Chef Pastor Jimenez bringing broad experience to spice up ballpark fare for Twins fans
MINNEAPOLIS (Dec. 7, 2009) – Delaware North Companies Sportservice and the Minnesota Twins today announced that Chef Pastor Jimenez will serve as the executive chef at Target Field, the team’s new ballpark opening in 2010.
Jimenez, an American Culinary Federation-certified chef de cuisine, brings 23 years of experience as an executive chef at other sports venues and fine-dining restaurants. His broad culinary career has included stints focusing on seafood, French cuisine and Italian specialties.
Since 2006, Jimenez has been the executive chef for Sportservice at Miller Park in Milwaukee and has joined other Sportservice chefs in catering high-profile events such as the World Series and 2009 Major League Baseball® All-Star Gala in St. Louis.
At Target Field, Jimenez will manage the new ballpark’s significant culinary operations, including its kitchens, broad spectrum of full-service restaurants and clubs, premium and event suite service, special event catering and extensive concessions. He will develop and continuously enhance menus and manage the vast and complex ordering of thousands of pounds of produce, meat, poultry, seafood and hundreds of other foods and ingredients.
And on game days, he will oversee more than 100 chefs and cooks preparing food to serve more than 40,000 hungry fans.
“Twins fans are in for a real culinary experience when they visit Target Field,” said Dave St. Peter, president of the Minnesota Twins. “We’re fortunate to have such a seasoned chef behind the Taste of Twins Territory to provide our fans the very best in ballpark food.”
A native of Mexico, Jimenez was immersed in the world of being a chef at an early age. After his family moved to Chicago, he spent many afternoons after school helping his father, a chef at a downtown Chicago hotel.
“Watching my father make different dishes and create sauces inspired me to love cooking and want to be a chef,” Jimenez said.
After graduating from the Foley School of Fish in Boston, Jimenez worked as an executive sous chef at restaurants in the Chicago area, including a French restaurant at the Mayfair Hotel. That position also afforded him a stint developing his skills at the five-star Mayfair Hotel in London.
After serving as executive chef at Wrigley Field for another company and then at an Italian restaurant in Indianapolis, Jimenez decided he wanted to return to the sports culinary environment and joined Sportservice in 2004 as executive sous chef at Soldier Field in Chicago.
Then, as executive chef in Milwaukee, Jimenez helped establish Miller Park as one of the best ballparks for food. In 2008, a Sports Illustrated fan poll listed Miller Park No. 1in food quality.
“With his varied culinary experience and dedication to detail in planning menus and preparing everything from bratwurst to gourmet dishes, Chef Jimenez is the ideal chef to manage the broad food lineup we are planning,” said Pete Spike, Sportservice’s general manager at Target Field.
Through opening day, Jimenez will be finalizing menus, building his culinary team and setting up food service systems at Target Field. He is also working on several concepts with local restaurants and food companies such as the Murray’s steak sandwich announced last week.
In addition to his American Culinary Federation certification, Jimenez has a Pro Chef II certification from the Culinary Institute of America (CIA). He also attended the Cooking and Hospitality Institute of Chicago.