Kamis, 24 Oktober 2013

Tailgate Parties Far Beyond Burgers and Dogs


For Robert Burzichelli, getting to High Point Solutions Stadium by 7 a.m. to set up his tailgate party before Rutgers football games offers the kind of restorative tranquillity often associated with yoga.


'It's my quiet time. I get here, I relax and have a croissant. It's an opportunity to be peaceful before the mayhem starts,' Mr. Burzichelli, 54, of Bridgewater, said before a recent game against Arkansas.


Mr. Burzichelli, a lawyer working in the Manhattan offices of Greenberg, Burzichelli and Greenberg, where he is a partner, has been co-hosting tailgate parties here since 1993. He is the designated 'booze guy,' he said, meaning he supplies the beverages for his party, including specially bottled red wine labeled with the Rutgers 'R.'


Mr. Burzichelli isn't necessarily is a food guy: He and his co-hosts, his friends Patrick Morris and Jane Luther-Umstadter, have taken to outsourcing.


At both High Point Solutions Stadium in Piscataway and MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, where the New York Giants and New York Jets play, football fans like Mr. Burzichelli are turning to caterers to help elevate the pregame experience. Though bringing a caterer on premises can be a challenge - parking passes can be hard to come by and costly, and the mayhem of fan rowdiness that Mr. Burzichelli described is evident at both stadiums - determined revelers find ways to replicate banquet-style celebrations on the asphalt.


At the recent Arkansas game, supplying the buffet for the tailgate hosted by Mr. Burzichelli and his friends, which included five hot entrees, was Cedar Grove Catering in Piscataway.


'We didn't really turn it up until the team started winning a lot, around 2005,' said Mr. Morris, 54, of Somerset, a financial adviser and, like Mr. Burzichelli, a Rutgers alumnus. Now he and his friends' tailgate parties may be the most celebrated in New Jersey college football: Mayor Cory A. Booker of Newark (now a senator-elect) stopped by the party in September, Mr. Morris said, and Gov. Chris Christie visited in 2010.


Depending on the size of the game - the Arkansas game drew a crowd of 52,000 - Mr. Morris and Mr. Burzichelli spend $500 to $1,500 for food and on-site cooking by William Hendriksen, the owner of Cedar Grove. (Ms. Luther-Umstadter, a more recent addition to the hosting team, supplements the menu with her own dishes and provides the crystal chandelier that hangs from the dome of the party's tent.) Many guests contribute $20 or $30 to partake, but 'we don't worry too much about offsetting what we're putting into it,' Mr. Morris said.


Never missing from the menu, which varies from game to game, is Mr. Hendriksen's Cap'n Crunch chicken, coated with the breakfast cereal before it is grilled.


'People will literally come just for the chicken,' Mr. Morris said.


Mr. Hendriksen, 52, of South Brunswick, caters up to six tailgate parties per game at the stadium. 'You need an all-access pass, and I make sure to get one at the beginning of the season,' he said. For a caterer who does not have an all-access pass, like Michael Pelligra, co-owner of Twin Oaks Caterers in East Brunswick, getting into the lot can be 'a challenge,' which is why he accepts only jobs for 100 tailgaters or more, he said. Prices begin at $20 a person and include a Texas-style barbecue buffet or, for early games, a brunch with Belgian waffles.


At MetLife Stadium, the best-appointed tailgates are sometimes corporate. Companies like Top Shelf Tailgate of Port Monmouth regularly put on bashes that include waitress service by young women dressed in football jerseys and the use of two trailers equipped with sofas, restrooms and televisions.


'We're booked through November' for Jets and Giants games, said Charles Mulea, Top Shelf's owner, before a recent Giants game against the Denver Broncos. Many of the companies that hire Top Shelf, he said, do not want to be identified; their goal is to mingle with clients in what Mr. Mulea, 43, of Middletown, called 'a real party atmosphere' before games.


Top Shelf charges $100 a person for a menu including specialties like filet mignon cheese steaks. 'But we've gone as high as $200 a head for a full oyster bar with shuckers and a pig roast,' he said.


Some MetLife caterers, such as Bill Kleemeyer, the manager of Green Village Packing, a meat supplier in Green Village in Morris County, focus more on food than on atmosphere. Mr. Kleemeyer, 47, has earned a reputation for distinctive meats; he offers pork osso buco and has barbecued alligators for Giants fans. He has been catering games for nearly 20 years, he said, for groups ranging from 20 to 200. A typical tailgate party costs $30 to $40 a person, which includes 'pretty much five hours of me grilling a different meat every half-hour,' he said. But he keeps his fees negotiable, sometimes exchanging his meat-sourcing and cooking skills for tickets.


Not all catered tailgate parties at MetLife Stadium are exclusive or private.


Dan Marney, owner of Game Time Catering, LLC, in Long Valley, caters private and corporate events in the parking lot, but he also rallies stray fans looking for a celebration with what he calls 'open parties' at Giants home games. They feature his signature candied kielbasa, in addition to macaroni and cheese balls and staples like burgers.


Mr. Marney asks for a donation of $30 a person, which is made online in advance, because stadium rules prohibit charging fees in the parking lots; the donation does not include drinks, he said, because stadium rules prohibit the sale of alcohol. He typically attracts 60 to 100 fans from all over, who mingle under a tent and watch the pregame show on a TV he supplies.


John Vingara, 51, a culinary arts instructor at Somerset County Vocational and Technical Schools in Bridgewater and one of the founding members of Big Blue BBQ, a collective of tailgating friends and Giants obsessives, offers similar events that attract up to 200 people.


'We welcome people from all over the world,' he said, for the lamb chops, stuffed peppers and other hot dishes he prepares for games. A $30 donation is requested in advance.


The appeal is in the 'shared experience,' he said. 'If you've ever been camping, where you're all sitting around the campfire - it's like that. You develop friendships that last forever.'



TAILGATE SPECIALISTS


BIG BLUE BBQ (no phone); bigbluebbq.com.


CEDAR GROVE CATERING 160 Stelton Road, Piscataway; (732) 752-6944 or cedargrovecatering.com.


GAME TIME CATERING (732) 245-8082 or gametimecatering.com.


GREEN VILLAGE PACKING 68 Britten Road, Green Village; (973) 377-0875 or greenvillagepacking.com.


TOP SHELF TAILGATE 337 Route 36 North, Port Monmouth; (888) 214-3063 or topshelftailgate.com.


TWIN OAKS CATERERS 287 Old Bridge Turnpike, East Brunswick; (732) 238-4600 or twinoakscaterers.com.


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