FOOD FOR THOUGHT

Taste of the NFL is known for its great food — and incredible legacy of giving

Steve Pate

Thursday, July 29, 2010 - 11:39am

STARPOWER: Taste of the NFL ’09 featured such celebrities as Today show co-host Ann Curry, Miss America 2009 Katie Stam, E-Street Band drummer Mighty Max Weinberg and Today show co-host Meredith Viera.

TOP DRAW: Over 3,000 fans and “foodies” pack Taste each year to sample cuisine from top chefs in all 32 NFL markets.

Keep those pens and paper, and forks and spoons, handy.

Come Tuesday at a major press conference at the Arlington Sheraton, they’ll be announcing all the events and venues for all activities linked to Super Bowl XLV — the one coming to North Texas in 2011.

Primary among them will be the announcement regarding the Taste of the NFL, a blockbuster feast that includes noted chefs from every NFL city preparing their specialties for some 3,000 dinner guests the night before the Super Bowl.

Besides a prominent chef, each city will also boast its own maitre d’, of sorts — a famous athlete or former athlete adding further flair and charm.
What makes the event so special is that proceeds go to a hunger relief fund. And what makes the North Texas stage even more prominent is that 2011 will be the 20th anniversary of Taste of the NFL.

It all began back in 1992 when Minneapolis hosted the Super Bowl. Wayne Kostroski, a restaurateur in nearby Edina, was president then of the Minnesota Restaurant Association and served on that particular Super Bowl Host Committee.

“I thought it might be a good idea,” Kostroski says, “to try to create an event that would be a good platform, with that kind of visibility, to raise awareness and dollars for hunger.”

He phoned chefs around the country and tossed the idea, like ingredients in a building salad, to a couple of friends working for the Minnesota Vikings. The chefs would provide all the food. Neither the chefs nor the athletes would be paid to attend; only their lodging and airfare would be covered.

The chef representing the Dallas Cowboys at the first NFL Taste was Dallas’ Stephan Pyles, now a member of the expanded North Texas Host Committee. Kostroski’s first Taste – a $75 affair with a guest list of 1,000 — donated all funds to food banks in the Minneapolis area. It was thrown together at the last minute in a lobby of a downtown office building.

Price of a ticket to this season’s Taste in South Florida is $500. Attendance has been limited to 3,000 because chefs can only prepare so much food. The chef count is up to 40 because, besides the 32 NFL cities, a few others are sprinkled in for spice. All of the profits go to hunger relief; some of it divided among the NFL cities to be distributed to food banks.

“Even though this is the national, high-profile VIP Super Bowl event,” Kostroski says, “it does have an effect and benefit 31 other cities where the Super Bowl is not taking place.”

The non-profit Taste of the NFL has even branched out to include other, more regionalized events. The Cowboys, for example, staged their own Taste last month, using local chefs and stars to raise over $100,000 in a mini-version of the Super Bowl blockbuster. Others have taken place in Green Bay and Cincinnati and Cleveland and Minnesota and seven other cities – all to raise awareness for hunger.

“We’ve given away, up to last year’s event, over $8 million,” Kostroski says, “and it’s happened primarily because of the volunteerism of the chefs and players. These chefs are preparing 1,600 portions of one tasting dish. The players are not being paid, so their autographs and their photos don’t cost you anything.

“It’s all out of the kindness of their hearts. It’s a wonderful form of volunteerism. Particularly in these last six to nine months of economic need, these dollars become very, very important to people all over the country.”

Never did Kostroski imagine the Taste blossoming into something so huge running all the way to a 20th anniversary.

“I thought it was a really good idea, but ideas are not really good unless you execute them,” he says. “The first one was a great, great success. We took it to Los Angeles the next year, and Atlanta the next.

“When we reached 10, I thought this is a pretty good thing.”

It’s only fitting that the Kostroski-owned restaurant participating in North Texas is named Tejas, a 21-year-old casual dining establishment serving Southwestern cuisine in Edina.

“One of the things that excites me about having it in North Texas is that it’s a first time Super Bowl there,” Kostroski says. “That area is obviously not only one of the more rich football-rooted areas in the entire country, first-time cities tend to have an excitement level significantly higher than a place that’s had a few Super Bowls.

“So, having our 20th anniversary, which is very, very special to us, in North Texas makes it even more special.”

Not lost to Kostroski through all the years of hoopla and famous chefs and athletes is his original quest.

“It only was started and exists to raise awareness and dollars for hunger,” Kostroski says. “There’s no paid staff. We take all the money and give it all away. It’s a pretty cool deal.

“Our tag line related to the NFL is, ‘Let’s Kick Hunger’. And this is THE best party at the Super Bowl. That’s not my words; that’s everybody within the NFL, too. Besides having food and celebrities and chefs and excellent entertainment, we want to inspire and encourage people to get involved with their communities in whatever ways they can to increase volunteerism to help those in need — the most basic need being food. That’s why we do it. Because it comes from the heart.”