The Victory Knot

It was Sunday, June 27th, and the Yankees were in town playing our Dodgers. It was a perfect 78 degrees, sunny and warm. You could feel the excitement in the stadium; the Yankees were HERE in Los Angeles and a rubber match was about to begin.  The game was completely sold out; both Toms were there (Cruise and Hanks).

I'm a fan of baseball, I stand and cheer when a base is stolen, I sing in the 7th inning stretch, and I wear my team's colors. I'm an even bigger fan of food. Three days before opening day on April 10th,  The Los Angeles Times published an article in their food section that described one of Dodger Stadium's newest menu items, "pizza-sized pretzels"....could this be true? I made a mental note of this and vowed to myself that I would find one of these glorious pretzels during my first visit to see the Dodgers this season. 

After a few beers, a dodger dog, and a couple of red vines, it was time to find the victory knot. One of the ushers told me I could find one at the CPK (California Pizza Kitchen) kiosk and so off I went on a mission for the pretzel. After standing in line a few minutes it was my turn to order and I was told that they make the pretzels to order because they were a whopping $18 a pop and not as popular as the actual pizzas that sold for about half that price. It took 10 minutes to cook - almost half an inning.  

The knot was made from two pounds of dough and topped with sea salt. It came with three dipping sauces on the side: chipotle honey mustard, sweet cinnamon crème, and beer cheese. 

The best of the three sauces was the mustard...by far; it was like a good deli mustard with a kick which was perfect with the salty pretzel bread. The beer cheese was odd. It was cold and had the consistency of cement...almost like if you made Kraft mac-n-cheese powder into a paste...not too appealing. The cinnamon creme needed cinnamon...it looked kind of like chunky milk and tasted like watered down frosting...funky. 

The pretzel itself was cooked perfectly and tasted delicious although we didn't even get close to finishing it. Everyone sitting around us began snapping pictures of the gigantic knot when I opened the box back at my seat and needless to say it caused quite the stir in Loge section 122. I think Executive Chef Joseph Martin is on to something with his new Victory Knot but it does need a bit of an upgrade when it comes to the dipping sauces. How about a garlic buttermilk dip or maybe warm marinara sauce? I like the idea of a cheese sauce of some kind..maybe a craft beer and cheddar sauce (not cement)? Also, I don't think most people would wait 10 minutes for it to cook like I did, especially when the game is as great as the one I attended.  

All in all it was a wonderful evening spent with 2 of my most favorite people....GO DODGERS!

PHOTO CREDIT: R.W. SIMMS