KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Here's a 21st-century event at the ballpark: Tasting Day.

The Kansas City Royals were the hosts, providing a chance to preview the upgraded chow at newly-renovated Kauffman Stadium on a bone-chilling, rainy Thursday. Oddly enough, it wasn't the only stadium tasting of the week; the New York Mets had one for their new digs in Queens two days earlier.

A few years back, it would have seemed ludicrous to have a tasting at a ballpark. What were they going to do, take an inch of foam off the flat, tastes-like-bottom-of-the-keg beer available under the stands?

Times have changed. Baseball fans have come to expect good food with their game. Buy me some crab cakes and buffalo bites is how the song should go now.

As for the tasting at The K, this was the real deal. Speeches and thank yous, fancy garnishes on the plates, the executive chef milling through the crowd — more like what you'd expect at a high-end restaurant.

The ambiance was different, though. No dark-lit room filled with hushed tones and wine glasses here. This was a sports bar, roll-up garage doors opened to the bright green of The K's right-field grass below.

Only thing missing was the fan with a few beers in him screaming "What are you, blind?!" at the umpires from 60 rows away. Don't worry, though. With the home opener next Friday, he'll be there soon enough.

The most interesting part? The food was good. Not just passable, actually tasty. Like you wouldn't mind going back for seconds.

Bone-in buffalo ribeye. Pork spare ribs. An entire range of barbecue from the Royals' own smokers. Good, solid food — exactly what the Royals and Aramark were going for when they decided to upgrade the cuisine as part of The K's $275 million renovation.

"Baseball's an eating sport," said Scott McGinn, regional manager for Aramark Sports. "The fan expectations over the years in all cities and all venues has been stepped up considerably, and with the Kansas City Royals and the great renovations they've done, our capabilities have expanded so much we're able to do a lot more things."

The upgraded-grub trend started with the opening of Baltimore's Camden Yards in 1992. Like no other stadium at the time, Camden was built to enhance the total ballpark experience. The quality of the food was nearly as important as the play on the field and places like Boog's Barbecue and Baltimore Crab Cakes delivered.

No longer was it acceptable to just pop hot dogs in the microwave — is there anything more annoying than when the paper gets stuck to the bun?

Nearly every new stadium since — places like Houston's Minute Maid Park, Comerica Park in Detroit, Great American Ballpark in Cincinnati — has taken the same approach.

Now you can watch a game while eating a grilled salmon sandwich at Safeco Field in Seattle, shrimp tacos in San Diego's Petco Field or the Cuban Sandwich at the Trop in St. Petersburg, Fla.

The Mets went the high-end route with still-glistening new Citi Field, bringing in famed New York restaurateur Danny Meyer, serving items like lobster rolls, sushi and Belgian fries with green olive and spicy peppercorn dipping sauces. A minor league team in Michigan took a more gluttonous approach, serving up a 4-pound, 4,800-calorie hamburger that's sure to crystalize an artery or two.

The Royals went for a potpourri of options, offering tasteful treats like pot roast sliders — which were quite good — chophouse salads, towers of onion rings, even banana splits at Rivals Sports Bar in right field.

The new suites in the outfield have more upscale dishes created by executive chef Michael Slavin — yes, ballparks now have executive chefs — including chicken Vera Cruz, smoked Kansas City loin strip and cornmeal-crusted snapper in Creole sauce.

There's something called carved beef and skillet-seared tuna action stations on the club level, where you can also find a KC strip with shaft blue cheese and fried onions.

This is Kansas City, so of course there's a barbecue joint. It'd be like Philadelphia not having cheese steak if they didn't have one at Kauffman.

Royals All-Star BBQ, located near the carousel and putt-putt course in the new fan-funhouse area in the outfield, has two 1,400-pound smokers to create barbecue favorites like burnt ends, half rack of ribs and blackened catfish. There's also obligatory barbecue sides like baked beans, cole slaw and cheesy corn, even something called hickory beefsteak tomato bakes.

If you're a traditionalist and only dogs, burgers and funnel cakes will do, they've got that, too.

But, if you're looking for something a little more exotic, watch from one of the suites when the Arizona Diamondbacks are in town: Rattlesnake empanadas, everyone!

OK, so maybe it isn't the paupiette of black cod from New York's Le Cirque or pan seared sea scallops from Picasso in Las Vegas. But it's not shriveled dogs whirling around a weenie carousel, or melted cheese drizzled over cardboard chips, either.

"This is not batch cooking," Slavin said. "We're treating it as a full-service, a la carte restaurant and provide food that's cooked to order."