Fifty minutes before the first pitch at a Friday night Phillies game in early June, the line at Greens and Grains already wrapped around and down the concourse at Citizens Bank Park.
Looking on, Kevin Tedesco, Aramark’s general manager at Citizens Bank Park, and Jason Firestone, Aramark’s senior director of concessions, shared the story of how Greens and Grains came to be at the Phillies’ stadium.
Established in 2015, Greens and Grains is a health-conscious, plant-based eatery founded by Nicole Jacoby-Psounos. A lifelong vegetarian, Jacoby-Psounos trained at the Institute for Integrative Nutrition in New York City in 2005, gaining experience in juice making and ayurvedic cooking. A few years later, she reignited her passion for healthy eating and ultimately launched the Greens and Grains concept.
Jacoby-Psounos’s husband, who has restaurant experience, is a formal partner in the venture, the chain’s popular gyro sandwich a nod to his Greek roots. The pair initially opened Greens and Grains restaurants in Philadelphia’s Center City and in suburban New Jersey, but by 2022 only the New Jersey locations remained.
Through connections with South Philly’s Tony Luke’s and MBB Management, Firestone got in touch with Jacoby-Psounos ahead of the 2022 baseball season and arranged to bring the latest iteration of vegan options to the Phillies’ ballpark.
Before Firestone and Aramark signed on Greens and Grains, though, they had to try the food. “We went out to one of their restaurants,” Firestone remembers. “I’m not vegetarian at all. I tried some of their food. I wouldn’t have even known that it was vegetarian. I was blown away.”
It’s about having an experience for every fan.”
— Jason Firestone, Aramark
Providing plant-based options at the park isn’t about tickling Firestone’s taste buds, of course. “It’s about having an experience for every fan,” he says. Vegan or vegetarian fans wouldn’t be able to eat at the game if the stadium didn’t offer food compatible with those dietary preferences, Tedesco says. “It’s a must-have.”
Aramark has situated all of its specialty food stalls — those catering to fans seeking vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free or kosher fare — behind home plate in the main lower level concourse section, adjacent to Phillies’ guest services.
In past seasons, Tedesco recalled, veg options were scattered throughout the concourse without a consistent season-over-season presence. Vegan hot dogs were available at the left field concession stand, but you had to ask for them. Such intermingling of vegan and non-vegan options made some customers nervous. A centrally located 100% plant-based vendor addresses these issues, says Tedesco.
“Having a dedicated location makes sure there’s no cross-contamination, and that we’re following all the standards,” Firestone explains.
Of the 10 or so Greens and Grains customers interviewed, only two said they follow a mostly or entirely plant-based diet. Most just wanted a healthier alternative to the main concourse food.
A mother buying a meal for herself and her daughter said, “It just seemed to be healthier than some of the other things. So we actually came specifically looking for that.”
A fan who largely avoids eating animal products frequents one of the Greens and Grains locations in New Jersey. Her go-to at the ballpark? The gyro. (Other hand-held, game-ready options available this season include a black bean burger and a buffalo chk’n hoagie.)
The demand for plant-based options exists, Firestone emphasizes. “The next place we’ll go is probably for the guests upstairs so they don’t have to come all the way down here to the main concourse.”
