Celebrity chef Jamie Oliver has launched his new £6M ($9.2M) food revolution at Man City, "where he hopes to put a stop to the bland culture of stadium grub," according to Graeme Yorke of the London DAILY MAIL. Oliver has teamed up with U.S. catering giant Legends to provide City's new matchday food. Legends Chair Dave Checketts: "Sports fans have been mistreated for a long time. They have overpaid for inferior food and they have had poor service." The name of the project is "Fabulous Fanfayre," where around 700 catering staff will be employed on matchdays to "help serve the new food beneath the stands and in the corporate sections." The food will include "seven new gourmet pies, hotdogs, burgers and chips sprinkled with rosemary, all made with local produce" (DAILY MAIL, 7/23).
PERUSING THE MENU: In Manchester, John Scheerhout reported although Oliver is not a fan himself, a supporters’ favorite -- the chicken balti pie -- "stays on the menu but with a ‘Jamie twist,’ a bit more spice and heat." Oliver said to fans invited to taste the new menu, "Rest assured, I’m frightened enough of the fans not to take away their babies, for example the chicken balti pie." The prices have "not yet been set, although they are expected to be a few pence more than most of the food offered last season," but with "turbocharged flavour." Oliver chose City out of a number of Premier League clubs to launch his latest initiative, because the club was "ready" (MANCHESTER EVENING NEWS, 7/23).
