Legends Hospitality Lands Devil of a Deal

Legends Hospitality Management has signed a multi-year deal with the National Hockey League's New Jersey Devils to run all foodservice at the Devils' Prudential Center home arena in Newark. Legends will take over concessions operations in early July with a full rollout of new offerings this fall. Foodservice at Prudential Center had previously been operated by Aramark after the Devils canceled their contract with Centerplate in January 2013.

The foundation of the new concessions concept will focus on locally-sourced, high-quality New Jersey food and creative, re-imagined space design throughout the arena’s concourses and premium locations. In addition to an upgraded culinary experience for guests, the concept will feature new streamlined point-of-service operations for expedited transactions.

"Partnering with Legends gives us the opportunity to provide our guests with a world-class experience, including farm-to-table offerings by nationally recognized celebrity chefs, with authentic New Jersey roots," says Prudential Center CEO Scott O'Neil. "Legends has a long history of success at venues around the globe and their creative and unique vision is perfectly aligned with our commitment to delivering exceptional services to our fans.”

“We are honored to be selected by Prudential Center,” adds Legends President/CEO Shervin Mirhashemi. “We look forward to working closely with them to deliver a new, innovative culinary program that will be centered on enhancing the guest experience. This will be defined by passion for customer service and brought to light through a culinary lens that represents the iconic fare of New Jersey. It is a like-minded partnership and shared vision that we cannot wait to bring from concept to execution.”

The new culinary program will be based on the platform Born & Bread in New Jersey and will feature popular restaurants built on local farm-to-table sourcing; a collection of locally born, award-winning chefs; and unique cuisine that represents iconic locations around the state.

They will include...

JBJ Soul Kitchen, a community kitchen and restaurant run by the Jon Bon Jovi Foundation in Red Bank, NJ, and established with a vision to serve healthy, delicious and, when possible, organic meals. In a partnership with Jon Bon Jovi’s Soul Kitchen, Prudential Center will feature the first community-based concession stand in sports and entertainment, and the location will embody its roots by serving healthy, locally-sourced meals served by a staff that has graduated from the Legends/JBJSK job placement program.

The Jersey Diner, a concept that celebrates New Jersey's staus as "the diner capital of the world" with more than 625 around the state. The Route 1 Diner will look and feel like a traditional Jersey Diner, from the servers uniforms to the menu classics such as the Burger Deluxe, Lamb Gyro, Disco Fries and savory milkshakes.

Ironbound District, which honors the district in which Prudential Center is located, will feature a wide variety of Peruvian, Brazilian and Portuguese favorites in a newly renovated, show-cooking setting with rotisserie grills.

Boardwalk, on Prudential Center’s re-imagined Upper Concourse, will feature fixed-portables, festooned with classic lighting and an actual Boardwalk that will serve popular Jersey Shore classics such as Fried Clams, Fries, Pizza, Ice Cream and Funnel Cakes.

Legends has been growing its presence in the sports concession and hospitality management segment since its formation in 2008 by a partnership between the New York Yankees of Major League Baseball and the NFL's Dallas Cowboys, both of which were in the process of completing and opening new stadiums for which they wanted to self-operate food and other services. Since then, the company has singed a number of high profile clients, the most recent with MLB's Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim to operate concessions and premium catering at both the team's Angel Stadium at Anaheim and at its spring training facility in Tempe, AZ.