Munching at the Mann

Nobody goes to the Mann Center for the Performing Arts just for the food, but over the years, the menu has expanded from a stand with dogs and burgers to fresh and elegant summer fare served under a tent with a breathtaking view of the city.

When the Philadelphia Orchestra opens its 2007 summer season on Tuesday, a new caterer will be on board, replacing Frog Commissary Catering. (Steve Poses, who had the contract since 1998, opted out to focus on his new venture, Frog at the Yard in the former Philadelphia Naval Shipyard.)

Grilled swordfish with summer fruit salsa and roasted red beets, and asparagus with goat cheese and balsamic vinegar are among the offerings of the new caterer CulinArt, an outfit firmly established in New York and Connecticut that only recently expanded into Pennsylvania and already provides food service (with a much different menu) at the Philadelphia Zoo.

At the Mann's Top of the Hill Food Court, CulinArt put a Friterie where thin, crisp fries provide the base for toppings such as cheddar cheese with bacon and onions (yes!), seafood Newburg (oh no!) or Caribbean style curried chicken. Prices there range from $5 to $6.75 for a portion that is meant for one but easily feeds two.

Many snack-foodies see fries as the benchmark of a vendor's abilities. We like our fries with crunch and flavor - and without excessive grease - and CulinArt delivers.

At the Cookout stand, pulled pork, hand-packed burgers, and boneless chicken breasts are grilled on site and, glory hallelujah, so are the buns. Prices are $3.25 for a jumbo hot dog that oozes with tangy spice when you bite into the casing, to $6.50 for the smoky-flavored pulled pork on a soft bun. Roasted corn ($3) is not only on-the-cob but still in its husk and dripping with butter. In this case, dripping is good.

Wrapsody offers hefty sandwiches wrapped in Mediterranean lavash bread. Priced in the $7 range, the wraps are stuffed with moo shu beef (tender beef and thinly sliced veggies with a light sauce); Greek chicken in gyro sauce (heavier, heartier); or cheesesteak with onions, mushrooms, and cheddar (another benchmark for Philadelphians, this cheesesteak makes the grade).

Elsewhere, closer to the entrance, are thin-crust pizza, popcorn, and pricey gourmet ice cream, none of which are memorable.

The big draw is still the tented buffet: the former Bravo! restaurant now renamed Vista Grill. A white-tablecloth setting with a menu that changes from one concert to another, this is a buffet of limited proportions, not a smorgasbord. On our visit, the menu featured pasta primavera with too many corkscrew noodles and too few vegetables; blackened chicken breast (too dry) with roasted corn and black beans that had a rich, smoky flavor; Fennel-encrusted pork loin that stayed moist, perhaps because it was hand-carved on site; and grilled salmon (delicious) on Israeli couscous. A sweet Peach Bourbon BBQ sauce on the side was meant to service all four main dishes. The $29 fixed price does not include beverages.

We were there for CulinArt's trial run - a Wynton Marsalis concert - and found the servers eager but uninformed. Our waitress served us glasses of a red wine she called caberet (and we did "hear the music play"), and when asked about the type of grain used in a salad, she quite nicely said she "sure didn't know" - and did not offer to find out.

Wine ($7) beer ($6.75 ) and mixed drinks ($7.50 top shelf) are available, along with sodas ($3) and water ($3 and $4). When Peter Lane joined the Mann as CEO in 1997 after a decade with the New York Pops at Carnegie Hall, he wanted to persuade music lovers to "come for dinner and stay for the show" (not in lieu of picnicking on the lawn, but instead of eating in town and then fighting traffic to arrive on time).

But finding the right caterer took some doing. The job demands a company that can offer a grab-and-go menu as well as the tented buffet, tapas and tasting plates, and catered private parties on special occasions.

Nobody else with Poses' level of experience was even interested in 1998 when he won the first contract. And even he found it a challenge.

"We had to bring out every single dish and glass and piece of silverware from our facility and take it all back at the end of the night to wash it," he said.

Hoses had to be run as far as 200 feet to get water to the food booths, nothing could be stored overnight, attendance was unpredictable, and the weather was, of course, out of anyone's control.

"We don't lose money on the food," Lane says, "but we don't make a lot, either. And that's not the point. The food is another piece of the overall ambience."

There were no hard feelings on either side when Poses left, and this time around, nine companies competed for the contract.

It helped, of course, that the Mann had just renovated its 31-year-old facility with $15 million in improvements that include a kitchen, a dish-washing area, and a pantry.

"To me, the food is critical," Lane says. "I can go to the ballpark and eat franks. But to hear the orchestra and have a nice meal with a glass of cabernet. . . . For me, that makes it a total experience."