The following are recent articles highlighting the US Open
Sept. 8, 2010 - Men's Health
"Michael Lockard, executive chef of the US Open, will show you how to eat like a pro.Each day during the U.S. Open, more than 50,000 spectators mill about USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center, eating two meals on site. That’s 1.9 million meals consumed over the course of the 19-day event, and that’s excluding the daily meals eaten by the legions of tennis pros from around the world who come to compete.
Lockard feeds them all.
“This is the Ironman of food service,” says Lockard, who will spend the rest of the year assessing his staff’s performance and tweaking meals for next year’s event. With his staff of 1,400, Lockhard’s in charge of feeding fans steaks, seafood, salad, tapas, sushi, burgers, sausage, barbecue, sandwiches, and more. But that’s the easy part.
Lockard also works with individual athletes and their nutritionists to ensure that they’re eating the proper pre-match, post-match, and off-day foods. When you cook for players like Roger Federer, Andy Roddick, Rafael Nadal, and James Blake, that’s a hell of an order.
“The challenge is creating restaurant-quality food that’s also fuel for the athlete,” he says.
It’s what all active men with a full set of taste buds struggle with—cooking great food that’s also excellent for you. Lockard’s approach is simple: Use whole foods, lean proteins, and bounties of vegetables. Stick with those rules and you’ll be happy, healthy athlete...
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September 6 2010 - Today Show.com
"Want to eat like the tennis players competing in the U.S. Open in New York this weekend? Try this recipe for lobster rolls from Michael Lockard, the executive chef for the USTA National Tennis Center.
He's currently in charge of five restaurants and 60 concession stands, and took time to demonstrate one of his favorite dishes that you can make at home!..."
August 31 2010
"...The Open cut a deal with Morimoto as part of its effort to meet the higher culinary expectations of New York sports fans, according to Michael Lockard, the U.S. Open’s executive chef, who said he tries to improve the menus each year...."
September 5 2010 - worldtennismagazine.com
"The United States Tennis Association (USTA) and Levy Restaurants, the official restaurateurs of the US Open, will offer many new culinary offerings at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center for the 2010 US Open, which runs from August 30-September 12. Most notably new this year is the South Plaza Master Chef Cafe, featuring signature items created exclusively for the US Open by some of the most esteemed chefs in the country. Spiaggia Chef Tony Mantuano, who created the Wine Bar Food experience at the US Open and is fresh off an appearance on Top Chef Masters, worked with US Open Executive Chef Michael Lockard to invite several Top Chef Masters co-stars to participate. Chefs include Mantuano, Susan Feniger, Carmen Gonzalez, Rick Moonen and Jonathan Waxman. Additionally, Iron Chef Masaharu Morimoto has been tapped to serve his signature sushi in ACES, the Player’s Lounge and the 90 luxury suites. Attendees will also see more healthy and organic options, including a new all-organic concession stand. The Patio Cafe and the Heineken Light Lounge have also expanded, and the new Overlook cabanas will serve as popular between-match destinations. “The US Open is one of the premier sports and entertainment attractions on the planet, both in the on-court product and in the experience offered to patrons throughout the grounds,” said Danny Zausner, Managing Director, USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center. “The US Open features culinary offerings that have transcended sports, and with the additions in 2010, including an extraordinary lineup of acclaimed chefs, this year’s US Open will provide both tennis fans and casual visitors alike an experience unparalleled by any other sporting event in the world.”...
August 31 2009 - The Feedbag
A Top cookbook author Andrew Friedman, when not in culinary mode, writes frequently for Tennis magazine, and is thus uniquely positioned to tell Feedbag readers about the food program at Flushing Meadows.
"It’s here. The U.S. Open begins today, bringing with it a couple hundred of the best tennis players on earth, and one of the most sophisticated, diverse and satisfying food and beverage programs you’ll find at any sports facility in the nation.
