Brandon Veale column: Taking a lap through new Amsoil Arena menu

DULUTH — Growing up in the Upper Peninsula, college hockey nights were my playground and became my profession.

If I had enough cash on hand, a Friday night at the Berry Events Center in Marquette typically followed a set routine: first intermission, take a lap around the concourse, get a hot dog, add mustard, then onions and return to my seat before the period starts. Second period? Nachos, followed by the eternal quest to match cheese and chip consumption to avoid a surplus of one or the other at the end.

You probably have routines like that, too, but on Thursday the concessions staff at the Duluth Entertainment Convention Center showed us how they’d like to shake up your game night with their annual tasting event to unveil the new offerings at their Amsoil Arena concession stands throughout the new season, which begins for the Minnesota Duluth women’s hockey team on Sept. 28 and the men on Oct. 5.

“This is their night out. We want the whole experience to be good, not just the game itself,” DECC Executive Director Dan Hartman said.

Price points are still to be determined but there's a lot to like, no matter the cost.

Though pizza is pretty much a staple of every concession stand everywhere in college hockey, the DECC staff have added several new wrinkles with their housemade chicken bacon ranch pizza — instead of tomato, the sauce features every Midwesterner’s favorite: ranch dressing, which nicely complements the chicken and bacon. Everything holds together well, which is always a must if you’re taking it back to your seat.

This isn’t your usual frozen or chain pizza — this is made by hand in the house.

Macaroni and cheese is a big part of the new offerings, with two new variations on offer.

This first take, the burnt ends mac and cheese, is based in a white cheddar sauce from Reser’s Fine Foods, but is really lifted up with some barbeque burnt ends from Fraboni’s in Hibbing.

“Honestly, this is probably going to be the one I eat the most,” Hartman said.

In 2023, when the UMD women’s basketball team went to the Elite Eight in Missouri, I had a chance to get some authentic Kansas City burnt ends before heading up to St. Joseph, and those little bits of brisket have made that city famous. I’m not going to barbeque blaspheme and say this is as good as going to Kansas City, but they don’t have college hockey there and we do, so it’s a pretty fair trade.

If you’re going for something a little hotter, the DECC will also be offering a jalapeno popper mac and cheese, also from Reser’s, as two classics collide, A little crispy bacon warms you up for the jalapeno to kick in with a breadcrumb topping to offer additional texture.

It’s got some warmth to it, but you might want to take it back to your seat right away before it gets cold and before you miss a goal.

The barbeque theme continues with what they’re calling a Cloverdale BBQ chicken chipper. Chicken with a sweet barbeque sauce carries this offering with Colby jack cheese and green onions in a supporting role, but there’s a little underlying surprise: Though this dish gives distinctly nacho vibes, the chips are actually Old Dutch kettle chips and there’s some Top the Tater on there because this is Minnesota.

Maybe you’re looking for something a little simpler, more portable. Though the DECC is always trying to raise its culinary game, sometimes it’s good to cover the simpler bases. This year’s menu does that, too.

From J&J Snacks, the Bavarian pretzel was surprisingly light, with an exterior that had just the right amount of bite and a dough that, though substantial and flavorful, was not super chewy. That comes with some Gehl’s nacho cheese on the side.

The DECC has a commitment to local sourcing when it can and has added an Italian chicken sausage from Fraboni’s, in Hibbing, that’s served on a bun from Johnson’s Bakery here in Duluth. Fraboni’s already supplies brats for Bulldogs hockey games as well.

Every season, the Bulldogs have to go out and prove themselves, and at the concession stands that goes all the way down to the basics: the french fry.

Simplot was chosen as the source for this year’s fries. These are a little lighter and crispier than the beer-battered types of fries that tend to be more popular in these types of settings, but that’s a plus for me and anyone who likes their fries a little more salt-forward and without uneven layers of beer batter to navigate.

“We did not make this decision lightly, but our new fries won in a landslide,” Hartman said of a series of employee blind taste tests.

Many of the DECC’s offerings are evaluated on a regular basis, not just for profitability or if they’re easy to make for an intermission rush, but whether people actually like them. Because that’s really what’s important. Whether it’s the product on the ice or the product in the concession stand, a happy crowd provides the best atmosphere of them all.