FLUSHING — Tennis might not be the main attraction when the U.S. Open begins next week. The biggest competition might be over the food.
And the USTA says that approximately 40 percent of the produce on offer at this year's Open is sourced from farms in the New York area, making for a menu with a distinctly local flavor.
There are several highlights on this year's menu:
Steak and Lobster at Champion's Steakhouse: The club-level steakhouse at Arthur Ashe Stadium has added several new items from chef David Burke, including an ash-crusted prime beef carpaccio, dry-aged bone-in ribeye and butter-poached two-pound naked lobster.
Local Seafood at Aces: Aces is the stadium's seafood restaurant and, in addition to serving sushi and sashimi, this year's menu will include the Plateau Royal, which the USTA describes as "a tower of chilled seafood, chilled corn and lemongrass soup made with local corn and served with jumbo lump crab and cilantro, and the seared sea scallops with a local arugula and grapefruit salad, shaved fennel and citrus emulsion."
Also, this year the restaurant will be serving up the local catch from Gosman’s of Montauk or Skuna Bay Salmon. The seafood will be prepared in several ways, including grilled to order and served with a selection of sauces.
Local Fare in the Food Village: The local fare extends out of Arthur Ashe into into the main concession area, the "Food Village". The village will feature a new Farm 2 Fork stand that will serve a locally raised chicken sandwich, sweet Italian sausage from the New York Sausage Company and a summer-roasted vegetable sandwich.
Smashers at the East Gate Grill: Grilled cheese gets re-invented this year as the East Gate Grill serves up Smashers, a new take on the classic sandwich. Buffalo chicken and patty melt smashers will be on the menu.
In addition to sourcing locally, the USTA will donate all unused food to City Harvest.
