Chicago food festival showcases unique spin on ballpark fare

CHICAGO -- Food and baseball are intertwined.

Walk into any ballpark, and you will instantly be hit with the aromas of hot dogs, burgers and popcorn. As you take in the game from your seat, vendors roam the stands offering an assortment of options, including peanuts, Cracker Jack, cotton candy, ice cream and more.

But the menu of America’s Pastime goes beyond these classics. When you go to a baseball game today, unique food is part of the experience.

This past weekend, MLB partnered with The Infatuation, a restaurant discovery platform that hosted EEEEEATSCON -- a food festival at The Salt Shed venue in Chicago, with local restaurants serving as headliners. As part of the festival, MLB partnered with Taqueria Chingon, a Mexican restaurant in Chicago that created a unique menu emulating modern ballpark food.

On the menu was cochinita pibil nachos (barbecue pork) and roasted corn and poblano nachos (vegan) and churros for dessert. The offerings were served in MLB, Cubs and White Sox serveware helmets. Beer served in plastic 26-ounce bats was also available.

“Personally, half of going to a baseball game is getting the snacks and the beer and sitting in your seat and enjoying it," said Eva Bernstein, a Phillies fan and festival goer who ordered the roasted corn and poblano nachos.

“It’s fun,” Bernstein added of the experience. “A similar vibe of getting a snack, sitting down and enjoying the vibe.”

Andrew Steinthal, who co-founded The Infatuation in 2009, is a “huge” Yankees fan who grew up watching New York teams featuring Dave Winfield (his favorite player), Don Mattingly and Willie Randolph.

In partnering with MLB for the festival, two of his passions intertwined.

“MLB has always been an ideal partner for The Infatuation," Steinthal said. "Food is such an integral part of your baseball experience, right? You go to the game, you're drinking a beer, you're eating a hot dog.

“All of these stadiums have their own things they're famous for on some level, so it always made a lot of sense to try and figure out some kind of partnership between our brands.”

As part of the experience, MLB had a large grandstand setup at the festival, with stadium seating and a large videoboard broadcasting four MLB games at once. That included the Cubs-Royals, Astros-Mariners, Reds-Blue Jays and Braves-Giants matchups on Sunday.

The experience resembled being at a ballpark. Festival goers could enjoy their food and take in a ballgame.

Outside the grandstand stood life-size bobbleheads of White Sox slugger Eloy Jiménez and mascot Southpaw. Around the corner stood a giant World Series trophy for photo opportunities.

Packs of baseball cards sat atop the various food stands around the festival, and vendors -- including Southpaw -- delivered Cubs, White Sox and other MLB-themed merchandise in ballpark trays.

EEEEEATSCON, which was held in Los Angeles in May, will also be held in New York in October.

“Nachos out of a baseball helmet, beer out of a baseball bat, setting up bleachers to watch the games during the day in a baseball market like Chicago, it's incredible," Steinthal said.

“We're just super stoked to be able to work with MLB and hope that we can do a lot more in the future.”