Every year, the Akron RubberDucks strive for home runs in outrageous cuisine.
This year, the team is going way beyond bread, adding two gut-busting sandwiches with unusual buns.
The Notorious P.I.G. uses two fried pork tenderloins to enclose pulled pork, smoked shoulder bacon and sauerkraut slaw made with maple honey mustard. The Yardbird boasts two warm apple fritters as the bun, filled with turkey, bacon, apples, arugula and honey cream cheese.
The new items — revealed at a news conference at Canal Park on Monday — will be available starting Thursday at the minor league team’s season opener against the Bowie (Md.) Baysox. The game begins at 6:35 p.m.
The two sandwiches, part of an Extreme Foods menu that dates to 2011, were dreamed up during the off-season. James Phillips, the team’s new executive chef, was “seeing what the trends are, but also looking do something different,” explained Brian Manning, food and beverage director for the RubberDucks.
“We’ve seen a lot of ballparks doing the doughnut burger, and we thought, how can we do it differently?” Manning said of the Yardbird.
The Notorious P.I.G., “comprised of multiple different pork ingredients,” came about from Phillips “looking at different ways you can do pork … and how can we be creative,” Manning said.
Phillips, a University of Akron graduate, previously was head chef at a lunch place in Cleveland.
The new sandwiches join fan favorites such as the Nice 2 Meat U Burger, two 10-ounce patties topped with two all-beef hot dogs, bacon, cheddar cheese and onions; and the Screamer, a 21-scoop ice cream sundae over a giant brownie.
The Squealer is back from last year, a half-pound, foot-long hot dog stuffed with pulled pork and cheddar cheese.
The new items have prices to match their size. The Yardbird is $12 and available only at the Game Grill + Bar, while the Notorious P.I.G. is $15 and is available at the Bier Garten concession stand. (RubberDucks officials like to point out the sandwiches can be shared.)
Two items that debuted last year are not returning: The Meat Your Maker Quesadilla, a triple-decker that was as big as a vinyl record, and the European Vacation, a foot-long bratwurst on a pierogi bun topped with spicy feta cheese spread and roasted red peppers.
“Fans have really kind of voted with their stomachs … It’s kind of fun to see the evolution of the Extreme Foods menu,” Manning said.
The team’s tradition of big portions of food out of left field got started in 2011, when then-chef Jason Kerton introduced the Nice 2 Meat U Burger and the Three Dog Night, a hot dog stuffed in a bratwurst wrapped in a kielbasa. (Both are still on the menu.)
Comedian Lewis Black mentioned the Nice 2 Meat U on The Daily Show “and things really took off,” said Adam Liberman, the RubberDucks’ director of public and media relations.
Liberman said Ken Babby, who purchased the then-Akron Aeros in October 2012, embraced the idea of unusual food, as have owners of other minor- and major-league clubs. The team has worked to change up the offerings each year, keeping fan favorites, dropping items when they weren’t doing well, adding new ones.
Also Monday, the team introduced a new menu for the Game Grill + Bar at the stadium, on Main Street in downtown Akron. It will open on game days, two hours prior to the scheduled start time, and remain open after games. The menu features sandwiches, wraps, flatbread pizzas, soups, salads, snacks and desserts, as well as hot dogs and burgers.
Gone is the buffet called the Chef’s Table, which featured different foods at each homestand.
New items include the Cleveland Polish Boy ($10), a toasted sub roll with beef kielbasa, French fries, coleslaw and barbecue sauce, and Mega Fries ($12), Cajun fries topped with barbecue brisket, cheddar and asiago cheeses, roasted red peppers, scallions and garlic aioli.
Announcements about beverages at the stadium are expected this week.
Katie Byard at 330-996-3781 or kbyard@thebeaconjournal.com. You can follow her @KatieByardABJ on Twitter or on Facebook at www.facebook.com and read the Akron Dish blog at www.ohio.com/food.