Gourmet Snack Stand Owner Plans to Expand

Hold up, hot dogs. Move over, mozzarella sticks. Snack stand chef Greg Kassar is back this baseball season and he's cooking up more pasta, fish and gourmet dishes to feed the hunger of those watching the sport from the sidelines.

"We'll still have the same hardcore hot dogs, hamburgers," he said. "What I'm adding in is a little bit more pasta, I'm adding a few more entree items."

, a unique snack stand offering gourmet meals such as filet mignon, pasta dishes and more, at the Boonton Avenue field last year. This year, Kassar will be expanding his business to also operate a snack stand at in Bloomingdale (for Tri-boro Little League), a sitting truck snack stand at , a snack stand in Smoke Rise and possibly one in Pequannock. Kassar, a resident of who owns the catering company A Chef's Affaire, is also the head chef at the Rockaway River Country Club.

Kassar may be new to and Smoke Rise, but he is well known from the Boonton Avenue snack stand.

"It's our only snack stand in town that's not run by a parent group," Councilman Jim Freda said.

But because it is not run by a parent group and Kassar would be making a profit off of the stand, Freda said the borough needed to request proposals for operation of the snack stand. Kassar was awarded the service and will be paying $3,000, which will go directly to the recreation department, Freda said.

"We're excited to have Greg back and look forward to having that service for the community," Freda said.

Kassar said he is currently putting the finishing touches on his new menu, but offered a preview of some of the options.

"I'm expanding to seafood, a little bit, more grilled fish. I have salmon on the menu and tuna on the menu," he said.

Continuing with his Italian theme, he plans to bring more pasta dishes to the stand, offering shrimp dishes and broccolli rabe. At Anderson Field, where the stand will be named Tri-Boro Hometown Snack Bar, he will offer more traditional snack stand food, such as Buffalo wings and Teryaki chicken wings. For dessert at Anderson Field, he will also be offering, for the first time, funnel cake fries.

At the Smoke Rise stand, Kassar said he will be serving some high-end dishes, including grilled tuna with pineapple salsa, brie salads and shrimp salads, as well as snack stand favorites.

When he's not cooking at the stands, Kassar is also giving back to his community. He is planning to host a dinner fundraiser for the Extreme baseball team at the Butler Knights of Columbus on May 18 and another fundraiser on May 19 at the same location for the Kinnelon Youth Baseball teams. Tickets for the fundraisers are $50.

But in case you're hoping to get a taste of Kassar's dishes earlier, he is already serving food at the Boonton Avenue snack stand and will open the stand at Anderson Field for travel teams this weekend from 1 to 3 p.m., but officially on April 16, the Delazier snack truck on April 14 and Smoke Rise on Memorial Day.

Correction: A previous version of this story incorrectly stated that wine will be served at the stand.