This Week In Washington, New Lambeau Field Concessions

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Heard On Central Time

This season, Packer fans will have more to choose from at the Lambeau Field concession stands. We find out about the new offerings, such as bacon bread and elk stroganoff. Also, we’re joined by a national political reporter to talk about the top stories of the week, including hurricane recovery efforts getting underway in Florida.

Featured in this Show

  • This Week In Washington – September 13, 2017

    Paul Singer, Washington correspondent for USA Today, joins us to recap the week’s biggest stories in national politics.

  • Lambeau's New Concession Offerings Include Elk Stroganoff And Bacon Bread

    Brats, bacon and cheese are the traditional standbys at Lambeau Field concession stands. We’ll find out what new menu items have been added this season. Hungry Packers’ fans can choose from elk stroganoff, bacon bread and bacon-dillas, to name a few.

  • Food Writer Shares His Favorite New Lambeau Foods

    When you think of the Green Bay Packers and Lambeau Field, you probably don’t think of an executive chef. But fans should know that the Pack have valuable players both on and off the field. Heath Barbato, the mastermind of the food offered at Lambeau, is one of them.

    This season the executive chef has some fun new food items available at concessions stands.

    The new foods include twists on old favorites: burgers, brats and of course cheese. One of the more wacky dishes is the elk stroganoff — but most of the items are classics.

    “You’d think, ‘Oh, these are just brats and burgers and that’s it,’ but there’s a lot more behind the scenes that goes on,” said Green Bay Press Gazette food and drink reporter Dan Higgins.

    Higgins said the food concessions at Lambeau require Barbato to think like a chef, adding that it’s “full-blown culinary arts” in the kitchens — which might not be what you’d expect when it comes to concession stand fare. Last year, the reporter spent a night following the chef around the stadium.

    “I was worn out. I couldn’t believe how much walking around he’s doing around this whole building, solving all these problems as he goes along,” Higgins said.

    While shadowing Barbato, Higgins got to sample some of the new menu items being offered at Lambeau this year, sharing some of his favorites with WPR’s “Central Time.”

    The first is a new twist on an old favorite: the brandy old-fashioned brat. The bratwurst has a brandy cherry chutney on top of it.

    “The contrast of that tart and sweet with the bratwurst is really quite interesting,” Higgins said. “I don’t know that it’s necessarily something that everybody’s gonna love, but for me or for people who really like to find something a little bit different, I think that one kinda hits the mark.”

    Another new favorite for Higgins is the 1919 burger.

    The burger is on the menu at the 1919 Kitchen & Tap restaurant at Lambeau, but wasn’t available at concession stands until this season. Higgins put it on the list of the 12 best burgers in Wisconsin before. The burger has Havarti cheese, fried sauerkraut, and peppered bacon on it, topped with a red pepper aioli.

    “Somehow it all comes together, rather than all these toppings overpowering the burger, which can happen a lot. I think people have fun with burgers, put a lot of toppings on it, but then you lose the burger flavor, and somehow they found the right balance,” he said.

    Concessions at Lambeau change from year to year, and Higgins has one delicacy he wishes he could have again: the doughnut ice cream sandwich. A panini maker, or sandwich press machine, was used to press two doughnuts around a scoop of ice cream.

    “You’d end up with this warm, crusty, crispy doughnut around this kind of still chilled ice cream in the middle,” he described.

    He said of everything he’s ever had at Lambeau, that’s the dish that always comes back to him as something he’d love to have again.

    You can find a full list of the new food offered at Lambeau (and where to get it) here.

Episode Credits

  • Rob Ferrett Host
  • Veronica Rueckert Host
  • Rob Ferrett Producer
  • Kate Archer Kent Producer
  • Paul Singer Guest
  • Dan Higgins Guest

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