Thank you, Grandma.
That is, the grandma of Canal Park’s new Executive Chef James Phillips.
He explains that his grandmother’s culinary talents are the inspiration for the new Southern Fried Chicken Sandwich, among the best chicken sandwiches I have ever tasted, at the Game Grill + Bar at Canal Park in downtown Akron.
“It’s double-breaded in the true Southern style,” Phillips said of the moist, tasty chicken breast.
He said he uses his grandmother Carol Phillips’ “classic recipe … It’s marinated with seasoned buttermilk … it goes into a seasoned flour and back into the buttermilk and back into the flour.”
It’s topped with a little arugula, white American cheese, pickles and housemade bacon buttermilk ranch dressing. Cost is $11.
Phillips, 29, a graduate of Medina High School and the University of Akron, joined the RubberDucks earlier this year.
He “basically restructured the whole menu this year,” said Brian Manning, RubberDucks’ food and beverage director at an unveiling of Canal Park’s new food items Monday.
The Game Grill + Bar, with a folding wall of windows at the right field corner, is only open on RubberDucks game days. But you don’t need a game ticket to eat there. It will open two hours before each game’s scheduled start time and remain open after games. The first game of the season, against the Bowie (Md.) Baysox, begins at 6:35 p.m. Thursday.
OK, back to the food.
“We wanted to give our guests a little bit more of a spread to choose from,” Phillips said.
Phillips said his “personal favorite” is Mega Fries ($12), Cajun-spiced fries topped with barbecued beef brisket, cheddar and asiago cheeses, roasted red peppers, scallions and garlic aioli.
New sandwiches include the Cleveland Polish Boy ($10), a toasted sub roll with beef kielbasa, fries, a tangy barbecue sauce and — hold on — what Phillips described as a “power-blend” slaw of apple and kale.
“So it’s actually quite good for you,” he said.
Well, maybe if you leave the fries off.
More at Canal Park
Salads include the new turkey club salad ($8), chopped romaine lettuce with cucumbers and oven-roasted turkey. Croutons provide that “toasted bread flavor” of a club sandwich, Phillips said, and the salad is topped with bacon buttermilk ranch dressing.
Sweet potato waffle fries ($8) are topped with powdered sugar and maple syrup on top. The Mediterranean veggie flatbread ($11) boasts oven-roasted seasonal vegetables, roasted garlic and parmesan sauce, mozzarella and feta cheeses and a basil pesto drizzle.
The menu includes wraps, soups, sweets and snacks, as well as hot dogs and burgers.
Phillips also led the creation of this season’s two new Extreme Foods. Notorious P.I.G. ($15) uses two fried pork tenderloins to enclose pulled pork, smoked shoulder bacon and sauerkraut slaw made with maple honey mustard. It’s gluten-free, Phillips noted, even the breading. The Yardbird ($12) features two warm apple fritters as the bun, filled with turkey, bacon, apples, arugula and honey cream cheese.
Phillips is a University of Akron graduate, but he didn’t attend the culinary program; he has an English degree. He discovered his passion for food while cooking at restaurants to pay for college.
His most recent gig was as executive chef at a lunch place in Cleveland. Earlier, he was sous chef at Canterbury Golf Club in Beachwood and a line cook at Nuevo Modern Mexican & Tequila Bar in downtown Akron.
The English degree, he said, is mighty helpful when it comes to writing menus.
Chef dinner Saturday
This Saturday is the Spring Graduate Chef Dinner, featuring dishes prepared by graduates of University of Akron’s hospitality management program.
It will run from 5:30 to 7 p.m. Saturday at the University of Akron’s Crystal Room Bistro inside Gallucci Hall at 360 Grant St. on the University of Akron campus. I included an incorrect date in last week’s Akron Dish.
Cost is $50. Proceeds help support the students’ educational visits. For reservations, call 330-972-6615.
Food Truck Fridays
Baseball season has begun, and in another sign of spring, soon the food trucks will be rolling out in full force.
Food Truck Fridays will return May 19 to the nonprofit Child Guidance & Family Solutions. The grub will be available from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Fridays through Sept. 1. Look for the trucks in the parking lot of the agency at 18 N. Forge St., just west of Summa Akron City Hospital and state Route 8.
It will kick off with an evening Food Truck Frenzy from 4 to 8 p.m. May 12.
New trucks include A Twist of Leona (burgers, fried green tomatoes, mac and cheese) from Akron, Jackpot Chicken Food Truck from Cleveland, and Flamingo Jack’s (shrimp and grits, shrimp po’ boys and creme brulee with berries).
