{"id":495049,"date":"2026-03-09T17:05:20","date_gmt":"2026-03-09T17:05:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/495049\/"},"modified":"2026-03-09T17:05:20","modified_gmt":"2026-03-09T17:05:20","slug":"gourmet-stadium-eats-with-great-views-of-the-ice-at-blackhawks-expanded-training-facility","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/495049\/","title":{"rendered":"Gourmet Stadium Eats \u2014 With Great Views of The Ice \u2014 At Blackhawks Expanded Training Facility"},"content":{"rendered":"

NEAR WEST SIDE \u2014 Two things people may not know about James Beard Award-winning chef Paul Kahan: He\u2019s a huge Blackhawks fan, and he makes a mean chicken finger.<\/p>\n

Both of those were on display late last week at the Blackhawks Ice Center<\/a>, 1801 W. Jackson Blvd., when Kahan, a partner in One Off Hospitality, previewed the restaurant group\u2019s two new dining spots that are now open to the public as part of the facility\u2019s $65 million expansion<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Raise the Cup Caf\u00e9<\/a>, on the ground floor of the Blackhawks\u2019 rink, formerly Fifth Third Arena, is an all-day hub serving Colombe coffee drinks, smoothies, Publican Quality Bread pastries and sandwiches. Raise the Cup is open 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday-Friday and 8 a.m.-6 p.m. Saturday-Sunday.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Upstairs, Rocky\u2019s Table & Tap<\/a>, a tribute to late Blackhawks Chairman Rocky Wirtz<\/a>, features a full bar and a menu of gussied-up bar fare. Rocky\u2019s is open 4 p.m.-1 a.m. Monday-Friday and noon-1 a.m. Saturday-Sunday.<\/p>\n

Both feature great views of the nearby rinks, which now total four after the Blackhawks added two Olympic-size ice rinks to the facility. It functions as the training facilities for the Blackhawks and visiting NHL teams, as well as the new permanent home of the Chicago Steel junior hockey league team<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The center is open to the public for skating and stick and puck sessions and also hosts a variety of hockey leagues for all ages. The team also hosts public practices on occasion.<\/a> <\/p>\n

\"Rocky\u2019sRocky\u2019s Table & Tap, a tribute to the late Blackhawks Chairman Rocky Wirtz, is on the upper level of the Blackhawks Ice Center, 1801 W. Jackson Blvd. Credit: Provided\/Chicago Blackhawks<\/p>\n

\"ChefChef Paul Kahan is a partner in One Off Hospitality and a longtime Blackhawks fan. Credit: Instagram\/One Off Hospitality<\/p>\n

\u201cConnecting to the community was a big part of the expansion,\u201d said Jaime Faulkner, Blackhawks president of business operations. \u201cAt its core is getting on the ice and skating, but we wanted to build a building that people could come to, connect with one another and have fun.\u201d<\/p>\n

That\u2019s what led them to tap Kahan and One Off Hospitality, which owns and operates some of the city\u2019s most successful and popular restaurants, including Avec, Big Star and Publican.<\/p>\n

At the event Thursday, Kahan \u2014 a self-described \u201crabid Blackhawks fan\u201d who was wearing the jersey of goaltender Spencer Knight \u2014 recalled a lunch he had with Danny Wirtz, CEO of the Blackhawks and Wirtz Corporation, to discuss the then-upcoming project.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m a chef and I had all these ideas in my head,\u201d said Kahan, who has known Wirtz for about eight years. \u201cHe pretty much said, \u2018We want to do stadium food, but we want it to be the best stadium food.\u2019 We\u2019re not trying to reinvent the wheel, but we\u2019re just trying to do it better than anyone has in this environment.\u201d<\/p>\n

The menu at Rocky\u2019s includes stadium staples like nachos piled high with black beans, pickled jalapenos and white cheese sauce; soft jumbo pretzels with beer cheese; and a Caesar salad with baby kale and romaine.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The encased meats used for the Chicago hot dog, chili cheese dog and jalapeno cheddar brat are made by One Off. Three tavern-style pizzas \u2014 cheese, pepperoni and sausage \u2014 have a cracker-thin crust with that essential crunch.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Tavern-styleTavern-style pizza is on the menu at Rocky\u2019s Table & Tap on the upper level of the Blackhawks Ice Center, 1801 W. Jackson Blvd.<\/p>\n

Meat from Illinois\u2019 Kilgus Farmstead in Fairbury is the star of the smashburger, topped with American cheese and grilled onions.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe go the extra mile in sourcing from farmers who we\u2019ve established relationships with over the years,\u201d Kahan said.<\/p>\n

Chicken fingers, available in a bucket with french fries or as a sandwich, are hefty pieces of juicy white meat. From its crispy exterior, you\u2019d never know that the breading, created by One Off\u2019s head of culinary, Perry Hendrix, is gluten-free.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re just bringing it up a notch and having a lot of fun with it,\u201d said Kahan.<\/p>\n

The kids\u2019 menu at Rocky\u2019s, which includes frozen treats from Logan Square\u2019s Pretty Cool Ice Cream<\/a>, is a necessity considering the number of pee-wee hockey players and teams using the center.<\/p>\n

\"AnAn assortment of sausages and dogs at Rocky\u2019s Table & Tap, inside the Blackhawks Ice Center, 1801 W. Jackson Blvd. \u2014 all made in-house by One Off Hospitality. Credit: Lisa Shames\/Block Club Chicago<\/p>\n

The ceiling of Raise the Cup Caf\u00e9 features long wood beams that resemble hockey sticks. Upstairs at Rocky\u2019s, oversized trading cards of Blackhawks players from the past line the room\u2019s columns. <\/p>\n

The facility features free parking and is also available for private events, including a soon-to-open outdoor patio with views of the Downtown skyline. Want to hold your wedding or corporate party on an ice rink? Specially designed flooring keeps the cold out.<\/p>\n

Centennial Hall, which is free to check out, features 100 years of Blackhawk memorabilia, with photos and hockey sticks from each year \u2014 including six red ones from championship wins.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis was built for and with the neighborhood,\u201d Faulkner said.<\/p>\n

Creating food in sports-centric spaces isn\u2019t new for One Off. The company has supplied food to the Chicago Fire since last year<\/a> and also cooks for the Chicago Stars.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve created this niche,\u201d Kahan said. \u201cWe\u2019re not feeding the Blackhawks yet, but we hope to.\u201d<\/p>\n

Listen to the Block Club Chicago podcast:<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"NEAR WEST SIDE \u2014 Two things people may not know about James Beard Award-winning chef Paul Kahan: He\u2019s…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":495050,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5115],"tags":[521,4087,37,96,5263,5,4,5738],"class_list":["post-495049","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-chicago-blackhawks","tag-blackhawks","tag-business","tag-chicago","tag-chicago-blackhawks","tag-chicagoblackhawks","tag-hockey","tag-nhl","tag-restaurants"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nhl\/116200311025041975","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/495049","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=495049"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/495049\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/495050"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=495049"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=495049"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=495049"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}