Omaha Interview: Alec Woockman, the Executive Sous Chef at Levy Restaurants

Alec Woockman with a table in the foreground at Charles Schwab Field Omaha

Please tell us a little bit about your creations and your favorite ones. And I notice they’re very inspired by different ethnic cultures, which is a lot of fun this year.

Yeah, absolutely. We have, I think 12 new concessions items this year, which is a decent amount for us. It’s more than maybe in years prior. But yeah, we like to feature a lot of different flavors and a lot of different…you know, our favorite types of foods. So there’s some Middle Eastern items out there. There’s kind of some Mediterranean things with our gyro and our Mediterranean brat. We have some…definitely some southwestern flavors. That’s very normal for us… jalapeno jack cheese sauce everywhere and jalapenos and things like that. And then we definitely have some breakfast items this year that we’re…you know, we’re big fans of breakfast flavors. Bacon’s great, that type of thing. So we tried to include that in a couple items this year.

I would say my favorite items… probably the Walk-Off Burger, which is a burger that is nestled between French toast. It has bourbon, bacon, onion jam which has some maple in there as well. Cranberry compote, just to add some acidity and some sweetness. And like I said, it’s nestled between two pieces of French toast. So it kind of covers a lot of breakfast slots there.

One I feel like we need to touch on is the Stealing Home Colossal Pretzel. We love having shareable options that you can buy and feed a few people. Maybe, you know, you and a couple of kids and your friends? Whatever. So it’s a giant pretzel—I mean, probably 12 inches wide type of thing. And it has three different types of meat. So we have pork carnitas, chicken tinga, taco beef, cheese sauce, poblano crema, pico de gallo, so southwestern flavors, but just on a huge pretzel that is very shareable, very filling.

And I think I should touch on a hot dog. I mean, we got a lot of great hot dog options this year. We’re doing Footlong Frank and Bean Dog with baked beans on it, bacon bits, mustard BBQ sauce. And then we also have… in that Mediterranean kind of realm, we have a loaded brat with tzatziki, lettuce, tomato, feta cheese. Just have a nice fresh take on a brat. And then the Dinger Dog is a fun one as well. So that’s also more southwestern flavors. There’s avocado, poblano crema, lettuce, tomato, bacon, stuff like that.

So those are probably the ones that are my favorite this year. I can touch on any of them if you want more specifics, but those are the few that I could think of.

You told me before how you could share inspiration, but I always find it interesting. And then each year’s got to be just a little bit different.

Yeah. You know that that is the thing. Every year, there’s maybe one or two things that stick around from the previous year’s menu. And then this year we’ve got 12 new things. So it is a group effort. We have a group of chefs that all work together on these things. We couldn’t do it with just one person. It always helps to have a lot of minds thinking on it. And we have people from different cultures and backgrounds who have some great flavor profiles to work with, so… the Big Kahuna Burger’s got the Asian Hawaiian influence. And we’ve got, obviously, lots of southwestern flavors. But it’s really a group effort. It takes a lot of people to come up with these different types of…

 Of the returning ones, which one is your favorite?

Of the returning ones, I think everyone’s favorite is usually the Grounds Crew Tatch. That’s come back for years and years now, so that one’s great. The Nacho Omaha has been a big hit for a few years now. We’ve got like an Italian Meatball Slider and a Home Plate Box that’s been popular for us. So those are the big three, I would say, that are returning. Yeah.

 Thank you.

Omaha Interview: Anthony Holman, Vice President of Championships & Alliances at NCAA

 

Anthony Holman at the CWS Food Tasting

Please, tell us about the NCAA and ways that people aren’t thinking of it, because there’s so much hard work that goes on there.

Yeah. I think one of the comments I mentioned during the press conference was about the excitement that these young men will have. It’ll be reminiscent of when they played Little League, right? They’re still playing for their institutions, for their teammates, and that’s still important to them, so we just want to make sure that that’s not lost in some of the other news media that’s going on around name, image, and likeness to (?) as employees. What you’ll see over the next two weeks is young men playing for the love of the game, and that’s what we’re excited about.

I think the balance of all those things is rather difficult to achieve, so…

Yeah, it is. I think certainly there’ll be thousands of fans here watching and cheering for them, and should they reap some benefits from that? And I would say absolutely. And I think that’s the model that we’re moving to.

Tell us a little bit about your background and how you came into your position.

Well, I’ve been at the National Office for 15 years now, all in Championships. Prior to that, I spent some time in professional sport and amateur athletics and high school association and the Olympic movement, so all in sport for over 25 years. But just working through various groups and departments and connections kind of afforded me an opportunity to join the NCAA 15 years ago.

What baseball memories would you like to share with us?

Oh yeah, so I was a baseball player growing up and loved the sport. It was my first love. I was a catcher and outfielder…really enjoyed the game. I really like the…it’s a team sport, but there’s an individual component. When you’re in the batter’s box trying to figure that out or a ball’s hit to you and how you have to make a play on that, and other people are relying on you. So I remember those lessons learned playing Little League, high school, collegiate league to understand and have kind of a connection with the young men who are playing now. So, but yeah, I could never have played at the level that these guys are playing at, so I’m a huge fan. I just really like to watch and enjoy their talent and their performance.

