Paycom Arena Head Chef Preparing For Upcoming Season

The long-awaited NBA season is here, and while we love the game and the players, the food is becoming a huge attraction.

“I’m actually from Dallas but I’ve lived here since 1997,” said Paycom arena head chef, Chef Andrew Murin. It was love that brought Chef Murin to Oklahoma City. “My late wife. Twenty-three years married; I met her in Dallas. She was visiting the Westend, and four months later I moved here and fell in love,” said Che Murin.

He started working as a Chef for what was then the Myriad, but with the new arena came new offers. “Hey chef, I want you to work for me, and I was like, I don’t want to do hotdogs and hamburgers, for months I was like denying it,” said Murin.

It took some convincing, but he’s been with the arena for twenty-one years, and if he does serve a hamburger, he puts his Oklahoma spin on it. “We took an eight once patty and battered it and fried it and topped it with everything that Oklahoma is about, fried pickles, ranch, bacon, and it was insane,” said Murin.

With one-of-a-kind items like that, it’s not uncommon for some familiar faces to show up. “Visiting teams will come up to the restaurant, they would come up and grab something not as nutritious as their nutritionist would give them,” said Murin.  

A staple at the arena and a favorite for Chef Andrew are the made-in-Oklahoma products. “I love to bring to the forefront what Oklahoma producers are doing,” said Murin.

And on game night it’s chaos for the head chef. “I’m everywhere, yeah, I’m all over the place,” said Murin.

The crazier things get, the better. “I love it, absolutely. Twenty-one years, I mean not many chefs stay that long, but I love it,” said Murin.