Fancy Eats at Dodger Stadium

One of the great perks about being a full season ticket holder with the Dodgers is the ability to occasionally partake in the Stadium Club. When I was a kid, I remember there was the Diamond Club at Shea Stadium. I went there only once because, at the time, you still had to slap on nice clothes and a sports jacket to get in there. Who wants to go to a baseball game dressed like you're burying your Uncle Louie?

The Dodgers have hit on a great formula. Now, there's a Dugout Club behind home plate and that's available to those who chose to pay a couple of hundred bucks for a field level seat behind home plate. And then you also wind up rubbing elbows with the likes of Shia LaBoeuf and the ultra-shriveled Larry King. But, for the less exclusive set which includes me, there's the wonderful Stadium Club overlooking right field.

Now I do believe that, if you're a season ticket holder and want to dine during the game, there is a membership due that is probably something akin to Junior's freshman year tuition at Fordham University. But there is a pre-game seating for a buffet dinner that is absolutely scrumptuous. And, apparently, all you need to do is call the place a week in advance to reserve. Every time I have done it, they just took my name and never really bothered to verify anything about my season ticket account. Perhaps, it's the availability of the actual phone number that separates you from the dirty riff raff.

You show up two hours before the game and, if you're lucky, you can a table near the window. You can look down and watch batting practice, as well as some of the early fan arrivals who are all climbing over each other to get Jason Repko's autograph. And then you pick up your plate and commence to chowing down.

There are several meat carving stations. One features buttermilk fried turkey breast with maple sauce and this most assuredly must be available in God's great kitchen. There are about a dozen different salads, assorted vegetables, pastas, chili, pizza, and muffins. You load up and then go back to your table to suck it all down. As soon as your plate is clean, your waiter runs over to give you another plate. And then you sample what didn't fit on your plate the first time. It's all incredibly sinful for a single price of about forty bucks. I usually don't venture past the second plate, but I did go up for a third pass the other night.

If you don't have time for dessert, you can go back up there from your seat around the seventh or eighth inning. This works only if the Dodgers are being blown out as they were last Friday night. A 7-1 loss to the hated Giants is a lot easier to swallow when it's going down with megadoses of something chocolate.

When your waist has expanded sufficiently, you simply waddle down the club level and take the escalator down to your seat for the game. If you're lucky, you can still fit into your seat and/or clothing.

For me, there is nothing like the energy in the stands. A hot dog in one hand and your scorebook in another. But, for a decadent change of pace, there is nothing like the Dodger Stadium club. By the way, on my plate's clock above, that would be the aforementioned sinful turkey breast at ten minutes past the hour.

Dinner last night: Chicken with noodles in peanut sauce.