Gold medalist skater is in Wichita as a broadcaster, but he picked up a wait shift, too

HomeGrown diners did a double take at the restaurant’s Naftzger Park location on Thursday.

Was that one of the most famous skaters of all time serving dishes and working in the kitchen?

Yep. But why?

The restaurant has some partnerships related to the national figure skating championships in Wichita this week, including one with former Olympic gold medalist Brian Boitano.

He’s in Wichita to broadcast skating events this weekend, and he partnered with HomeGrown to promote a charity and a new cookbook he has coming out.

HomeGrown adapted some recipes from “What Would Brian Boitano Make?: Fresh And Fun Recipes For Sharing With Family And Friends” and had Boitano serve customers. He donned a HomeGrown hat and apron, but the hat made it a little difficult to see who he was at first.

“You could definitely tell when someone came to the realization,” said Matt Burchett, HomeGrown’s senior vice president for strategy and social impact.

“So it was a lot of fun for us.”

For the last 10 days, HomeGrown has been serving versions of Boitano’s butternut squash soup and grilled cheese sandwich with red onion marmalade.

Boitano doesn’t have his own version of a pop tart — a dish for which HomeGrown is well known — so the restaurant created one in his honor. He likes cherry, so the custom pop tart is cherry with red, white and blue sprinkles and an American flag.

All proceeds, including some extra support, will go to a youth skating program Boitano supports in San Francisco.

The soup and sandwich will be on the menu through Saturday, but there’s a chance the pop tart will become a seasonal staple given its popularity.

HomeGrown also is hosting a fundraising dinner for skaters and the general public on Saturday with Boitano’s dishes and some other specialty items.

At Intrust Bank Arena, Boitano is hosting a lounge for former skating champions.

“His pop tarts will make their way over there Saturday morning as he’s hosting people,” Burchett said.

Boitano also left some signed cookbooks for HomeGrown to sell.

Burchett said the restaurant is grateful to Visit Wichita for helping with the partnerships and to Boitano.

“He’s a really genuinely kind person.”

That attitude and HomeGrown’s donations fit well with its motto to “cultivate kindness.”

“It’s a great expression of who we are.”

This story was originally published January 23, 2025 at 2:44 PM.