Thanks to Field Roast, vegans can fully enjoy the whole American baseball tradition with a frank in hand.
Seattle’s front-runner in vegan faux meats makes a stand at Safeco Field. A little stand, at Section 133. It’s got traditional(-esque) frankfurters, original flavor combinations and a whole lotta zing. Now, there’s one more reason to head to the ballpark and root for Seattle.
First, let’s talk Frankfurter. Field Roast offers an all-American experience for vegans, vegetarians and flexitarians at Safeco Field—these franks were specifically designed for it. Anticipating an empty belly or one full of Thai whenever I’d cheer for the M’s made me feel downright unpatriotic. Wanting every aspect of any event to be appropriately festive, I just wanted a damn frank to enjoy with the game. Now, I can go to the condiments bar and squirt ketchup on that thing to my heart’s content.
On its own, the frank’s texture was pretty dang close to the real thing. Well, besides the whole casing being made of small intestines part. The vegan version was juicy nonetheless. Using fresh ingredients—but also keeping the fat in the recipe—and a carefully chosen blend of spices, this dog is tasty enough to stand alone but plenty versatile to lend itself as the base for crazy combos à la creator, owner and all-around entrepreneurial genius David Lee.
Field Roast developed and initially presented three different flavor combinations to top the traditional frankfurter: Seattle Chili Cheez, The Bombay and The Ichiban. Easily understanding the rationale behind the first, I had to reach a little further for the last two. Ichiro obvi had some influence on The Ichiban, but it made even more sense when I checked the packaging and read “A Blend of European and Asian Heritage”. Let’s dig in to the inventive offerings.
I could really wrap my head around my first challenger—The Seattle Chili Cheez Dog. A big fan of chili and a stalker of cheese, I knew I was gonna like this one. It was ooey gooey and generous with toppings, but lacked the fire I was hoping for. “Mild” vegetarian chili is right. If the chili cheez combo really brought the heat, it coulda been a homerun. (Y’all liked that one, huh?)
The Bombay was intriguing. An Indian hot dog? Supes curious to see how David would pull this one off. If Indian food is half smells and half flavorful spiciness, Field Roast got it 75% right. But it felt more like an A- than a C with its originality and how it made my belly full. The components melded together to create something very, very interesting. Hearty and flavorful but in my opinion, if you’re gonna offer Indian food, you best consider the culture’s quintessential spice levels.
Seems like David Lee deliberately designed The Ichiban to honor an All-Star player and to cater to the Asian-lovin’ fans. The ingredients were familiar, yet traditional enough for bold patrons to enjoy. There was a crunch, some chewiness and a bit of slime—in a good way. Textures errwhere. The presentation held up well…until I ate the ish out of it.
Overall, the frankfurter satisfied my baseball tradition desires and was a nice canvas for the Field Roast artistry. The Specials are fork-and-knife kinds of dogs, so make sure to grab some utensils and napkins ‘fore you head to your seats to nosh. They offer one special at a time, so you could meet any of these worthy options when you head to the stadium. Just ask Travis at the stand off Section 133 to make it extra sloppy for ya’s.
I top Field Roast Franks with a cup of culturally diverse gravy that somehow makes sense all together. Nom nom nom. I can’t wait to see which dog awaits me next time I venture to Safeco.
Field Roast | 1440 South Jackson St, Seattle | 1 (800) 311-9497
S E A T T L E I T E 