新加坡多多开奖记录

The Buffalo-headquartered global hospitality company has a few more years left on its contract at the arena and plans to use that time to win over some of the new leadership put into place by the arena鈥檚 main tenant 鈥� the Buffalo Sabres.

After losing the Buffalo Bills hospitality contract to Legends at the new Highmark Stadium after 30 years as the team鈥檚 food and beverage contractor, it鈥檚 possible that Delaware North could be replaced as concessionaire for the other Pegula family-owned major professional sports team.

That could happen despite Delaware North being the concessions partner of the Sabres since the team鈥檚 inception in 1970.

Both sides have been communicating in the off season about how Delaware North can improve some of the products at the arena and be a more positive part of the game day experience for fans.

In recent seasons, fans have lodged most of their complaints about the quality and expense of some of the food and beer at the arena.

Delaware North has hosted tastings for team leadership in the off season and committed to refocusing on its core food items in the arena for this season 鈥� products that make up most of the game day sales at KeyBank Center.

The company has also brought a seasoned general manager to KeyBank Center in John DonVito, a Rochester native who worked for five years leading the food and beverage efforts for the NHL鈥檚 Nashville Predators at Bridgestone Arena.

DonVito said he considers the team the 鈥済ateway to the fans,鈥� so communicating with Sabres leadership and hearing about the feedback they receive will help Delaware North determine what needs more focus at the arena.

鈥淒elaware North is such a polarizing brand in the Buffalo market, but at the same time, fans see the Sabres logo and not Delaware North鈥檚 when they鈥檙e in the arena, so the team is the one that is usually going to get the phone calls,鈥� said DonVito, who marked his 20th year with Delaware North this summer. 鈥淭he team is really the ambassador to the fan and that voice of the fan, so we鈥檒l work with them in lockstep.鈥�

John Roth took over as chief development officer of the Sabres in January, and more recently the team named new executives to several business teams as Terry Pegula , which ran the day-to-day operations of the Bills and Sabres and other Pegula-led holdings for over a decade.

鈥淒elaware North has done a really good job stepping up, and we鈥檒l be showcasing a bunch of new things,鈥� Roth told The News. 鈥淲e鈥檝e had multiple different food stations staged for us to show us what they can do over the next couple of years. I鈥檓 pretty excited.鈥�

Amy Latimer, the new executive vice president and COO for Delaware North, said the relationship with Roth so far has been positive and she鈥檚 eager to see some tweaks to the experience at KeyBank Center.

Coming from the role of president at TD Garden 鈥� home of the NHL鈥檚 Boston Bruins 鈥� Latimer has been part of recent meetings with the Sabres to discuss food and beverage and retail offerings and also toured the more-than-19,000-seat arena in Buffalo.

鈥淭his is where I get to lean in a little bit and can bring some additional expertise because of my experience. Lending that to the Sabres and our other clients really can be meaningful,鈥� she said.

鈥淭here鈥檚 a great opportunity at that arena,鈥� Latimer added. 鈥淚 know how invested the Pegulas are and John Roth really understands the direction of where it can go.鈥�

DonVito is starting by focusing on a 鈥渉undred little projects,鈥� which he said can make a difference in performance. It can be something as simple as an analysis of whether all shelf space in a fridge is being optimized to bigger initiatives such as hosting tastings for clients to figure out the best products and combinations to use.

DonVito said Delaware North is working with the core arena products while trying to take advantage of every inch of space they鈥檙e able to use inside KeyBank Center.

While his team will prepare the fancier and lighter fare options, as well as custom and signature items for Buffalo, there will be a renewed focus on the quality of staples like hot dogs, pizza, chicken tenders and nachos.

鈥淭hat鈥檚 universal for everyone that plays in our space,鈥� DonVito said. 鈥淵ou may have those cool signature items because you want those 鈥業nstagram-able鈥� moments, but at the end of the day, if you break down the sales numbers, we sell maybe 30 of them per game.鈥�

鈥楥ontrolled chaos鈥�

Since starting in his new position in March, DonVito has been busy learning about his staff and the fans who attend games.

DonVito also has been figuring out the capabilities of the building, in some cases analyzing how to deal with some limitations.

The most difficult part of the job is making the equipment meet the expectations for each product that is sold. For example, the arena hot dogs are cooked on roller grills, but at some point, he would prefer to do it on flat-top grills. However, these grills are not accessible in all parts of the arena鈥檚 concessions areas.

鈥淚鈥檇 love to say that everywhere I walk, from a food perspective, I have a grill, fryer, economy oven 鈥� every piece of equipment I need, but that鈥檚 not the reality,鈥� said DonVito, who also worked at Baltimore Orioles Park at Camden Yards and Cleveland Browns Stadium and was part of the opening team at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey.

His staff is in a period of 鈥渃ontrolled chaos鈥� as they prepare for the Sabres season, which gets underway in October, DonVito said last month.

鈥淚鈥檇 be happy for play to start tomorrow if they鈥檇 let it,鈥� he said. 鈥淭here鈥檚 a fun quiet calm that makes you feel like a kid again, like when you鈥檙e playing sports growing up. Working in sports facilities can be pretty magical.鈥�

鈥楧own-and-dirty鈥� nachos

For any concessionaire, the quality of the arena鈥檚 staple foods is integral to success.

One complaint the Sabres have heard is about the quality of the nachos. Last season, they were served in a sealed bag with a sealed cheese container. Coming out of Covid, Delaware North thought that was what fans might want.

鈥淲hat was done last year wasn鈥檛 done to make a product they didn鈥檛 like. It was done with a focus on speed of service and freshness,鈥� DonVito said. 鈥淲hat we probably learned from it was that people want to go back to that down-and-dirty nacho on a tray or platter with the cheese all over top of it. You have your salsa and jalape帽os and other ingredients that make it that more stadium-feel nacho.鈥�

Other points of emphasis have been on improving the quality of pizza by LaNova and beef on weck served in the arena. Both have also been the source of fan consternation in recent seasons.

Dominic Verni, vice president of hospitality for the Sabres, told The News that Delaware North did an 鈥渆xtensive exercise鈥� for both the arena and the current Highmark Stadium using fresh and sometimes different products and ingredients to improve those offerings.

鈥淲e鈥檙e confident we鈥檝e got the best ingredients and Delaware North will execute and create a great outcome,鈥� Verni said.

Providing a 鈥榞reat night out鈥�

DonVito said he will act on the comments received by the team and consistently be making suggestions.

And the company will be instituting a 鈥淔an Culinary Council鈥� of up to 1,000 fans to participate in food tastings and feedback sessions on the products and the operation, Verni said.

The arena schedule 鈥� to also include Bandits lacrosse games and concerts 鈥� also allows Delaware North to try some new things and if they don鈥檛 work, change course. In addition, it allows for seasonal products to be served from the fall through the holidays and then into the spring.

DonVito realizes they鈥檒l never make everyone happy but he鈥檚 aiming for Delaware North to play its part in a 鈥済reat night out.鈥�

鈥淵ou鈥檝e got around 18,000 people you鈥檙e trying to feed within about two hours, so it鈥檚 a Herculean effort,鈥� DonVito said. 鈥淚 want fans to have a great, well-rounded experience and when they walk out of the arena they feel that the play on the ice was amazing and the food they ate was a great dinner option for the night.鈥