I think that’s really key and important, and I’m glad that you’re emphasizing the love of the sport and all of that. It’s hard to have that balance between running it and preserving it.

I really enjoy seeing you year after year and all your presentations, and I’m so happy that this is finally the year I was able to interview you. So thank you.

No, no. My pleasure, and thank you for your coverage and your support, for sure.

Thank you.

Omaha Media Event: College World Series Food Tasting 2022-Images and Description, 15 June

Here are some of our photographs and descriptions of the CWS food sampled at the College World Series Food Tasting 2022 at Charles Schwab Field Omaha:

So how can you have more than one favorite? Go the the College World Series this year and find out for yourself and sample these restaurant quality offerings.

Up next? More food and interviews! Please visit back later to view.

 

 

Omaha Interview: College World Series Pre-Game Press Conference, Omaha Mayor

OmahaNebraska.com interviewed Omaha mayor, Jean Stothert, after the College World Series Pre-Game Press Conference.

There have been many changes over the last many years from Rosenblatt to here. What are some of the more noticeable changes and what were your favorite changes?

Well, I mean we built a brand-new stadium, a brand-new state of the art stadium to keep the College World Series for 25 years. And so there’s been just a multitude of changes. But I think the most important thing is working with the CWS and the NCAA and MECA that we were able to create a state of the art stadium that will keep the College World Series here for years.

What my parts are my favorite? I would say I love this out here [motions to the entire stadium] that it gives people a lot more room to walk around. I love the big screen. I love how the seating is.  It’s just a beautiful stadium so it all works together.

Do you have any favorite baseball memories? I am sure that it’s hard to pick just one or two.

I can’t say that I have one favorite memory. I enjoyed coming in College World Series when it was at Rosenblatt.

I was here for the first game in the new stadium. I think from Omahan perspective, I think one of my favorite memories would have to be sitting in this stadium for the first time.

That’s wonderful. I know that it contributes quite a bit to the economic development of Omaha.

It’s estimated that the College World Series brings in between 75 and 80 million dollars.

And so you know, those years that we didn’t have it because of the pandemic . . . the trickle down was enormous because the hotels weren’t filled, the restaurants weren’t filled, bars weren’t filled. It made a big impact. I thought last year showed that because the first year was back in person we had record breaking crowds, and everybody just wanted to get out and be outside and enjoy some activity. And so, it really just encouraged people to be out again, and the College World Series is something that I think Omahans love and can’t wait for every year.

 It’s been wonderful to watch all these things grow and develop and now Gene Leahy Mall is getting its refresh. Can you tell us a little about what is coming up please?

Sure, there’s 90 acres of city owned property. It’s the Gene Leahy Mall. Go east Heartland of America Park and then you go north to Lewis and Clark Park Landing. That whole area. We are working in cooperation with the private sector. And when it’s all done, it’s going to be about a $400 million project and the city put in $50 million and the rest is private.  And so that just really shows that the good public private partnerships that we have in Omaha and the investment that is going on in Omaha right now.

The Gene Leahy Mall will open the first of July, and it’s fantastic. We’ve raised it up to the street level so it’s usable. It’s usable for events. The old mall was pretty, but you couldn’t use it for anything. I think when people get in it, they are going to love it.

I toured it the other day and it’s gorgeous. It has something for everybody. And then it will go on down to Heartland of America Park which will connect us right to the river. That’s our most important geographic feature we have. We live on the river, so that park will go all the way down to the river and then north to Lewis and Clark Landing where a beautiful new STEM museum will be down there that Kiewit is the major funder. That portion of it, Heartland and Lewis and Clark Landing, should be open by August of next year. So everything is moving along. They are right on schedule. They’re keeping it within budget. And it will be done. And it’s going to just spur development downtown and it already has. With Mutual of Omaha coming downtown now and there’s a new hotel in the Landmark. There’s a lot of other investors looking at downtown because of what we are building downtown. We are pretty much building a new downtown.

 It looks so different, but then a lot of the favorite features are still there.

Yes.

 Everyone is so happy that you kept the arch and the slides.

Oh, yeah. Yeah, we wanted to incorporate everything in there and it will remain the Gene Leahy Mall.

Thank you.

Omaha Event: Bacon Fest at the Kroc Center

There is still time to get in on the fun so head on down to this fun Omaha festival at:

KROC Center
2825 Y St.
Omaha, NE 68107
(402) 905-3500

before 5PM.

Thank you to everyone at the Kroc Center for a great time and some great photos.

Enjoy!

 

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Here are just some of the vendors that came:

Approach Climbing Gym
US Cellular
AA Windows N Doors
Red Cross
Metro Omaha Tobacco Coalition
Anthony’s Steakhouse
NRG Media
Hy-Vee

For more on the KROC Center check out our interview with Madeline Moyer at  http://omahanebraska.com/southomahakroccenter. The Kroc Center is located in South Omaha.

It is here! Bacon Fest-KROC Center

Bacon Fest

Head over to the KROC Center on Sunday, 18 September between 1-5 PM for some tasty bacon fun at this Omaha festival.

KROC Center
2825 Y St.
Omaha, NE 68107
(402) 905-3500

For more information, go to
http://www.omahakroc.org/baconfest.html

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Website Event Screenshot

For more on the KROC Center check out our Omaha interview with Madeline Moyer at  http://omahanebraska.com/southomahakroccenter