Ricardo Cardona, chef to the Yankees

Last night the Yankees clinched the World Series for the first time in nine years. Some chalk it up to good coaching, a brand-new stadium or a roster of players dedicated to teamwork. But something else happened within the past year that might have fueled the victorious season: a new chef at the stadium. Chef Ricardo Cardona stepped in to cook for the Bronx Bombers at home games. Born in Puerto Rico and raised in Manhattan, Cardona has emerged as one of the city’s eminent Latino chefs with his restaurants Sazon, Sofrito, Hudson River Café and Mamajuana Cafe. What is he feeding these champs? We caught Cardona between games to talk about the team’s favorite eats.

Zagat Buzz: Were you always a Yankee fan?

Ricardo Cardona: I became a Yankee fan while cooking for them, because I really didn’t care much about baseball before that. Once I started cooking for them, I became friends with them. I became a Yankee fan, and now I feel I am part of the family.

ZB: How did you become the chef for the New York Yankees?

RC: I used to work in a restaurant called Jimmy’s Bronx Café back in 1999–2000. The restaurant was five minutes away from Yankee Stadium. I met a family there called the Cucuzza family, who takes care of the clubhouse. They were regular customers, and we became friends. They would ask me to cater for the Yankees all the time. When Jimmy’s Bronx Café closed, we kept in contact, and they asked me to cater for them still because they liked my food. So I kept catering for them no matter what restaurant I was working at. Last year they asked one of my restaurants, the Hudson River Café, to do the All-Star Game. I cooked for all the players, both the American and National League, three meals each day – and they liked it. After that they asked me about the possibility of helping out right at the stadium instead of catering, because the stadium opened and they weren’t happy with the restaurants there. So they called and told me they needed someone to create a menu every week for the home players and the visiting teams. I pulled one cook out of my restaurants and placed him to be there every day when the Yankees are in town. During the day, he cooks sandwiches or eggs for them, and then I cook the big meal at night. Every day the Yankees have a different theme at the buffet table, so I’ll follow that, and I’ll cook for the visiting team whatever I want.

ZB: Do the players often have special menu requests?

RC: Sometimes if they are doing special training, or are on a special diet, they will ask for something in advance. For example, Mariano Rivera once requested watercress juice. But, really, they are very simple guys. When they’re hungry, they’ll eat anything.

ZB: What was on the menu for the World Series?

RC: Seafood paella, that’s one of their favorites. Grilled shrimp, pork chops. Skirt steak. Rice and beans.

ZB: So what do you take into account when planning a menu for World Champions?

RC: You have to have fiber, vegetable, protein – fish, chicken or meat, and then how it’s prepared is really up to me. I always offer a lot of beans or lentils too.

ZB: What restaurant recommendations do you have for fans near the stadium?

RC: Well, I run a restaurant called Hudson River Café on 135th Street and 12th Avenue in Manhattan, and there’s the steakhouse at the Fairway too. I recommend eating in that area because of the parking. It’s easy to park your car there, then hop in a taxi to the stadium and you are there in five minutes.

ZB: Where do the players like to eat?

RC: The Latino players like to go to Dyckman Street to some of the Dominican restaurants and other Latino spots. I used to see Melky Cabrera all the time at Lua in Hoboken. A lot of them go to my spot Sofrito on 57th Street, one of the few Puerto Rican restaurants in New York. They like it because we do very homey-style Puerto Rican food there. Jorge Posada and Mariano Rivera love Sofrito.

ZB: What’s A-Rod’s favorite dish?

RC: He likes lean foods – low-fat, low-butter – and sweet potato and apple purée. He actually taught my cook how to make it.

ZB: Does Derek Jeter have a favorite dish?

RC: Well, he was upset because the reporter who wrote an article in the Daily News recently said he eats pork, and that’s not true. He does not eat pork. I don’t know why that reporter wrote that. But Jeter likes grilled chicken breast. Grilled chicken on whole wheat bread is one dish he eats a lot. He is very self-disciplined. He is the captain and you’ve got to lead by example, so he eats very healthy.

ZB: Do you feel your menu affects whether the Yankees win?

RC: I wish I could say that! But I think it’s their playing.

– Kathleen Squires