Your Intuit Dome Food Guide, Including Steph Curry's Favorite Popcorn

It was the pretzel that left everyone else in a pile of stale dust. The light shone on the golden brown bark, its curves radiating with a slight sheen. Small nodules of salt covered the surface. It was perfectly chewy, with crunchy hints of salt giving way to a warm, soft center.

The sinuous masterpiece was the culmination of a week of training with a chef in Salzburg, Austria, followed by six months of development in the United States. It was a level of dedication and attention to detail that one would expect from a Michelin star restaurant. All the airline miles and effort went into having fresh pretzels waiting for you at the concession stands at the new Intuit Dome in Inglewood.

The pretzels will be available at the Intuit Dome.

(Catherine Dzilenski / For The Times)

“Very few settings have taken this approach to moving forward with making a handmade product like this so far,” said Steven Maak, senior vice president of 310 Provisions, the group behind the food at Intuit Dome.

Maak, along with Halo Sports and Entertainment CEO Gillian Zucker, 310 Provisions Executive Chef Hagan Whelchel, and Senior Executive Chef Adam Brown, recently walked me through the food at the new stadium, which is scheduled to open on August 15th.

A dedicated team of 10 is responsible for mixing, rolling, shaping, proofing, baking and coating the pretzels by hand. Every detail in the stadium, from the rolling pretzel to the maximum time it takes to travel the route from the seat to the bathroom to the snack bar and back (it's 123 seconds, according to the pedestrian model) has been studied and debated.

Gillian Zucker leads a tour of the new Intuit Dome.

When the Intuit Dome opens, there will be 21 food and beverage markets; 31 kitchens; 26 pizza ovens; 140 fryers; six discos with individual menus; 24 main meal courses (excluding packaged foods); 14,000 square feet of all-electric prep kitchen space and a food and beverage staff of 850.

All food stalls will have a contactless payment system. You download an app on your phone, walk into any booth, and walk out with whatever you want.

“The goal of the dome from a food and beverage perspective is to focus on speed, quality and consistency, so we take pride in every detail,” said Jessica Cesta, vice president of hospitality strategy at 310 Provisions. “Every sauce. Packaging. “Everything is to provide the best and maximum experience to all the fans in the building.”

The following is a breakdown of the food at the new spot, besides the stellar pretzel mentioned above:

Buttered Popcorn and Buttered Caramel Popcorn

Steph Curry helped choose the popcorn for the new Intuit Dome.

When it came time to choose popcorn, Zucker asked Golden State point guard and popcorn expert Steph Curry for help.

“Steph Curry has ranked each facility based on their popcorn,” Zucker said. “And we thought we want our popcorn to be the best, so maybe he would come and try it. We asked him and he said he would do it.”

She introduced him to 10 varieties. Curry chose a Nebraska butterfly popcorn. It is crunchy, butterfly-shaped and has a texture that melts on the tongue.

The flavored popcorn went through an even more rigorous selection process, incorporating feedback from across the Halo Sports and Entertainment organization, including the Clippers, Intuit Dome, Kia Forum and San Diego Clippers basketball operations teams (the G-league team). The group decided on buttery caramel popcorn with a sweet, crunchy coating that's as addictive as your favorite potato chip.

Hot dog and stray dog

The new Intuit Dome will serve hot dogs and street dogs, both made with Niman Ranch sausages.

Zucker and Clippers owner Steve Ballmer attended a tasting of 11 different hot dogs before settling on the right one.

“Then before we left, the chef who prepared the tasting said, 'Hey, before you go, I just want you to try my favorite hot dog.' “

The chef featured a sausage from Niman Ranch, one of the best-known meat suppliers to high-end restaurants across the country. It was a beef sausage smoked over hickory wood with no added nitrates or nitrites.

“I thought, 'Oh my God, that hot dog is really good,'” Zucker said. “Steve Ballmer gets up to leave and says, 'You make the decision.' Whatever you want is fine with me.' And he starts walking out the door shouting, 'Niman! Niman!' “

The dogs will come plain and dressed however you like, or as a version of the late-night dogs you find outside concert halls and nightclubs. The latter is wrapped in bacon, bursting with sautéed peppers and onions and zigzags of garlic aioli. Even buried beneath all the ingredients, there's a distinguishable snap.

Detroit style pizza

It's the type of pizza you can find in pizzerias all over the city, rectangular in shape with a crown of crispy cheese around the perimeter of all four edges. There's “The Meats,” cheese and pepperoni. The meats are wrapped in a layer of protein, the pieces of bacon, sausage and pepperoni are so abundant that it is impossible to see the cheese underneath.

Double cheese burger

The double cheeseburger falls somewhere between a homemade burger and the more refined option from your favorite steakhouse. The burgers are a mix of coarsely ground brisket, ribs and pork. They're thin but not squished, topped with melted New School American cheese. The burger is dressed with Clippers sauce, Thousand Island's close cousin, and topped with pickle chips on a Martin's potato bun.

Vegan cauliflower wrap

The Intuit Dome Buffalo Cauliflower Wrap.

The main vegetarian and vegan option at the stadium is presented as a wrap filled with crispy breaded and fried cauliflower, tossed in a spicy Buffalo sauce with romaine lettuce salad, kale, quinoa, tomato, red pepper and vegan ranch vinaigrette, all stuffed in a spinach omelet. There is an extra side of ranch for dipping. If they ever decide to offer a basket of fried cauliflower alone, I'll order that too.

Chicken tenders and waffle fries

The fillets are lightly breaded and fried until completely covered in a crispy, golden shell. They're served alongside a mountain of waffle fries, the only style of fries you'll find on property. Even at room temperature, the fries were crispy. Instead of ketchup or ranch, there is a small cup of barbecue sauce on the side.

“It's an homage to the South through California,” Chef Whelchel said.

It's a little sweet, but with a powerful mustard flavor.

“We needed a sauce that would hold and maintain its integrity,” Whelchel said. “That's why we chose a barbecue sauce base instead of a cream base.”

If you insist on ranch, ask your friends to order one of the vegan cauliflower wraps and then steal their vegan ranch.

Churros

The churros will rival those from your favorite vendor in Los Angeles or Mexico City. They are the smallest, snack-sized churros, about 4 to 5 inches long. The extruder creates defined ridges for maximum, superior crunch and a surface to trap the cinnamon and sugar coating. The middle is soft, almost creamy, but fully cooked. On the side is the La Zagala dulce de leche, which is more like a warm ball of fresh caramel than a loose sauce. It's a churro you'll be thinking about long after you leave the parking lot.

sushi dog

Imagine a nearly foot-long sushi roll wrapped in paper that you can peel off with every bite. There's a California roll with imitation crab or a spicy tuna roll that really packs a spicy kick. Both include rice that is well seasoned and not hard or overcooked. There is soy sauce for dipping, but the culinary team is preparing a more effective condiment.

“Chef Hagan is working on some custom-made soy sauce flakes,” Zucker said, referring to a soy sauce condiment that is sprinkled on the bun.

Of course, there will be some proprietary soy sauce flakes that will save your Clippers jersey from a potential stain. With Steph Curry-approved popcorn, gourmet hot dogs, and pretzels that required around 12,000 miles of travel, you'd expect nothing less.