Safeco Ballpark Eats With Gabby the Girl Scout

By Rachel Belle

Listen to Ballpark Eats with Gabby The Girl Scout

For some, going to a Mariner’s game is as much about the hot dogs and beer as it is the home runs and RBIs – and the food at Safeco Field is no longer your average ballpark fare. This is the second year that Seattle super chef Ethan Stowell has created the menu for The Pen, and this year he’s branching out into the general concessions.

“We’ve got a new grass-fed burger, we’ve got a couple different sausages, a sweet Italian and a cheddar cheese brat. We are doing a BBQ pork shoulder and a beef brisket sandwich. One more addition to The Pen is the oyster po’ boy.”

It’s not fancy food, but it’s fresh, local and organic. The fast food style frozen beef patties are all being replaced with Painted Hills grass-fed beef, the oysters in the po’ boys are from Taylor Farms and the BBQ doesn’t come from a bottle.

“It’s us actually taking fresh meat, dry rubbing it, smoking it for hours and then making our own sauce,” Stowell says.

The new, healthier food does not come at a much higher price. Stowell says the grass fed burger is only $6.75, which is down a dollar from last season.

When I got a chance to try the new food, I borrowed 9-year-old Gabby the Girl Scout to take to the taste test at Safeco Field. Gabby is a friend of the show, and she came on live with us a few months ago to talk about Girl Scout cookies. I thought she’d be the perfect person to tell us how kid-friendly the food is.

Rachel Belle: Have you ever been to a baseball game here?

Gabby: Yes, I have.

RB: Do you like baseball?

Gabby: Not really.

RB: Me neither. I come because the field is pretty and green and I like to eat and drink beer.

Gabby: I like to drink orange juice and water.

RB: When you come to a baseball game, what do you like to eat?

Gabby: A cheeseburger!

So we sampled one of those grass fed burgers, which was a big hit with Gabby.

RB: What do you like about it?

Gabby: Everything. I like the sauce, the sauce makes everything taste very good. And the tomatoes are just crunchy enough. I think he did something fancy.

RB: How’s the bun?

Gabby: Perfect! Squishy!

RB: I think it’s a potato bun.

Gabby: I don’t know what those are.

RB: Now, I’m a little picky with tomatoes. I’m taking my tomato out.

Gabby: Whaaaat? They’re the best thing!

RB: What are you, my mother?

Gabby: No, but there’s a show on On-Demand called How I Met your Mother.

From there we moved on to the oyster po’ boy.

RB:Do you like oysters?

Gabby: Uh-huh.

RB: Do you like fried oysters?

Gabby: Especially Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup Easter Eggs!

RB: Which are just like oysters!

Seeing as her dad is from Louisiana, Gabby was born with oyster loving in her genes.

Gabby: Mmmm! That’s good! One problem: They need to put all the stuff that they have in there, just a little bit less of it all. Just a little bit, teeny bit, less of everything ’cause it’s super big to fit into a child’s mouth.

RB: What about the flavors?

Gabby: Oysters are good, but they’re a little bit dry, in a good way.

RB: What do you mean?

Gabby: That’s hard to explain.

RB: I think that it’s really moist because there’s a lot of the sauce.

Gabby: It just, like, poops your brain and you don’t even remember it’s so good.

RB: Kinda blew your mind?

Gabby: Yeah.

Hear the entire Gabby the girl Scout interview here.