Fort Myers Florida Weekly

New Miracle menu a home run with foodies




Triple Play Pizza is one of the many items on the menu served at the Fort Myers Miracle games that is a hit with foodies visiting the park. COURTESY PHOTO

Triple Play Pizza is one of the many items on the menu served at the Fort Myers Miracle games that is a hit with foodies visiting the park. COURTESY PHOTO

At every ballpark in America, you’ll find baseball fans with a hot dog in one hand and a draft beer in the other.

Hammond Stadium, however, is unlike every other ballpark. Yes, we still serve plump Kayem hot dogs and cold beer (more than two dozen brands, at last count), but the Fort Myers Miracle’s food and beverage team is managed by a pair of distinguished chefs — Kevin Bush and Loren Merrigan — known for their culinary genius, creative flair and never-ending quest to create the next big ballpark sensation.

This season might just be their best, as evidenced by growing crowds of foodies making a beeline for the concession stand at Hammond Stadium.

The Miracle Menu is ever-evolving, but two months into the 2018 baseball season, these are the hottest five new dishes being served at Hammond Stadium, according to Bush and Merrigan.

TRIPLE PLAY PIZZA
Price: $6.50/slice or $26/pie

Many ballparks serve pizza, but oftentimes it’s pre-made offsite and stuck under warmers for hours. Our concessions team starts with 16-inch Rich’s pizza dough and lathers it with olive oil, Italian seasonings, garlic salt and pizza sauce, then tops it with a thick layer of mozzarella cheese. Guests can select from cheese, pepperoni and cheese, sausage and cheese or the Triple Play, which has pepperoni, sausage and cheese.

Poutine, Mac and Cheese Chili Dog, Beef Tacos and Pancake Bacon Burger are a few of the many items on the menu served at the Fort Myers Miracle games that are a hit with foodies visiting the park. COURTESY PHOTO

Poutine, Mac and Cheese Chili Dog, Beef Tacos and Pancake Bacon Burger are a few of the many items on the menu served at the Fort Myers Miracle games that are a hit with foodies visiting the park. COURTESY PHOTO

The most interesting part about the Triple Play Pizza is how the pie got its name.

“In 1990, the Twins became the first Major League team to turn two triple plays in one game, so our 5-4-3 Triple Play Pizza Parlor pays homage to this amazing feat — third base to second base to first base,” said Mr. Merrigan, catering director for the Miracle. “It’s a unique way to celebrate an achievement that still hasn’t been duplicated 28 years later.”

Hammond Stadium added a new two-tier Lincoln Impinger conveyer oven that bakes pizza pies as customers wait in line, sending a tantalizing, aromatic pizza scent throughout the concourse.

 

 

PANCAKE BACON BURGER
Price: $6.75

Is it breakfast? Is it dinner? Who cares? It’s delicious.

The pancake bacon burger isn’t made for the timid and isn’t really an entrée suitable to eat at your seat — partly because you might need a knife and fork, but mainly because your friends will all want a bite.

The entrée starts with an all-beef hamburger patty topped with American cheese and crispy applewood bacon stuffed between two golden brown pancakes. The suddenly robust entrée is topped with maple syrup and powdered sugar, both of which also are poured into small serving cups in case you choose to add more.

“The trend in culinary arts is to mix flavors, and a lot of our first-time pancake burger customers aren’t sure what to expect,” said Mr. Bush, the Miracle’s director of food and beverage. “Once you take a bite, though, you can’t stop.”

 

 

MAC & CHEESE CHILI DOG
Price: $7.25

It starts innocently enough, with a juicy Kayem hot dog and bun, but then the fun begins. A ladle oozing with white cheddar macaroni and cheese coats the hot dog before being topped with ground beef-based, steaming hot chili. At this point, the hot dog essentially disappears.

Much like the pancake bacon burger, the macaroni and cheese chili dog is pretty much impossible to eat with one hand.

“We added tables in the concourse near concession stands so fans could start eating right away — and be close to extra napkins,” Bush said. “It’s been great seeing families and friends buy a couple of different menu items, gather around a table and share dinner.”

POUTINE
Price: $7

While Hammond Stadium is home to the Fort Myers Miracle, it’s also home to thousands of Minnesotans during spring training and the Miracle season. Our food and beverage team continuously surveys fans to see which items they’d like to see added to the Miracle Menu, and this spring we debuted poutine.

 

 

“If you’re not from the Upper Midwest or Canada, you’ve probably never heard of poutine,” Mr. Merrigan said. “But Twins fans went crazy over poutine this spring, and it’s been steadily catching on with Miracle fans this summer.”

The Miracle’s poutine starts with Cavendish-brand French fries and Wisconsin cheese curds cooked to golden perfection, then piled high into a serving basket. A ladle of thick, brown gravy is artfully spread over the mixture, offering a tastier, unique alternative to ketchup.

BEEF TACOS
Price: $6.25

Tacos are one of the simplest dishes on the Miracle Menu: two flour tortillas are filled to the halfway point with seasoned ground beef and topped with shredded cheddar cheese. There is nothing fancy or innovative about these tacos, but they’re amazingly popular. And tasty.

Kevin Bush, left, and Loren Merrigan, right. COURTESY PHOTO

Kevin Bush, left, and Loren Merrigan, right. COURTESY PHOTO

Our loyal fans, though, know how to capitalize on a promotion.

“The Miracle’s 2-for-1 Tuesday promotion essentially has turned that day of the week into Taco Tuesday at Hammond Stadium,” Mr. Bush said. “For $6.25, you get four tacos instead of two, and our domestic beer and soda also is two-for-one all evening. It’s the best bargain in town.”

— Chris Peters is president and general manager of the Fort Myers Miracle, the Class- A Advanced Affiliate of the Minnesota Twins. For more information, call the Miracle at 768- 4210 or visit www.MiracleBaseball.com.

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