Favorites such as Wholly Frijoles, featuring Mexican street food, and Orange Trük, with its changing menu of “gastro cuisine,” are returning.
The trucks give a percentage of sales to the agency that provides counseling and other services to children and their families throughout the area. Visit the Akron Food Truck Friday Facebook page for updates.
Wine events
It’s not every day a producer of high-quality Napa Valley wine comes to a grocery store tasting.
Winemaker Michael Pozzan will be at the Fishers Foods Jackson Township store at 5215 Fulton Drive NW for the tasting from 4:30 to 7:30 p.m. Friday. Tastings of his Alexander Valley cabernet, Russian River chardonnay, Marianna red wine and Gold red wines will be available, and Pozzan will sign bottles.
The evening will also include tasting of Fishers Foods’ new Top 16 Spring-Summer Wines. Jeff Fisher picks the Top 16 lists seasonally. Hors d’oeuvres from chef Joe Pileggi of Fishers Catering Co. will be available. Cost is $10.
More wine events coming up:
• Chris Zazo, West Akron native and owner of Hailstone Vineyards, will visit the Akron 750ml wine bar and shop at 6 p.m. April 20. Hailstone has its headquarters in Dallas; Napa Valley is the source of its grapes.
Scott Finaly, with Duckhorn Vineyards of Napa Valley, will be on hand for a tasting at 6 p.m. June 7.
To reserve, call 330-794-5754. The West Akron 750ml is at 2287 W. Market St.
The Brecksville 750ml will host Phil Corrente of Merryvale Vineyards, also a Napa Valley winery, at 6 p.m. April 12. Call 440-526-8100 to reserve.
Cost for each event is $39 for club750 members, $49 for nonmembers.
• Wine from Daou Vineyards will be featured at a 6:30 p.m. April 21 four-course wine dinner at Fleming’s Akron in Copley Township.
Cost is $95 plus tax and tip. Call 330-670-5200 to reserve. Fleming’s is at 4000 Medina Road (state Route 18).
• DBA (Dante Boccuzzi Akron) hosts a five-course Walt and Hall Wine Dinner at 6 p.m. Wednesday. On the menu are baked Brie, cavatelli with rabbit sausage, pan-seared halibut, roasted lamb loin and flourless chocolate torte, all paired with wines (three pinot noirs, a chardonnay and a merlot). It’s $95, not counting tax and tip. Reserve at 330-375-5050. DBA is at 21 Furnace St. in the Northside district of Akron.
Party at Uptown Grille
Several months after it started serving, the Uptown Grille restaurant/ice cream shop at 3883 State Road in Cuyahoga Falls will have its official grand opening and ribbon cutting at noon Friday. Live jazz music will be on the menu from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. , provided by the John Reese Project. Tours and refreshments provided.
Uptown offers breakfast, 32 flavors of Hershey’s Ice Cream, subs, sandwiches, fresh-cut fries and onion rings and more. It won third place for best traditional hamburger at the 2016 National Hamburger Festival in Akron.
On Tuesday nights, buy one burger and get another for half off. See Uptown’s Facebook page for more specials.
Co-owner Dave Dragus, who most recently managed a Max & Erma’s in the Columbus area, opened the cozy place in August in the space that previously housed Rock Fresh.
Hours are 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Tuesday through Friday and 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Saturday and 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sunday. Phone is 234-571-5762.
Antonio’s Pizza in Green
Antonio’s Pizza, which boasts that it is “considered the oldest family name in Cleveland pizza” has arrived in Green.
The family-run regional chain — which got its start in 1967 and also offers salads, pasta dishes, broasted chicken, chicken wings, subs and sweets — opened over the weekend at Heritage Crossings.
The address is 3875 Massillon Road. Hours are 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Monday through Thursday and 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Friday and Saturday and 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Sunday. Call 330-899-9300.
Antonio’s also has sites in Macedonia, in Summit County, and Wadsworth, Medina Township and Brunswick, in Medina County.
Cana Valley Winery
Reader and fan Chris VanZant let me know that Bernie Kosar’s new Barrel 19 wine is produced by Cana Valley Winery in Portage County. I neglected to mention the producer in an item I wrote recently about the Cleveland Browns legend signing bottles at an event last month.
Barrel 19 is available at all Acme Fresh Markets and at the winery, 5665 Waterloo Road in Atwater. The winery — in a former horse/hay barn — is owned by Kelvin and Esther Anderson. Phone is 330-596-3017.
Send local food news to Katie Byard at 330-996-3781 or kbyard@thebeaconjournal.com. You can follow her @KatieByardABJ on Twitter or on Facebook at www.facebook.com and read the Akron Dish blog at www.ohio.com/food.