For the third year running, the food program has been under the direction of Executive Chef for Levy Restaurants at the US Open (how’s that for a job title?) Michael Lockard, a baby-faced, unfailingly friendly guy, who has one of the essential characteristics required for a job like his: He never seems stressed. On Friday, he took time out to arrange a tasting and interview for me and he acted like he had all the time in the world, even though, in addition to the 60 concessions scattered about the grounds, he’s also responsible for the food in the players’ lounge (with all the special nutritional requirements that brings) and 100 private suites...."August 25 2009 - The Faster Times
"So I just spoke with Michael Lockard, the executive chef at the US Open — yep, you read that right — which kicks off this week. I’ve been covering the Open’s small city of food courts and fancy restaurants for a few years now, and have always been impressed with the quality of the goods. This year, I am blown away not so much by the food itself but the thought behind it: The Open, at least in small way, has gone locavore. One of this year’s big initiatives was to procure at least 10% of their produce locally, working with 17 farms in New Jersey, Long Island and upstate New York to provide mesclun greens, herbs, beans, squash, corn, potatoes or real Jersey tomatoes..."
September 3 2009 - Newsday
Tennis fans, by and large, are known to be a high-maintenance bunch. That means a crowd shelling out big bucks to see world class action at the U.S. Open expects a worthy culinary scene.
And they'll get it, too. Hungry spectators will find everything from a shrimp and arugula pizzette to a hot pastrami sandwich to a chilled seafood "plateau" at the five restaurants and 60 concession stands on the grounds.
On the more accessible end is the Food Village, which executive chef Michael Lockard for Levy Restaurants describes as serving "the kind of food I'd crave after work - cheesesteaks, pizza, pasta," as well as burgers and sushi. On the other end of the spectrum is the elegant sit-down Club Level restaurant Aces, a venue frequented by the VIP set. This year, the push is toward going green using local, sustainable produce and products that are environmentally friendly. When feeding about 700,000 people over a 20-day period, that amounts to an ambitious serve.
September 2 2009 - New York Post
"EVEN in food, the Mets just can't catch a break. Sure, the much ballyhooed ballpark eats at Citi Field are a major-league upgrade over the ones at Shea -- but with the US Open about to kick off on Monday just a Spaldeen's throw away from the new stadium, the team may be headed for a losing streak of the culinary kind. In fact, tennis fans say the fare served up courtside has long aced the local competition.
During the course of two weeks, some 650,000 people are expected to pass through the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Flushing Meadows-Corona Park. And since each will spend an average of six to eight hours taking in the tournament, you can bet there will be no shortage of food and drink options vying for fans' attention..."
“I joke that this is a food event with tennis,” says Michael Lockard, who as Levy Restaurants executive chef oversees the entire dining program at the U.S. Open. It’s no small sack of potatoes. Over the course of the two-week tournament—the world’s highest-attended sporting event—the Long Island–based chef will grill 267,000 burgers, marinate 77,000 pounds of chicken breast and chop 27,000 pounds of New Jersey tomatoes. And as we found Monday, during an extensive tour of the grounds, the culinary offerings are a virtual U.S. Open Table, featuring locally sourced produce (Satur Farms arugula), boutique ice cream (Blue Marble) and global grub like kati rolls and mozzarella di bufala. Plus a lobster roll worth its heightened reputation..."
August 31 2009 - Grub Street New York
"It’s day one of the U.S. Open, and while some thoughts drift to Federer in white shorts, we’re most concerned about new things to eat. Restaurants at the U.S. Open have showcased seasonal ingredients in the past because summer foods are delicious, but the USTA has embarked on a green mission (Hybrid transportation for players! Organic T-shirts!) this year. Food-service provider Levy Restaurants is sourcing over 30,000 pounds of produce from farms in the metro area, plus North Eastern seafood. Examples at the finer restaurants: Aces has a Long Island lobster roll, and Champions features spicy Long Island clam chowder. But, plebians have access to local ingredients as well. The Patio Café caprese has Jersey tomatoes and local basil, Louis Armstrong Stadium will be selling organic ice cream from Blue Marble in Brooklyn, and cups and things will be made with biodegradable ingredients. Behind the scenes, kitchens will compost food waste, and cooking oil will be saved for Tri-State Biodiesel. That's a good enough excuse to order French fries, but you can check out just how much local food has been ordered for you, below..."
