{"id":660377,"date":"2026-04-03T06:15:38","date_gmt":"2026-04-03T06:15:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/660377\/"},"modified":"2026-04-03T06:15:38","modified_gmt":"2026-04-03T06:15:38","slug":"rookie-menu-items-highlight-yankees-new-culinary-lineup-for-opening-day","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/660377\/","title":{"rendered":"‘Rookie’ menu items highlight Yankees new culinary lineup for Opening Day"},"content":{"rendered":"

Yankees GM Brian Cashman took plenty of heat during the offseason for running back the same Bombers squad that fell short in the playoffs last October.<\/p>\n

The same can\u2019t be said for Yankee Stadium executive chef Robert Flowers.<\/p>\n

Flowers and his culinary squad spent the offseason creating a star-studded, rookie-dominated menu to impress Yankee fans starting on Friday afternoon when the Bombers return to the Bronx to face the Marlins in the \u201826 home opener at the Stadium.<\/p>\n

\u201cI get the butterflies every morning when I come in this time of year just because we know the anticipation of the gates opening up and us getting ready for [opening day],\u201d Flowers, the culinary boss for the Yankees since 2024, told the Daily News on Tuesday afternoon as his team unveiled the new menu items for the press.<\/p>\n

Flowers, who also has a stint with Citi Field and the Mets on his 20-plus year culinary career, says there is no offseason when it comes to getting the menu ready for a new season.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s funny, people say \u2018what do you do in the offseason\u2019 and I always tell them there is no offseason in what I do.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"StreetbirdStreetbird Sticky Que Chicken Sandwich (Courtesy of New York Yankees)<\/p>\n

\u201cThis menu has literally been in the works since the last game of last season,\u201d Flowers told The News. \u201cSo as soon as the season ends we sit down \u2014 we take a break for about a week \u2014 and then all of my chefs and everyone on the team gets together and then we start working with all our partners to come up with different menu items and then we do the research and development of those menu items and see if the demographic palate is going to be willing to eat it.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think we hit it out of the park with this one.\u201d<\/p>\n

Some of the new items \u2014 \u201crookies\u201d \u2014 designed to wow the taste buds of the Yankee faithful this season include the Streetbird Sticky Que Chicken Sandwich from famed chef Marcus Samuelsson, which is described as \u201ccrispy chicken, a signature spice blend, BBQ sauce, slaw, pickles and ranch,\u201d which will be sold in Section 112. A few sections over in Section 115, fans can get a taste of a couple of other rookie menu items \u2014 the King\u2019s Hawaiian Angry Lobster Roll (featuring Togarashi spice, lemon aioli and scallions) and the King\u2019s Hawaiian Chicken Parm Sando (featuring flash fried chicken, basil-marinara and artisan mozzarella cheese).<\/p>\n

\"King'sKing’s Hawaiian Angry Lobster Roll (Courtesy of New York Yankees)<\/p>\n

But Chef Flowers didn\u2019t hesitate when asked what new addition to the culinary lineup he was most excited for.<\/p>\n

\u201cChristian Petroni and his concept in Stand 105,\u201d Flowers said of the Food Network star. \u201cParm to table. It is going to be an unbelievable eclectic mix. Artisan pastas that we are going to doing out of there. Fried mozzarella sandwich with eight-hour marinara. Affogato with Mr. Softee. You can\u2019t go wrong.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"ChristianChristian Petroni Mozzarella En Carrozza (Courtesy of New York Yankees)<\/p>\n

Want a burger? You have two in the everyday lineup, including the Aaron Judge of ballpark burgers \u2014 the aptly named \u201c99 Burger\u201d (which features two 4-oz American wagyu beef patties, American cheese, caramelized onions, secret sauce, dill pickles on a brioche bun) and is available in Section 107; and the rookie \u2014 the MVP Burger (which adds tomato-bacon jam and an onion ring to the 99 Burger) which is featured in Section 227.<\/p>\n

With so many items to choose from, The News asked Chef Flowers to map out his ideal culinary day at the intersection of East 161st Street and River Avenue.<\/p>\n

\"9999 Burger (Courtesy of New York Yankees)<\/p>\n

\u201cI would start with something light,\u201d Flowers game-planned, \u201clike maybe some popcorn and then you go right into a sweet treat to start with like a Mr. Softee and then I go into my main meal and probably get one of those Christian Petroni pastas and then top it off with an affagato.\u201d<\/p>\n

Flowers also made sure to hype the sweet treats on offer at the Stadium.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have an eclectic mix of unbelievable desserts and pastries around the stadium,\u201d Flowers said, with Magnolia Bakery and Treathouse listed as new partners for the season.<\/p>\n

\"TreatTreat House Rice Krispy Bar (Courtesy of New York Yankees)<\/p>\n

And make no mistake, the competition isn\u2019t just on the field this year, as the Yankees are looking up at their counterparts at Citi Field who were just voted to have the best baseball stadium food in USA Today\u2019s most recent Readers\u2019 Choice Awards.<\/p>\n

\u201cAll of my colleagues around all the other ballparks, we [tease] each other a little bit and do all that kind of stuff, but it\u2019s definitely a competition to see who can come out on top.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Nathan'sNathan’s Hot Dog (Courtesy of New York Yankees)<\/p>\n

What about the fans that hunger for the old school ballpark experience?<\/p>\n

\u201cYou want a simple hot dog? You want chicken tenders? You want all the nostalgic fare? We\u2019ve got you.\u201d<\/p>\n

THE DAILY NEWS\u2019 OPENING DAY ALL-ROOKIE LINEUP<\/p>\n

Hibiscus Tully Ball cocktail
\nMac & Cheese Dumpling
\nKing\u2019s Hawaiian Angry Lobster Roll
\nMVP Burger
\nPetroni Pasta Tasting
\nStreetbird Sticky Que Chicken Sandwich
\nFuku Lucky Fries
\nMini Chicken Dessert Bucket
\nNo-Hitter Mocktail<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Yankees GM Brian Cashman took plenty of heat during the offseason for running back the same Bombers squad…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":660378,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[2376],"tags":[5,35287,84244,45838,84243,36473,4,1690,62,2548,2547,84242,5000,142],"class_list":{"0":"post-660377","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-york-yankees","8":"tag-baseball","9":"tag-burgers","10":"tag-christian-petroni","11":"tag-hot-dogs","12":"tag-marcus-samuelsson","13":"tag-menu","14":"tag-mlb","15":"tag-new-york","16":"tag-new-york-yankees","17":"tag-newyork","18":"tag-newyorkyankees","19":"tag-robert-flowers","20":"tag-yankee-stadium","21":"tag-yankees"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@mlb\/116339313456343359","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/660377","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=660377"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/660377\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/660378"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=660377"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=660377"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=660377"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}