Your Intuit Dome food guide, including Steph Curry's favorite popcorn

It was the pretzel that left all the others in a pile of stale dust. Light glinted off the golden-brown crust, its curves glowing with a slight sheen. Tiny lumps of salt covered the surface. It was perfectly chewy, with crunchy bits of salt that melted into a warm, soft center.

The curvaceous masterpiece was the culmination of a week-long apprenticeship with a chef in Salzburg, Austria, followed by six months of development in the United States. It was a level of dedication and attention to detail that you would expect from a Michelin-starred restaurant. All the air miles and effort went into ensuring that fresh pretzels await you at the food stands in the new Intuit Dome in Inglewood.

“Very few arenas have taken this approach to push a handcrafted product like this,” said Steven Maak, senior vice president of 310 Provisions, the group behind the food at the Intuit Dome.

Maak recently walked me along with Halo Sports and Entertainment CEO Gillian Zucker, 310 Provisions executive chef Hagan Whelchel and executive chef Adam Brown through the food at the new stadium, which is scheduled to open in August. 15.

A dedicated team of 10 people is responsible for mixing, rolling, shaping, walking, baking and topping the pretzels by hand. Every detail in the stadium, from the rolling pretzel to the maximum time it takes to walk from your seat to the restroom to the snack bar and back (pedestrian modeling puts it at 123 seconds), was studied and discussed.

When the Intuit Dome opens its doors, there will be 21 food and beverage stores; 31 kitchens; 26 pizza ovens; 140 fryers; six custom menu clubs; 24 entrees (excluding packaged foods); 14,000 square feet of all-electric chef's kitchen space; and 850 food and beverage employees.

All concession stands will have a contactless payment system. You download an app to your phone, enter any stand and leave with whatever you want.

“The goal of the Dome from a food and beverage perspective is to focus on speed, quality and consistency, so we take pride in every single detail,” said Jessica Cesta, vice president of hospitality strategy at 310 Provisions. “Every sauce. The packaging. Everything is in service of the ultimate and best experience for every fan in the building.”

Below is a breakdown of the food at the new venue, in addition to the excellent pretzel mentioned above:

Butter popcorn and butter toffee popcorn

When it came time to choose a popcorn, Zucker asked Golden State point guard and popcorn expert Steph Curry for help.

“Steph Curry actually evaluated every single establishment for their popcorn,” Zucker said. “And we want our popcorn to be the best, so maybe he would come by and try it. “We asked him and he said he would.”

She presented him with 10 varieties. Curry chose a butterfly popcorn from Nebraska. It is crunchy, shaped like a butterfly and has a texture that melts in your mouth.

The flavored popcorn went through an even more rigorous selection process that took into account feedback from the entire Halo Sports and Entertainment organization, which includes the Clippers' basketball operations teams, Intuit Dome, Kia Forum and San Diego Clippers (the G-League team). The group settled on a butterscotch popcorn with a sweet, crunchy coating that's as addictive as your favorite potato chip.

Hot Dog and Street Dog

Zucker and Clippers owner Steve Ballmer participated in a tasting of 11 different hot dogs before deciding on the right one.

“Then before we left, the chef who put together the tasting said, ‘Hey, before you go, I just want you to try my favorite hot dog.'”

The chef presented a sausage from Niman Ranch, one of the best-known meat suppliers to top restaurants across the country. It was pure beef, smoked over hickory wood, with no added nitrates or nitrites.

“I thought, 'Oh my God, that's a really good hot dog,'” Zucker said. “Steve Ballmer gets up to leave and says, 'You make the decision.' Whatever you want is fine with me.' And he walks out the door and yells, 'Niman!' Niman!' ”

The dogs come plain and can be dressed up however you like, or a variation of the late-night dogs you find outside concert halls and nightclubs. The latter is wrapped in bacon and topped with sautéed peppers and onions and zigzag garlic aioli. Even under all the toppings, there's a distinct crunch.

Detroit-style pizza

It's the kind of pizza you'll find in pizzerias all over town. It's rectangular in shape and has a crispy ring of cheese on all four edges. There's “The Meats,” cheese and pepperoni. The meat is covered in a blanket of protein, and the bacon, sausage and pepperoni pieces are so plentiful that you can't see the cheese underneath.

Double Cheeseburger

The double cheeseburger is somewhere between a backyard smashburger and the more refined version from your favorite steakhouse. The patties are a mix of coarsely ground brisket, short rib and prime chuck. They're thin but not smashed and covered in melted new-school American cheese. The burger is dressed with Clippers sauce, a close relative of Thousand Island, and topped with dill pickle chips on a Martin's potato bun.

Vegan Cauliflower Wrap

The stadium's main vegetarian and vegan option is presented as a wrap, filled with crispy breaded and fried cauliflower, tossed in a spicy buffalo sauce with a slaw of romaine lettuce, kale, quinoa, tomato, red bell pepper, and vegan ranch vinaigrette, all wrapped in a spinach tortilla. There's an extra side of ranch for dipping. If they ever decide to only offer a basket of fried cauliflower, I'll be ordering that, too.

Chicken fillets and waffle fries

The tenders are lightly breaded and deep-fried until they are completely covered in a crispy, golden shell. They are served alongside a mound of waffle fries, the only type of fries you'll find on the property. Even at room temperature, the fries were crispy. Instead of ketchup or ranch, there is a small cup of barbecue sauce on the side.

“It’s a tribute to the South through California,” said Chef Whelchel.

The taste is sweet, but with a strong mustard note.

“We needed a sauce that would maintain its integrity,” Whelchel said. “So we chose a barbecue sauce base instead of a cream base.”

If you insist on ranch, ask your friends to order one of the vegan cauliflower wraps and then steal their vegan ranch.

Churros

The churros will rival those at your favorite Los Angeles or Mexico City retailer. They are smaller, snack-sized churros, about 4 to 5 inches long. The extruder creates defined grooves for maximum, superior crispness and surface area to capture the cinnamon and sugar coating. The center is soft, almost custard-like, but fully cooked through. On the side, La Zagala dulce de leche is more like a hot scoop of fresh caramel than a fluffy sauce. It's a churro you'll be thinking about long after you leave the parking lot.

Sushi Dog

Imagine a hand roll of sushi nearly a foot long, wrapped in paper, that you can peel off with each bite. There's a California roll with imitation crab or a spicy tuna roll that's really hot. Both are made with well-seasoned rice that's neither hard nor overcooked. There's soy sauce for dipping, but the kitchen team is working on a more efficient solution.

“Chef Hagan is working on a custom soy sauce flake,” Zucker said, referring to a soy sauce seasoning that you sprinkle on your hand roll.

Of course, there are also special soy sauce flakes to protect your Clippers jersey from potential stains. With the Steph Curry-endorsed popcorn, gourmet hot dogs and pretzels requiring a journey of around 12,000 miles, I would expect nothing less.