Christchurch's new Stadium: Keeping food local.

When there are 25,000 rugby fans to feed, there’s no doing things by halves. “It's quite an undertaking,” says Dan Shanks, General Manager of Culinary at Venues Ōtautahi. It's Shanks’ job to oversee the catering at Christchurch’s One New Zealand stadium, which opened for business in May. On game day, he tells Frank Film, “there'll be about 500 people working directly in food and beverage, and another 200 staff dealing with the hosting and just getting all the rooms ready.” When Frank Film visits the stadium, the New Zealand Warriors are in town, playing before a capacity crowd. Shanks shows producer Gerard Smyth around as the buzz builds. First stop is the kitchens, where 45 chefs are preparing food for the day's 3,000 premium hospitality ticket holders. All the premium food, Shanks says, is prepared in-house using local ingredients – wood-fired chicken with salsa macha and wagyu beef are on the menu today, as well as luxury doughnuts and cold-fermented sourdough. “You just don't get that at other stadiums,” says Shanks. The gourmet offerings will also be served in the stadium's corporate boxes, where fortunate punters watch the game or concert while breathing rarefied air in the highest parts of the stadium. “We'll do canapés for the first hour of the game,” says Shanks, “and then we'll roll into some bowl food service. The way we've designed it is that there are lots of little bites throughout the day, rather than a big meal that you have to sit down at.” Downstairs, in the food concourse, standard ticket-holders have to sort out their own kai, but fortunately there’s no shortage of fine wares on offer. For Shanks, the new stadium was a chance to reimagine big-venue catering, with local pride at its heart. “It's like, how do we operate the stadium differently that doesn't have one corporate entity operating all of the food and beverage outlets? “Local’s kind of inherent to everything that we do, right?” he says. “We are owned by the city. We work with the city. Everyone who's here is from the city.” Shanks' passion for local food has drawn together some of the region’s finest fast food suppliers–Arbour pizza from Lyttelton, gourmet pies from Sheffield and Smokey T’s barbecue are among the 13 local favourites who have set up in the food area. Importantly for Shanks, there’s not a McDonald’s or KFC in sight. “It’s this really cool little food community that’s blossomed in the stadium,” he says. At the rowdy end of the concourse is Glizzys –a new arrival on the Christchurch scene. Glizzys sells gourmet hotdogs made with local meat, bread and pickles. Their frenetic kitchen is filled with shouts and whoops that resound around the concrete heart of the stadium. “It's all part of the sales,” says Max Perry, co-owner of Bones Pickles, which operates Glizzys. “People hear the chatter, they hear the noise, and think something must be going on –let's go see what's going on. And then, boom, it's hotdogs. That's what's going on.” While the shop in the concourse will have queues stretching round the corner at halftime, Glizzys vendors also carry their wares, American-style, on trays out into the seating areas, where they’re in hot demand. Glizzys co-owner Piripi Baker, of burger restaurant Papa’s Smashies, says being part of the stadium's vibrant new food community is something special. “We’re seeing Christchurch at our very best,” he says. “I didn't even really know we had this in us. It's energising and it's beautiful to be a part of it.” Participants thanks: Dan Shanks Piripi Baker Max Perry Mike Larry Federica Brooke Glizzys team Thanks to: Venues Ōtautahi Glizzys Papa’s Smashies Bones Pickles New Zealand Warriors Director, Producer and Camera: Gerard Smyth Researcher: Bill Morris Second Camera: Antony Miller Line Producers: Kirsty Cooper & Antony Miller Editor: Tracey Jury Colour & Online: Mike Kelland Audio Post: Chris Sinclair Funded by NZ On Air