shaquille O’Neill’s Big Chicken Market offers spicy fried chicken sandwiches that should satisfy your fast-food desires with a bit more heat and flavor.

“Whether you are coming and you want a good beer and an old-school brat, a slice of pizza, or you’re a foodie and you want to try out our new sushi tacos or our Kraken bacon pop-rock potato, or you’re health conscious and you maybe have some dietary needs that typically other stadiums or arenas can’t meet. They throw you in a corner and give you stale gluten-free bun,” said de Mers. “We want everyone to walk in this door and experience something that I think has been lacking in this industry, which is empathy, a humanized experience and really good genuine food, sourced locally and done right.”

Draft beer is served in recyclable Ball Aluminum Cups, which I took home from the game as a reusable, unbreakable party option. All plateware and cutlery is compostable.

Food prices are fair for the higher-than-usual quality (most big items are $13-$16), but alcoholic beverages are admittedly pricey. You’ll pay the same amount for one 16 or 19-ounce can of beer.

WHAT TO EAT AT CLIMATE PLEDGE ARENA

▪ Molly D Burgers, Section 9: Royal Single or Double Deluxe, PB&J corn dog

▪ Big Chicken Market, Section 6 and 203: fried chicken sandwich or tenders and wedge fries

▪ Hempler’s Marketplace, Section 124: classic all-beef hot dog

▪ Impossible sandwiches at Bristol Bay Wild Market, Section 21: bratwurst in Mac & Jack’s amber ale with giardiniera and sauerkraut

▪ Impossible Market, Sections 3-4 and 11-12: plant-based chicken nuggets, burgers and tacos

▪ Uptown Grille, Section 4: Italian beef sandwich with giardiniera, peppers, onions and jus

▪ Just Poke/Sugo, Sections 1 and 14: spicy ahi tuna poke bowl, sushi hand-rolls

▪ Seattle Eats and Local Lolli, AMEX Hall: Italian beef, bacon pop-rock potato, Dough Joy doughnuts