Vegan Crudites and a 64-Ounce Tomahawk Steak: Behind The 2020 Grammy Awards Menu
Attendees of this year's Grammy Awards will have their choice of a massive 64-ounce steak or a Motley Crue-inspired Dr. FeelGood superfood platter during tomorrow night's (Jan. 26) big award show.
Attendees of this year’s Grammy Awards will have their choice of a massive 64-ounce steak or a Mötley Crüe-inspired Dr. FeelGood superfood platter during tomorrow night’s (Jan. 26) big award show.
Earlier this week, staff at host venue Staples Center continued their annual tradition of inviting media outlets to photograph, touch and taste the food items being served in suites and premium areas during the Grammy Awards. Manny Slomovits, Staples Center executive chef and concessionaire Levy Restaurants, led the tour. The culinary sampling began with a two-part meat offering that included a Wagyu sous vide beef brisket board and an optional upgrade to a huge four-pound Tomahawk steak with roasted cauliflower, Himalayan sea salt-encrusted smashed potatoes and house-made steak sauce.
“It’s essentially a very large ribeye steak,” Slomovits said. “Hopefully whoever orders it loves it and orders two of them.”
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Also on the menu this year is the Staples Center’s hugely popular lobster mac and cheese dish, its pretzel chedder poppers and Philly cheese steak mini egg roll bites, which are “packed with cheese and are super playful with sweet chili sauce. If you are just looking to grab a little nibble and get back to your seat and not miss a thing, it’s perfect.”
This year’s menu will also include several plant-based items, including a zen garden crudité flavored with pumpernickel dust on a base of edamame Boursin mousse, as well the aformentioned Dr. FeelGood superfood greens with shredded kale, cabbage, carrots, cilantro, green beans, green onions and carrot ginger dressing.
“This whole year was about trying to find a way to offer sustainable vegan options,” Slomovits explained. “When most people think vegan, they think its plant-based and something that goes between two buns. We’re way past that here at Staples Center.”
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The menu is also about having fun, he explained, saying guests are “looking for playful food, not a three-course sit down meal. They want to have some candied bacon or a great sandwich they can bite it into. Something they can eat in their hand and not worry about getting it on their dress.”
Grammy night will feature three signature drinks from the hospitality team at Staples Center including the venue’s anniversary drink, the Platinum 20. The Platinum 20 is made with Absolut Juice Strawberry, basil simple syrup, cranberry juice and topped with Campo Viejo Cava Brut Rosé with a strawberry lime salt rim.
Themed for the biggest night in music, Staples Center will be serving the Magic Note. The cocktail’s agave nectar and butterfly tea blend transform a large blue ice cube into a dreamy pink color as the premium vodka blend is poured over it.
“We are doing something a little magical and unique and different,” says Levy Restaurants vp of hospitality and retail for Staples Center Payman Khania. “We are taking what we call petree flowers, which is a type of herb, and we are infusing it into a tea that will change the color. We are using Absolut Elyx Premium vodka to bring out the flavor for our rendition of a tea that is infused with a blue color to it.”
The final cocktail is a deconstructed margarita named the Avion 44 Gelee. The Staples Center has taken a Himalayan salt cube and run a smoker through it, infusing the glasses with Himalayan salt smoke. Served on the side “is a gelatin which has kefir sugar on it for a touch of sweetness and then a sliver of lime with a salt that is smoked to give it that dirty, salty, citrus taste to it,” explains Khania, who finishes off by topping the glass of with Avion 44 extra anejo tequila.