September 2 2009 - The Huffington Post
"This weekend, I had the pleasure of participating in a US Open event. No -- not a tennis match -- but something that is still an integral part of the US Open: the announcement of this year's greening initiative.
This is the second year now that NRDC has worked with the US Tennis Association to make the US Open an increasingly sustainable sporting event.
I was in good company at the press conference, with fellow spokesperson Alec Baldwin. We spoke about the genesis of this initiative, how it has progressed, and why it matters. That last part is key. It matters a lot for several reasons.....
...it's important to note their work with Levy - their concessionaire. Levy is in charge of all the food, utensils, paper, etc (basically all the stuff that people normally identify as source of a stadium's waste).
The US Open worked closely with Levy to make sure they would source food from about a dozen local farms, create a pilot composting program, recover cooking oil for use as biodiesel fuel, and ensure that products including utensils and napkins were made out our recycled and/or biobased content.
And to do all this, Levy had to reach back to their own group of vendors and oftentimes seek out new ones to fulfill the US Open's request. It's another great precedent-setter for the marketplace.
In the end, I'd say I was part of a great US Open event, even if it wasn't the finals. On the cusp of the event's opening day was an ideal time to highlight all the equally great achievements happening off the court. From the upstream message the US Open is sending to companies they work with to the downstream message they're sending to their fans worldwide, the USTA has proven that - as they say - "their courts may be blue, but they're thinking green". Indeed..."
September 4 2009 - The Daily Green
"When Robert Redford had a brainstorm about how to make green go mainstream in a new way, he took the idea to his fellow board members at the Natural Resources Defense Council. What started as a publicity campaign, however, has had some unexpected and welcome benefits to the environment that have gone above and beyond public education.
Redford's idea was this: Focus on high-profile events and venues -- the Grammy's, the U.S. Open, Major League Baseball stadiums -- and efforts to save energy and reduce waste will be witnessed by millions of fans. Essentially: Give them an unexpected environmental lesson along with their entertainment........
The most prominent public portions of the campaign come in the form of PSAs about recycling and the like by tennis stars on the Jumbotron(s), advertising encouraging the use of public transportation and the presence of recycling bins beside each garbage can. Whether and how much the average tennis enthusiast (all 700,000 of them who visit the U.S. Open -- "two Super Bowls a day," as organizers are proud to point out) pays attention to the green messaging while tennis greats are volleying 110 mph serves is an open question; garbage cans were still brimming with food waste, as they are at most sports venues. At the least, talking about recycling and public transportation is better than not talking about recycling and public transportation.
The more effective, perhaps, if unanticipated, success of the partnership between NRDC and the U.S. Tennis Association is the more sweeping effect the green initiative has had on organizations in the background. Three examples:
Recycling: The local recycler agreed to chop off the little metal rim on each 3-tennis ball plastic pop-top canister (all 17,000 to 20,000 of them) so they can be recycled. (One does wonder why someone hasn't invented a vacuum-sealed bulk dispenser to hold the thousands of balls needed at each court, but I digress.)
Composting: There are dozens of chefs hired to work at the six kitchens, and each of them got a schooling in composting, as all vegetable waste was gathered in special bins for composting.
Sourcing: The paper napkins that had been made from virgin paper are now made with 90% recycled content -- even though the U.S. Tennis Association's supplier at first balked at supplying any napkins made with significant recycled content...."
September 4 2009 - Martha Stewart Blog
"...Executive Chef Michael Lockard leads a staff of 250 that serves the players, the media, and over 700,000 fans throughout the two-week tournament. In addition to that monumental task, he makes time to take people like me on tours. He shared no horror stories of dietary divas in Player's Lounge, and his strangest request to date has been for the only slightly odd combination of peanut butter, pepper, and cucumber on a panini. I guess only rock stars make insane catering demands..."
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