I grew up in Queens, and though my allegiance at a young age was to the Yankees (thanks to an aunt with a passion for Rick Cerone, Ron Guidry, Thurman Munson, Goose Gossage and Reggie Jackson), over the years I developed a distaste for the showmanship of the Yankees and a liking for the underdogs, the Mets.

Ever since I met my husband, a born and bred Red Sox fan, I can say that most baseball games I watch involve Pedroia and Lowell, not Wright and Beltran. But we try to be fair to both teams and go to an equal number of games. Last weekend, we went up to Boston for a game at Fenway and this week, we headed over to Citi Field for a day game against the Marlins and (more importantly) some lunch.

To be honest, now that Danny Meyer has opened branches of Shake Shack and Blue Smoke, along with an El Verano Taquería (a new concept with tacos created by Chef Floyd Cardoz of Tabla) and Box Frites (another new concept that serves freshly-cut, Belgian-style fries with a variety of dipping sauces), I have a feeling we’ll be spending a lot more time at Citi Field than Fenway. Heck, I’d go for the food alone, though having a live game to watch is a nice bonus.
In any case, our story begins with a shower curtain liner. I know, not most trips to Citi Field begin this way, but that’s how ours does.

Since I am nine months pregnant, and our doctor informed us earlier this week that the baby could come at any time, we were sort of taking a chance with the game. But we’d had the tickets for a while, and we really wanted to go to a game before we might be prevented from doing so by a little addition known as a newborn. (Part of me also hoped to deliver there, and get season tickets for life.)

But, seriously, we played it safe. Instead of taking the subway, we decided we’d borrow a friend’s car and pack our hospital bag in the trunk just in case something (like labor and delivery) happened. Our friend had one request: a shower curtain liner on the seat just in case, as he said, “my water burst all over his car.” Fair enough. Not sure I would want amniotic fluid (and lord knows what else) all over my Toyota either. And so we started the day at Target, purchasing a lovely shower curtain and laying it down on my seat, so we could drive to the game. And off we went.

Clad in brick, limestone, granite and cast stone, Citi Field was designed by architects HOK Sport, a firm synonymous with baseball design; they’ve renovated and designed 13 of the 30 major league ballparks in use today, and seven of the last eight to open in Major League Baseball, including PNC Park, Heinz Field and the new Yankee Stadium. They were tasked with creating an homage to Ebbett’s Field, but in practice it is a living tribute to Jackie Robinson, with the palatial main rotunda hung with black and white photos of Jackie and Branch Rickey, and inscribed with the nine of Jackie’s ideals as articulated by his daughter Sharon Robinson: Courage, Excellence, Justice, Teamwork, Commitment, Citizenship, Determination, Perseverance, and Integrity. At the pinnacle of the rotunda are Robinson’s own words: “A life is not important except in the impact it has on others.” The man had a point.

But the stadium is not just about remembering Robinson’s moment in history. It’s about taking the ideals of his life and looking forward to the future. The Mets and Citi have pledged to help create the Jackie Robinson Foundation Museum and Education Center in lower Manhattan, which will educate children about Jackie Robinson's pioneering spirit and leading role in social change. This partnership will support new programs for the Jackie Robinson Foundation, including leadership development and scholarships for students who exemplify Jackie's humanitarian ideals. I know this has nothing to do with food, but I think that’s pretty cool.

So, back to the field. After a visit in the rotunda, you’ll head up to your seats. We had great seats in the third row beyond the left field fence, near the foul pole, close to Shake Shack, Blue Smoke, the Taqueria and a Beer Garden (with about a dozen local and imported beers from Staropramen to Goose Island), which are located in the food court between left field and center field. You’ll also find a wealth of entertainment options for your young Mets fans. There’s the Hershey’s Dunk Booth, where kids (or you) have the chance to dunk a Citi Field employee wearing the opposing team’s jersey.

There are softball batting cages for practicing those homers, and a kiddie version of Citi Field where aspiring toddlers can hit a wiffle ball and run the bases like the big boys. On a nice day, with all the outdoor seating for picnicking, it’s really great family fun.
But we were not there for the family fun (yet). We were there to watch Johan Santana pitch and to have lunch.

We arrived for the 1pm game on the early side, and found lengthy lines at all of Meyer’s concessions. If you’re interested in a standard Nathan’s Dog, a Primo sausage and peppers, or a soft pretzel, you’ll have very little waiting time at all, but Meyer’s outlets are packed in the beginning of the games. We were in line at Shake Shack for 27 minutes, but the good news is that you only wait in one line; there’s no waiting again for your food after you’ve ordered, they’ve got your burgers and fries ready to go. Surprisingly, though, it doesn’t taste like anything has been sitting around, probably because at this volume nothing has time to sit. It goes from grill to bun to box to you in no time at all.

We made it to our seats in time to watch Santana make a mess of the first inning (he gave up two runs) while sharing a perfect Shack Burger ($5.75, a flavorful, juicy, and ample patty topped with melted cheese, fresh tomato and lettuce, and a good smack of Shack sauce), a boatload of golden and salty crinkle cut fries ($4.75), a wonderful Shack-cago Dog (an all-beef Vienna dog on a poppy seed bun, fully dressed with mustard, Rick’s Picks relish, onion, cucumber, pickle, tomato, sport pepper and celery salt, $5.75), a thick and frosty vanilla milkshake ($6.50), and a Shack-Meister Ale.

Six innings later, it was time for a snack. We could have gone with Blue Smoke (on their menu you’ll find standards like pulled pork sandwiches, $9, Kansas City spareribs $10, and chipotle chicken wings, $8), but I’ve eaten Blue Smoke before and I was curious about whether Tabla’s Floyd Cardoz could pull off Mexican food. Let me be the first to say: YES, HE CAN.

His tidy taco menu ($7.25 for two) offers choices like chicken mole pipian with salsa fresca, chopped onion, cilantro, and roasted tomato salsa, carnitas with tomatillo-chipotle salsa, chopped onion, and cilantro, and chile-marinated skirt steak with roasted tomato salsa, chopped onion, and cilantro. We went for the carnitas and they were terrific—beautifully seasoned slow roasted pork wrapped in warm, thick corn tortillas (I think they’re made a bit thicker so that the weight of the meat and toppings doesn’t break through), dressed up with onions, chipotle-tomato salsa, and fresh wedges of lime. Why has he not opened an El Verano Taquería in the city? Or perhaps here in Brooklyn? Yum.

While we didn’t make it to Blue Smoke or the Frites Box, we’ll try to get to them next time. We’d had enough to eat, and spend the rest of the afternoon kicking back and taking in the sun and the game, which unfortunately ended in a 4-3 loss for the Mets. It was a bummer, but the season is long. We could not have been happier. We got to check out Citi Field and have an al fresco ballpark lunch on a beautiful spring day. And we made it home (on the shower curtain) without incident.

For more information on Citi Field, visit http://newyork.mets.mlb.com/nym/ballpark/citifield_overview.jsp

Andrea Strong