Orioles and Delaware North Sportservice previewing new signature menu items

The Baltimore Orioles and Delaware North Companies Sportservice will hold a food tasting of new signature menu items for media at 11 a.m. Wednesday, March 23, at Oriole Park at Camden Yards. Representatives of the news media and blogs that focus on the Orioles or regional food tastes will have the opportunity to sample the menu items, most of which will be available to all fans in general concessions, and ask questions of Orioles and Sportservice representatives. Scheduled to attend are members of both organizations, including Sportservice President Rick Abramson. Sportservice Executive Chef at Oriole Park Joshua Distenfeld and his culinary team will prepare and present the food. In November, the Orioles announced a 12-year partnership with Sportservice to provide food, beverage and retail merchandise services at Oriole Park. Abramson led several of the company's regional chefs and Orioles officials on a Dec. 1 tour of Baltimore restaurants to learn more about Baltimore and the region's tastes before developing new food concepts for the ballpark. Through February, members of Sportservice culinary team visited more than 50 restaurants in the region as Distenfeld and Sous Chef David Friendlich, a Baltimore native, joined the effort. The Orioles and Sportservice are collaborating on an $11 million project to redesign and enhance the concessions and retail operations at Oriole Park, including improvements to the food and beverage stands at the ballpark. As part of the investment, new concessions-related technology is being added, including a new point-of-sale system for faster transactions and new grills and other equipment so more food can be prepared fresh in front of fans. The media tasting will be held on the seventh floor of the B & O Warehouse. Media representatives are asked to RSVP with one of the contacts below by Monday to reserve a spot for the event. Additional information, including parking and entrance instructions, will be provided in response to the RSVP.