Getting (Fi)served
On the court, Rudy Gobert pivots into the paint and finishes at the rim, practicing his post moves. At the other end, D.J. Wilson works on catch-and-shoot corner threes. The professional basketball players are in sweats, wearing headphones, not too wound up yet. It’s hours before gametime.
Two stories above in the wide-open concourse of the Fiserv Forum, Kenneth Hardiman does pregame of a different sort. He’s wearing a toque blanche and white chef’s coat embroidered with his name above his title at Levy Restaurants: Senior Executive Chef. A green “Fear The Deer” lanyard hangs around his neck.
Tonight’s game against the Utah Jazz, the preseason home opener for the Milwaukee Bucks, doesn’t tip off until 7 p.m. But gates open at 5:30.
“That’s go time,” says Hardiman. Thousands will stream in, carrying high expectations for a first-class experience. From the $524 million arena’s opening in 2019, the Bucks’ owners promised fans that their experience would go beyond the joy of watching basketball and be complemented—or even defined—by food and drink that strives for the impossible: mass-produced, locally sourced, ready in an instant and bordering on gourmet.
The new arena’s six kitchens include a smoker capable of handling 3,000 pounds of meat a day, just one example of the superior equipment and facilities at Fiserv compared to their former home across the street at the BMO Harris Bradley Center. Hardiman, who had been Chef at Mason Street Grill, got the nod to oversee the sprawling network of local eateries who set up shop in the arena for gametime and other Fiserv events. For his tryout, he prepped a five-course meal from scratch. In it were echoes of the many stops he’s made on his food journey.
There was a burger topped with arugula instead of standard lettuce, reminiscent of his days helming Westside Tavern restaurant in Los Angeles. He made the burger from beef brisket, a technique he picked up as top chef at two different spots in Texas and one in Oklahoma City. He completed the meal with beignets, which he made on weekends growing up in Kansas City with his mother, a native Southerner, then further perfected at the Le Cordon Bleu chef academy in Minneapolis. “It was a culmination of all my experiences, all in one meal,” he says.
Now in his second year at the Fiserv job, he’s reminded daily of the expectations. “Everybody is food savvy,” he says about the 17,000 or so fans who gather at every Bucks game. “Everybody wants to know where their food is coming from, how it’s prepared.” To satisfy many appetites, Hardiman acts as a bit of a food detective, sampling meals at eateries throughout Milwaukee in search of new vendors that he can invite to Fiserv.
Among the new offerings this year: a curry chicken bowl at FreshFin Poke, pork belly burnt end mac-and-cheese at Mac Shack, a Beyond Gyro (featuring the en-vogue meat substitute) at Gyro Step and a pork carnitas torta at El Rey. Hardiman also travels for inspiration. This past summer brought him to New York City, where he discovered Brooklyn Bred pizza dough, which is now the crust of choice for Fiserv’s various ‘zas. He visited Levi’s Stadium in San Francisco, where he appreciated how closely the team integrates ‘Wine Country’ into their events. He envisions doing the same with Wisconsin’s local breweries.
For him, gamedays begin at about 7 a.m. At 9 a.m., his team of chefs and cooks assemble for a stand-up meeting. “Goooood morning everybody, it’s officially Bucks season now,” he says to the 17 employees in kitchen wear standing around him in a circle. A staffer in a faux hawk momentarily breaks up the meeting, passing through while pushing a crate stuffed over six feet high with bins labeled, “ICE CREAM.”
Hardiman tells his troops about the night’s opponent, the Jazz, both of their recent roster upgrades and the unusual story of their name—they moved long ago from their original home in New Orleans. The crew’s job over the next eight hours consists of moving thousands of pounds of ingredients into the various kitchens throughout the arena and starting the process that will result in food of all varieties—from pork rind nachos to sliders to bacon-on-a-stick—hot, ready and artfully displayed for the crush of fans.
“How do we make the food stand out and be equivalent to the product that we have on the floor, with such a great team?” asks Hardiman rhetorically. In the frantic remaining hour before the doors open on gameday, he pops from food vendor to food vendor. Most are in the main concourses. Others are in the members-only suites.
He greets staff warmly and does quality control on the go. He puts on gloves to try a bite of pork belly burnt end in one of Fiserv Forum’s six kitchens. A quick smile confirms: they’re tasty. He puts his forearms under the heat lamps at Ardent, one of the arena’s new vendors offering high-end comfort food: Haystack Onion Rings, Loaded Tots and French Onion Burgers. He marshalls staff between stops. “I need a pepper grinder for Calderone, please,” he says with urgency into his omnipresent Walkie Talkie. A bit later, his tone changes. “Who’s supposed to be at portable barbeque (chef-speak for Iron Grate BBQ, a mobile stand on the top level of Fiserv)?” he asks. “There’s nobody up here, and no product!”
His movements are frenetic. He stops only to catch up with friends—a hello to Stella, an elevator operator, a man-hug for the two top chefs at Calderone, an atta-boy to Darius, a staffer in one of the arena’s many private suites—and to wait for elevators. “I make it a point to touch a lot of different areas throughout the course of an event,” he says. “I’m always zig-zagging around.”
During an elevator ride, a Bucks employee named Jackson Snow greets Hardiman warmly—they’re seeing each for the first time in awhile—and asks the question that is on everyone’s mind: “So, Ken, what’s new this year? What are you most excited about?” Hardiman demurs a bit, diplomatically saying that there’s a lot of new food at the arena this year and he likes it all. Pressed, he finally settles on the gyro dog at Klement’s sausage stand, a gyro-flavored hot dog topped with a Middle Eastern spiced yogurt called tzatziki, tomatoes and cucumber relish. He’s uncomfortable with that particular question, one he gets over and over throughout the arena, but has to be satisfied that he and his crew have cooked up something else new for Bucks games: buzz. Food and drink are the talk of the stadium, giving fans something off-the-court to talk about with the same zeal as free agent signings, another Lopez joining the team this season and other on-court matters.
Fiserv Forum
1111 Vel R. Phillips Avenue
Milwaukee, Wisconsin 53203
fiservforum.com
